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Lupe Fiasco

Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco (Template:Pron-en LOO-pay), is an American rapper, producer and CEO of 1st and 15th Entertainment. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his critically acclaimed debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. He also performs as the frontman of Post Punk band Japanese Cartoon under his real name. [1]

Life and career

1982–1998: Early life

Fiasco was born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco on February 16, 1982[2] in Chicago, Illinois.[3] Born of West African descent,[4] he was one of nine children of Shirley, a gourmet chef, and Gregory, an engineer.[3][5] His father, who was a member of the Black Panther Party,[6] was a prolific African drummer, karate teacher, operating plant engineer[7], and owner of karate schools and army surplus stores.[8] Fiasco was raised Muslim on the West side of Chicago on Madison Terrace housing project.[9][10][11] At the age of three, Fiasco began taking martial arts classes.[12] By age 10, he earned his four black belts in martial arts and two in samurai swords.[13]

His parents would divorce when he was five, and he would go on to live with his mother, but his father still remained prevalent in his life. "After school, my father would come and get us and take us out into the world--one day, we're listening to N.W.A, the next day we're listening to Ravi Shankar, the next day, he's teaching us how to shoot an AK-47, the next day, we're at karate class, the next day, we're in Chinatown...". In sixth grade, he went to live with his father in Harvey, Illinois.[14]

He initially "hated" hip hop music for its use of vulgarity.[10] He began rapping when he was in the eighth grade, and upon hearing Nas' 1996 album, It Was Written, began to pursue hip hop.[8][11][15] He used to go by the stage names of Little Lu and Lu tha Underdog. [16]Growing up, Fiasco 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."[17] He also said of his name, "I simply like the way the word looked (Fiasco). You know how rappers always have names like MC Terrorist--like they're 'terrorizing' other rappers? I knew fiasco meant a great disaster or something like that, but I didn't realize that the person named Fiasco would be the disaster, and that you should be calling other MCs fiascos--not yourself. I was moving real fast at the time, and it kind of humbled me in a sense. It taught me like, 'Yo, stop rushing, or you're going to have some fiascos.' So I just kept it. It's like a scar, I guess, a reminded to not over think or overrun anything ever again." [18]

While at Thornton Township High School, he discovered a love for theatre, and he ran the lights and sound for most of his high school's productions. He also was a member of the chess team and the Knowledge Bowl Decathlon Team.[19]

1999-2005: Career beginnings

When he was 17, even though his parents were not keen on having their son be a rapper, his father did allow him to use his basement for a studio. Fiasco scoured flea markets and secondhand stores, where he was able to find an old mixing board and a record player, along with stacks of vinyl records, and mic stands.[20]

At age 19, Fiasco was in a group called Da Pak, which was influenced by other California gangsta rappers like Spice 1 and Ice Cube. They signed to Epic Records and released one single before splitting up.[21] Fiasco described the experience, saying "We had a song out about cocaine, guns, and women, and I would go to a record store and look at it and think, 'What are you doing?' I felt like a hypocrite. I was acting like this rapper who would never be judged, and I had to destroy that guy. Because what Lupe Fiasco says on this microphone is going to come back to Wasalu Jaco. When the music cuts off, you have to go home and live with what you say."[22] After turning away from gangsta rap, he enjoyed the lyricism of Jay-Z and Nas much more. His mother also gave him a record of The Watts Prophets, one of the first bands to use spoken words with music and would become the basis of rap. [23]

Fiasco later signed a solo deal with Arista Records, but was dropped when president and CEO L. A. Reid was fired.[21] During his short tenure at Arista, he did meet Jay-Z, who was the president of Def Jam Recordings at the time. Jay-Z referred to him as a "breath of fresh air" and that he reminded him of a younger version of himself. Jay-Z would go on and help him get a record deal at Atlantic Records.[24] While he was working on the music for his new album, he released his critically acclaimed mixtape series Fahrenheit 1/15 over the internet. Word spread, and soon enough he was downloaded all over the world. One remix is one of Kanye West's Jesus Walks entitled Muhammad Walks, and it became popular with Muslims all over the world.[25]

