Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by NyashMak (talk | contribs) at 10:59, 24 July 2008 (→Influences). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 17 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco, is a Grammy-winning American rapper. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his critically acclaimed debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. Prominent hip hop mogul Jay-Z describes him as a "breath of fresh air" in a new hip hop world characterized by mainstream pop and glamour, a sharp contrast with the widespread lyricism-focused rap of the 1990s, and critics have called him the "Hip-Hop Generation's Next Vanguard." His second album, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, was released on December 18, 2007.

Life and career

Early life

Born and raised on the Westside of Chicago, Wasalu Jaco is the fifth child of nine brothers and sisters. His father was an engineer, a prolific African drummer, karate teacher and owner of karate schools and army surplus stores. His mother was a gourmet chef. Jaco went to high school at Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Illinois. He started rapping when he was in the eighth grade, but was initially put off by the vulgarity and violent imagery of his father's N.W.A. records. It wasn't until he heard Nas' 1996 album, It Was Written, at the age of 14 that he began to pursue hip hop music.

Growing up, Jaco was given the nickname "Lu," the last part of his first name, by his mother. "Lupe" is an extension of this nickname, which he borrowed from a friend from high school. "Fiasco," he says, "came from the Firm album. They had the song, 'Firm Fiasco'. I just liked the way it looked on paper."

Early career

By 19, Lupe Fiasco was in a group called Da Pak. They signed to Epic Records and released one single before splitting up. Fiasco later signed a solo deal with Arista Records, but was dropped when president and CEO L. A. Reid was fired. During this time, he had guest appearances on singles on Tha' Rayne's "Kiss Me" and "Didn't You Know" and also K Fox's 2004 "This Life." He also released the song "Coulda Been" on a 10/03 compilation of MTV's Advance Warning. He began releasing many mixtapes, developing a fan base via the internet. Just after Arista went out of business, rapper Jay-Z offered Fiasco a contract with Roc-A-Fella records. Fiasco declined having already started his own record label.

In 2004, Arista went out of business and Lupe was signed with Atlantic Records. In early 2006, Lupe and his friend and hypeman Dusean "Bishop G" Dunbar started FNF Radio, a show on the college radio station WIIT located at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

2005–2006

Lupe had gained a large underground following with the release of a series of critically acclaimed mixtapes, prominently Lupe's own Fahrenheit 1/15 Part I: The Truth Is Among Us, Fahrenheit 1/15 Part II: Revenge of the Nerds, and Fahrenheit 1/15 Part III: A Rhyming Ape. In 2005, Lupe was featured on two tracks on Mike Shinoda's solo mixtape titled Fort Minor: We Major. During this time, rapper and mogul Jay-Z heard Lupe and assisted him in the production of what would become his debut album Food & Liquor.

In 2005, Lupe appeared on the Kanye West track "Touch The Sky" from West's Late Registration. Soon after, he released his first single "Kick, Push," a song heavily about skateboarding. As his popularity slowly increased, so did anticipation for his upcoming album Food & Liquor. The album was officially released on September 19 2006. The album featured production from Jay-Z, Kanye West, Mike Shinoda, The Neptunes, and more. Singles from the album were "Kick, Push," "I Gotcha" and "Daydreamin'" featuring Jill Scott. On the album "Fiasco masterfully melds his peerless storytelling gifts with his idiosyncratic passion for skateboarding, fantasy, and incisive sociopolitical commentary." The critically lauded album was later nominated for three Grammys including "Best Rap Album." In the same year, he was voted by GQ as the "Breakout Man of the Year." Lupe also had a small feud with skateboarder Terry Kennedy.

2007–present

In 2007, Lupe announced his second album, "The Cool," a concept album that expands on the story of the track of the same name on his first album. It was released on December 18, 2007 in United States. The first single and video from the album, "Superstar," featuring Matthew Santos, was released the first week of November 2007.

Also in 2007, it was revealed that Fiasco, Kanye West, and Pharrell Williams, had formed a group known as Child Rebel Soldier. As of November 2007, no projects have been announced, with Lupe noting that the members of the group were busy with solo projects and things needed to "settle down some." However, a song made by CRS titled "US Placers," featuring Thom Yorke, has been released.