After he remixed another one of Kanye's songs, Diamonds from Sierra Leone, and remixed it as Conflict Diamonds. This caught the attention of Kanye, and he asked Fiasco to perform on Touch the Sky. Due to his success with these songs, he saw his first single, Kick, Push, a song about skateboarding and a love story between two lovers sharing the passion, released early. It would go on to be nominated for two 2007 Grammy Awards.[26] The single is about skateboarding and it raised curious eyebrows from hip-hop aficionados, getting the new artist lots of attention.[27] During this time, he had guest appearances on singles on Tha' Rayne's "Kiss Me" and "Didn't You Know" and also K Foxx's 2004 "This Life". He also released the song "Coulda Been" on a compilation of MTV's Advance Warning.[28]

2006–2007: Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor

Fiasco at the 2006 Intonation Music Festival in Illinois

Jay-Z assisted him in the production of what would become his debut album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor.[29] The title is, as Fiasco says, "The title reflects on me being Muslim and being from the streets. In Chicago, instead of having bodegas like in New York, the majority of the corner stores are called 'Food and Liquors.' The store is where everything is at, whether it be the wine-o hanging by the store, or us kids going back and forth to the store to buy something. The 'Food' is the good part and the Liquors is the bad part. I try to balance out both parts of me...Food to me represents growth and progression. You eat food and you get strength. You need it to live. Liquor is not a necessity; it is a want. It destroys you. It breaks you down. I can see why it's prohibited in Islam...I've always felt like liquor represents the bad, the food represents the good, and everyone is made up of a little of both." [30]His single, Kick, Push, became very popular. The song was featured in the videogame NBA Live 2007. As his popularity steadily increased, so did anticipation for his upcoming album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. The album was officially released on September 19, 2006. The album featured production from Jay-Z, Kanye West, Mike Shinoda, The Neptunes, Prolyfic, and more. Singles from the album were "Kick, Push," "I Gotcha" and "Daydreamin'"[31] featuring Jill Scott. The critically lauded album was later nominated for three Grammy Awards including Best Rap Album seeing Lupe walk away with a Grammy for "Best Urban/Alternative Performance" for "Daydreamin" Ft. Jill Scott. [32] In the same year, he was voted by GQ magazine as the "Breakout Man of the Year."[33] He also received four BET Hip Hop Award nominations, and it made it to No. 8 on Billboard 200 and No.2 on Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[34]

2007–2008: Lupe Fiasco's The Cool

In 2007, Fiasco announced his second album, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, a concept album that expands on the story of the track of the same name on his first album. While recording the album, Fiasco's father had died and his business partner, Charles "Chilly" Patton, was convicted of attempting to supply heroin and was sentenced to 44 years in prison.[6] The album was released in December 2007 in United States. The first single and video from the album, "Superstar", featuring Matthew Santos, was released the first week of November 2007. Baseball's Hanley Ramirez, Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Zimmerman, Gerald Laird and Ryan Braun have used "Superstar" as their at-bat song.[35] The song has also been featured in HBO's Hard Knocks TV show. The songs "Put You on Game" and "Little Weapon" are featured in the movie Street Kings in the latest trailer.[citation needed] The album's second single (released in the UK in April 2008) was 'Paris, Tokyo' - a song based around Fiasco's experiences of touring the world between his first and second albums.[36]

Fiasco performing in Melbourne, Australia, 2009

Also in 2007, it was revealed that Fiasco, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams had formed a group known as Child Rebel Soldier.[37][38] CRS has so far released one single, entitled "US Placers" and featuring a Thom Yorke sample.(And have also been featured in the song "Everyone Nose" by Pharell's group N.E.R.D.) Since its release and the ensuing Glow in the Dark Tour, the group has not yet been spoken of any further.