Songs from "The Cool" are featured in the movie Street Kings. The songs "Put You on Game" and "Little Weapon" both appear in the latest trailer.

In 2008, Lupe joined Kanye's Glow in the Dark Tour, which also features Rihanna and N.E.R.D. The tour will stop in several cities, including his hometown of Chicago. He's been made #7 as the Hottest MCs in the Game of 2008 by MTV.

Lupe recently announced that he was remixing The Cool with French house act Justice.

Ventures

Fiasco is the co-founder and vice-president of 1st & 15th Entertainment, a record label under Atlantic. However, due to the recent arrest and imprisonment of co-founder, CEO, and partner Charles "Chilly" Patton, Fiasco now serves as the current CEO. In January 2006, Lupe signed with major footwear and apparel corporation Reebok becoming part of the "O.G" marketing campaign, where rap artists such as Lil Wayne and Mike Jones designed their own personal colorway of the Reebok "O.G" model. He designed a white/grey model of the shoe.

Personal life

Religion

Lupe has been open about his Islamic faith. He has noted the importance of religion in his life, stating: "Well, I was born Muslim, so Islam plays a part in my life and everything I do, to a certain extent. I'm not like the poster boy for Islam... I still got my flaws and stuff like that, so I don't really wear that on my sleeve... I don't go to clubs, I don't drink, I don't smoke, you know like my whole - the whole groupie situation is shut down." The front of Lupe's The Cool album cover is stylized to look like that of Persian calligraphy. Along with this, Lupe begins Food & Liquor by reciting an Islamic prayer: A'uzu billahi min ash shaitani r rajimi Bismi 'llahi 'r-rahmani 'r-rahim, which translates to "I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the rejected. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, Ever Merciful."

Influences

Lupe is highly influenced by Crucial Conflict, Kanye West, 8Ball & MJG, Spice 1 and Nas among others. Lupe regards It Was Written as his favorite album and cites it as his primary source of inspiration. Lupe is also an avid skateboarder, which influenced his debut single "Kick, Push." Lupe is also heavily influenced by Japanese-anime/otaku culture; he has referenced the following anime shows in his lyrics: Lupin the 3rd (in Kanye West's Touch The Sky), Transformers/Gundam (in Daydreamin'), and Trigun (in various songs). Furthermore Lupe Fiasco also takes influence from videogames, which he occasionally references in his songs. This is particularly apparent in the song, "Jedi Mind Tricks" where Lupe states "the boy game advance, come peep the genesis, I broke bread with society's menaces." A reference to the portable Nintendo console the Gameboy Advance, and the Sega Genesis console. Lupe Fiasco makes another reference to Sega in the single "I Gotcha"; where he references the company's mascot "Sonic the Hedgehog". This can be seen in a line from the song that states, " I love my city really hope that God bless it, have my mind moving faster than that hog in the hedges". Further adding to the videogame-based content that Lupe puts into his lyrics, and derives influence from is Squaresoft's Final Fantasy series, which is seen referenced in the song "And He Gets The Girl..." (which used a sample from N.E.R.D's song "Maybe"); from the "I Gotcha" single. This is evidenced by a line in the song that states, "I love Final Fantasy, I hate first-person shooters, Meteora was nice, but I bought Hybrid Theory twice". Lastly Lupe Fiasco's influence from the videogame realm can be seen in his references to Capcom's Street Fighter videogame series (which Lupe Fiasco is quite fond of). This can be seen in a line from the song "Gold Watch" that exclaims; "I like Street Fighter 2 I just really hate Vega only Ken and Ryu, I find it hard to beat Blanka". Lupe Fiasco's love, and influence of videogames is also conveyed in his rumored final album, "LupEnd" the spelling and titling of which is similar to the format of several "endgame" videogame screens (particularly 8-bit third generation, and 16-bit fourth generation videogames). Lupe Fiasco also derives inspiration from a variey of other sources like: comic book culture (particularly Japanese manga, a sentiment expressed in "Gold Watch"; and the Marvel Comics series X-Men which was referenced in the official "Superstar" remix), films (particularly Revenge Of The Nerds, and Star Wars, of which he has several underground mixtapes as well as songs named after), different forms of art (specifically Yate-born and social commentary driven graffiti artist Banksy; who Fiasco references in his song "I Gotcha"), and lastly German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