In an interview with The Village Voice, Fiasco revealed that he was writing a novel about a window washer[39] aptly titled Reflections of a Window Washer. In 2008, Fiasco and his band 1500 or Nothin joined West's Glow in the Dark Tour, which also features Rihanna and N.E.R.D. The tour stopped in several cities, including his hometown of Chicago. In 2008, MTV named Fiasco the 7th Hottest MC in the Game[40] and announced that he was remixing The Cool with French electro house act Justice.[41] Fiasco's "Superstar" has been included in the video game Lips.[42]

2009–present: Lasers and Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album

Fiasco, wearing the Big Skull Rugby Polo, performing in Melbourne, Australia, 2009

Fiasco announced at a Chicago concert late in 2008 that his next and most likely final album will be a three disc album and that the first disc "Everywhere" would come out in June 2009. The trio was going to be named LupE.N.D.[43] On January 30, 2009, Lupe Fiasco originally announced that LupE.N.D. will be postponed indefinitely. Instead, he would release three albums; The Great American Rap Album in June 2009, two following albums in December 2009 and June 2010, with LupE.N.D. following afterward.[44] However, it was announced by Fiasco that his next album would instead be titled, "We Are Lasers"; yet later his official rep announced and confirmed that it would instead be titled simply "Lasers".[45] On June 26, Fiasco announced at the Chicago Theater that the album would be released fourth quarter 2009, most likely in December.[46] The album's first single, "Shining Down," features Matthew Santos and is produced by Soundtrakk. The single was released on July 7, 2009.[47] On January 26, 2010, 'I'm Beamin' released. This song is on Lasers, it is referred to as a 'taste' of what is coming.[48] There were a few snippets of songs that have been released as of August 24, 2009. The songs unofficial titles are "Army Girl," "Ladies And Gentlemen," and "2 Ways."[47] Lupe Fiasco has a bonus track called Solar Midnight on iTunes for the New Moon soundtrack in which he produced and performed himself.[49] On October 7, 2009, Lupe released a song in response to the release of MTV's 2009 "Top 10 Hottest MC's List," on which he was absent. Lupe stated that the track, entitled "Fire", would prove that he belonged in the number 1 spot on the following year's list.[50]

In October 2009, Fiasco released two new freestyles, "Turnt Up" and "Say Something". Both freestyles were included on his official mixtape Enemy of the State: A Love Story, released on November 26, 2009. The mixtape also included beats from Diddy's "Angels", Lil Wayne's "Fireman," Slaughterhouse's The One, and Radiohead's "The National Anthem."[51]

In 2009, Fiasco performed in The People Speak a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States”.[52]

In an interview with Australian radio station Triple J, Fiasco revealed that the album had been submitted to his label estimated to be released in 2010. Fiasco used the Steppin Lasers Tour to promote his new album.

Lupe Fiasco has done vocals and a guest verse on Fort Minor's "Be Somebody" a bonus track off their 2005 album The rising Tide, Chris Brown's "Girlfriend" on his 2009 album Graffiti and has provided a guest verse on the song "Past My Shades" from Atlanta rapper B.o.B's 2010 album, B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray.

Lupe Fiasco announced on Twitter that the album is complete and is waiting for Atlantic Records to release it. Fans waiting on the album have put together an online petition demanding that Atlantic Records release Lasers, due to the fact the album was announced last year and still doesn't have a release date. The petition garnered considerable attention on hip hop blog sites as well as attaining over 5,000 signatures on its first day. It has since reached over 25,000 signatures.[53] In response to the petition, Lupe Fiasco released a song titled "B.M.F-Building Minds Faster" as a gift for his fans. The story was featured on many sites, including CNN [54] and MTV [55], in which Lupe said 'I love to see this petition. It brought me to tears a couple of times'.

On August 10th, Lupe Fiasco released a snippet of a song "Go to Sleep," on his official Twitter page. That snippet/song had the album label "Food & Liquor II (TGARA)." This had led to speculation that "Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album," would be Lupe's follow-up to Lasers. A recent twitter post might imply that he will release this follow-up album with a new label, or on his own.

Philanthropy and business ventures

In 2001, Fiasco co-founded with Charles "Chilly" Patton 1st & 15th Entertainment (or "FNF", named after the traditional twice-monthly paycheck dates)[56], a vanity record label under Atlantic.[57] Although Fiasco was initially to serve as vice-president, he became CEO after Patton was convicted on drug charges.[58][59] Fiasco and singer Matthew Santos were two of the most recognizable signed artists. In November 2009, Fiasco announced he would get "rid of the entire First and Fifteenth Record Label. Me and Sarah Green are the only artists on the label, like I got rid of the whole label. It was just such a ‘this isn’t right for you right now. This isn’t gonna work for you right now. You need to be focused on you. Do you really want that, do you really have the capacity to do it?’[60]

In 2005, he founded "Righteous Kung-Fu", a company that designs fashions, sneakers, toys, video games, comic books, and graphics for album covers and skateboard decks. He has also sponsored a skateboard team and has endorsements from DGK Skateboards.[61]

In January 2006, Fiasco 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.[62] Fiasco also runs his own fashion label under the name "Trilly & Truly".[63] Together with Le Messie of FALSE from Singapore he also runs a collaborative clothing line called "Fallacy Of Rome". [64] [65]

On January 7, 2010, Fiasco joined musician Kenna, actress Jessica Biel, and other celebrities and activists for an expedition to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro called Summit on the Summit to raise awareness of the billions of people worldwide who lack access to sanitary drinking water.[66]

On January 20, 2010, Fiasco released a track called "Resurrection" with Kenna in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The song, part of a compilation released through the charity Music for Relief, aimed to encourage donations for immediate relief and long-term recovery following the devastating disaster.

On July 16, 2010, Fiasco under his real name Wasalu Jaco released his Post Punk band Japanese Cartoon's Debut album "In The Jaws Of The Lords Of Death". He mentions Japanese Cartoon's debut release on BBC Radio in an interview with DJ Semtex on July 23rd. [67]