Discography

• Food & Liquor (2006)
• The Cool (2007)
• LupEND (TBA)

Mixtapes and underground

• The Truth Is Among Us (2006)
• Revenge of the Nerds (2006)
• Touch the Sky (2006)
• Lupe the Jedi (2006)
• A Rhyming Ape (2006)
• Nerds in Paradise (2006)
• The Great (2006)
• Chi-Town Guevara (2006)
• It Was Written... (2006)
• Trials and Tribulations Vol. 1 (2006)
• RBK Artists Spotlight Vol. 1 (2006)
• 2K Sports Mixtape (2006)
• Rise of the Phynx: The Mixtape (2006)
• Street Smart (2006)
• Muhammed Walks (2006)
• A Rhyming Ape Special Re-Release (2007)
• A Real MC (2007)
• Da Exam (2007)
• The Coolest Mixtape (2007)
• Follow the Leader (2008)
• Superstardom (2008)

Awards

• BET Awards
  • 2007, Best New Artist (nominated)

• BET Hip Hop Awards
  • 2007, Hip-Hop CD of the Year: Food & Liquor (nominated)
  • 2007, Hip-Hop Video of the Year: "Kick Push" (nominated)
  • 2007, Rookie of the Year: "Kick Push" (nominated)
  • 2007, Element Award- Lyricist of the Year: (nominated)

• Grammy Awards
  • 2008, Best Urban/Alternative Performance: "Daydreamin'(feat Jill Scott)" (Winner)
  • 2007, Best Rap Solo Performance: "Kick Push" (nominated)
  • 2007, Best Rap Song: "Kick Push" (nominated)
  • 2007, Best Rap Album: Food & Liquor (nominated)

• Image Awards
  • 2007, Outstanding New Artist (nominated)

• Soul Train Awards
  • 2007, Best New R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist: "I Gotcha" (nominated)

References

1. Adaso, Henry. "Lupe Fiasco - "Kick, Push"". About.com. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
2. ^ Creekmur, Chuck (2006-02-10). "Lupe Fiasco: Revenge of the Hip-Hop Nerd". Allhiphop.com. Retrieved 2007-09-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. ^ Blackman, Guy (2007-01-08). "Lupe Fiasco - a sheep in wolf's clothing". The Age. Retrieved 2007-09-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
4. ^ Adaso, Henry. "Lupe Fiasco". About.com. Retrieved 2007-04-08.
5. ^ Fruchter, Alexander (2006-05-11). "Hip To Be Square". Soundslam.com. Retrieved 2007-09-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. ^ Kellman, Andy. "Lupe Fiasco: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
7. MP3.com, 2006-09-26. Lupe Fiasco. MP3.com
8. Lupe Fiasco - Almost Famous. Nobody Smiling
9. Rabin, Nathan (2006-07-20). "Lupe Fiasco - Food and Liquor". The Onion AV Club. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
10. Lupe Fiasco Declared GQ's Breakout Man Of The Year
11. "Lupe and Kanye teamed with Radiohead". MTV UK. 2007-05-30. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
12. Gudmundson, Darryl (2007-05-29). "Kanye, Lupe & Pharrell Form Supergroup???". HipHopDX.com. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
13. SOHH Exclusive: Lupe Fiasco Talks Pharrell-Kanye Supergroup, "We Working On Some Surprises" | Daily Hip-Hop News | SOHH.com /
14. Lupe Fiasco Rises To This Year's #7 Hottest MC - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
15. "Justice Remix Lupe Fiasco". MTV. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
16. Simona Siad (2007-01-03). "Would you like music with your [[Reebok]]?: DJ Mick Boogie mixes tunes for kicks, and for fun". Excalibur. Retrieved 2007-04-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)

External links

• Official Website
• Lupe Fiasco's Hypebeast.com blog
• Template:MySpace
• Lupe Fiasco on MTV.com

Template:Persondata

• 1982 births
• African American musicians
• American Muslims
• American rappers
• Chicago musicians
• Living people