Discography

Main article: Lupe Fiasco discography

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00t2xz6/Hip_Hop_with_Semtex_D_Double_E_live_freestyle/
  2. ^ Wikipedia Files interview of Lupe Fiasco
  3. ^ a b "Lupe Fiasco: Biography". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media.
  4. ^ Lee, Chris (2006-10-01). "Kick, push, coast, rap". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  5. ^ Watson, Margeaux (2008-01-11). "Lupe Fiasco: The Art of Being Cool". Entertainment Weekly. Time. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
  6. ^ a b Collins, Hattie (2008-04-12). "Lupe dreams". The Guardian. London: Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  7. ^ Biography Today. Detroit, Michigan: Omnigraphics. 2009. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-7808-1052-5.
  8. ^ a b Blackman, Guy (2007-01-08). "Lupe Fiasco - a sheep in wolf's clothing". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
  9. ^ "Biography Today", p.58
  10. ^ a b "Lupe Fiasco: rapping outside the box". FindArticles. CBS Corporation. 2006-12. Retrieved 2009-04-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ a b Creekmur, Chuck (2006-02-10). "Lupe Fiasco: Revenge of the Hip-Hop Nerd". Allhiphop.com. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
  12. ^ Morse, Russell (2006-09-07). "10 Artists to Watch 2006". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
  13. ^ "Biography Today", p.58
  14. ^ "Biography Today", pp.59-61
  15. ^ Adaso, Henry. "Lupe Fiasco". About.com. Retrieved 2007-04-08.
  16. ^ "Biography Today", p.61
  17. ^ Fruchter, Alexander (2006-05-11). "Hip To Be Square". Soundslam.com. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
  18. ^ "Biography Today", p.61
  19. ^ "Biography Today", p.61
  20. ^ "Biography Today", p.61
  21. ^ a b Kellman, Andy. "Lupe Fiasco: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
  22. ^ "Biography Today", pp.61-62
  23. ^ "Biography Today", p.62
  24. ^ "Biography Today", p.62
  25. ^ "Biography Today", pp.62-63
  26. ^ "Biography Today", p.63
  27. ^ Lupe's back-story on Exclaim.ca
  28. ^ MP3.com, 2006-09-26. Lupe Fiasco. MP3.com
  29. ^ Watson, Margeaux (2008-01-11). "Meet rapper Lupe Fiasco - Lupe Fiasco's The Cool". Entertainment Weekly. Time. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
  30. ^ "Biography Today", p.64
  31. ^ Cowie.F, Del."Lupe Fiasco Is Not Cool", Exclaim!, February 2008.
  32. ^ http://www.atlanticrecords.com/news/article/?articleId=8a0af81217e7185d01180940409c110d
  33. ^ Lupe Fiasco Declared GQ's Breakout Man Of The Year
  34. ^ "Biography Today", p.65
  35. ^ OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writers (July 31, 2008). OnMilwaukee.com Recommends: July 31 On Milwaukee. Retrieved September 29, 2008.
  36. ^ Lupe Fiasco interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' April 2008
  37. ^ "Lupe and Kanye teamed with Radiohead". MTV UK. 2007-05-30. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  38. ^ Gudmundson, Darryl (2007-05-29). "Kanye, Lupe & Pharrell Form Supergroup???". HipHopDX.com. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  39. ^ Dodero, Camille (2007-12-10). "Interview: Lupe Fiasco". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
  40. ^ Lupe Fiasco Rises To This Year's number seven Hottest MC - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
  41. ^ "Justice Remix Lupe Fiasco". MTV. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
  42. ^ Tom Magrino (October 22, 2008). Rihanna, Duran Duran kissing Lips mid-November GameSpot. Retrieved October 22, 2008.
  43. ^ [1] "Exclaim News". Retrieved November 14, 2008.
  44. ^ "Lupe Fiasco's Retirement Plans Deferred". Rap-Up. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
  45. ^ Martens, Todd (2009-04-09). "Coachella preview: Lupe Fiasco". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
  46. ^ "The LupE.N.D. Blog: Lupe Fiasco's Lasers Update". Lupefiasco-lupend.blogspot.com. 2009-06-27. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  47. ^ a b Shining Down [feat. Matthew Santos] (Explicit Album Version). Amazon.
  48. ^ Up for DiscussionPost Comment (2009-09-14). "Producers Take Lil Wayne To The 'Prom'". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  49. ^ "JUST THE FACTS... - MySpace-blog | van Lupe Fiasco". Blogs.myspace.com. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  50. ^ "Lupe Fiasco Performs "Fire" (Response to MTV 's 2009 Hottest MCs List) for the First Time". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  51. ^ "The LupE.N.D. Blog: Lupe Fiasco - Enemy of the State: A Love Story [Mixtape]". Lupefiasco-lupend.blogspot.com. 2009-11-25. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  52. ^ http://www.thepeoplespeak.com/pages/credits/
  53. ^ http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.11771/title.dx-news-bits-kid-cudi-lupe-fiasco
  54. ^ "Lupe Fiasco fans demand more music". CNN.
  55. ^ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1644559/20100727/fiasco__lupe.jhtml/
  56. ^ "Biography Today", p.62
  57. ^ "History of Record Labels: 1st & 15th Entertainment". Recordlabelhistory.blogspot.com. 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  58. ^ "Lupe Fiasco's Record Label Partner Sentenced To 44 Years, Denies Involvement In Drug Ring". Hiphoprx.com. 2007-06-04. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  59. ^ "Lupe Fiasco's Business Partner Sentenced to 44 Years in Drug Case". XXLmag.com. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  60. ^ "Lupe Fiasco: Don't Forget'em". Rubyhornet.com. 2009-11-09. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  61. ^ "Biography Today", pp.68-69
  62. ^ 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}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  63. ^ "Trilly & Truly®". Trillyandtruly.com. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  64. ^ http://wearefalse.com
  65. ^ "Fallacy Of Rome". fallacyofrome.com. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  66. ^ Santigold and Lupe Fiasco to Climb Mount Kilimanjaro With Jessica Biel. 11 December 2009.<http://pitchfork.com/news/37376-santigold-and-lupe-fiasco-to-climb-mount-kilimanjaro/>
  67. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00t2xz6/Hip_Hop_with_Semtex_D_Double_E_live_freestyle/
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