The group disbanded shortly after its inception, and Lupe Fiasco soon met rapper Jay-Z who helped him sign a record deal with Atlantic Records.
53 Facts About Lupe Fiasco
2.
Lupe Fiasco released his second album, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, in December 2007.
3.
Lupe Fiasco has been involved with charitable activities, including the Summit on the Summit expedition, and in 2010 he recorded a benefit single for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
4.
Lupe Fiasco is noted for his anti-establishment views, which he has expressed in both interviews and his music.
5.
Lupe Fiasco was born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco on February 16,1982, in Chicago, Illinois.
6.
Lupe Fiasco is of West African descent, one of nine children of Shirley, a chef, and Gregory, an engineer.
7.
Lupe Fiasco's father, a member of the Black Panther Party, was a prolific African drummer, karate teacher, operating plant engineer, and owner of karate schools and army surplus stores.
8.
Lupe Fiasco was raised Muslim on the West Side of Chicago on Madison Terrace housing project.
9.
At the age of three, Lupe Fiasco began taking martial arts classes.
10.
Lupe Fiasco's parents divorced when he was five, and he went on to live with his mother, but his father still remained an important part of his life.
11.
Lupe Fiasco's father lived next door to a crack house and taught Fiasco to use guns to defend himself from drug dealers.
12.
Lupe Fiasco began rapping his poems in the eighth grade, and upon hearing Nas' 1996 album, It Was Written, began to pursue hip hop.
13.
Lupe Fiasco's father allowed him and Bishop to make mixtapes in his basement, and the two gained notoriety at the school for their music.
14.
When Lupe Fiasco was 18, he began creating music as a solo artist in his father's basement, even though his parents were not keen on having their son be a rapper.
15.
Lupe Fiasco scoured flea markets and secondhand stores, where he was able to find an old mixing board and a record player, stacks of vinyl records, and mic stands.
16.
At age 19, Lupe Fiasco joined a group called Da Pak, which was influenced by other California gangsta rappers such as Spice 1 and Ice Cube.
17.
Lupe Fiasco's mother gave him a record of the influential group The Watts Prophets, one of the first bands to use spoken words with music.
18.
Lupe Fiasco viewed the song as a turning point in his career that marked a drastic change in the subject matter of his music.
19.
Lupe Fiasco remixed Kanye West's song, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", renaming the new version as "Conflict Diamonds".
20.
At a performance in New Zealand in February 2010, Lupe Fiasco performed new material from the then-titled We Are Lasers for the first time.
21.
Lupe Fiasco claimed that the album was complete and waiting for a release date from his label, Atlantic Records.
22.
Lupe Fiasco declined, as he was told he would not have any ownership of the songs.
23.
Lupe Fiasco was unsure if the Food and Liquor II would ever be released, though he released the song "Go To Sleep" from the record "out of desperation" to put out new music.
24.
Lupe Fiasco pursued numerous side projects in the midst of the delay.
25.
Additionally, On July 16,2010, Lupe Fiasco released his rock side-project Japanese Cartoon's debut EP In The Jaws of the Lords of Death.
26.
Lupe Fiasco later involved himself at the Occupy Wall Street movement where he donated tents and released a poem in support of the protesters.
27.
Lupe Fiasco released his "Friend of the People: I Fight Evil" mixtape on Thanksgiving Day.
28.
In 2012, Lupe Fiasco collaborated with Australian singer Guy Sebastian on the single "Battle Scars".
29.
The single was recorded in Sebastian's Sydney studio when Lupe Fiasco was in Australia for Supafest, and is featured on Sebastian's album Armageddon.
30.
Lupe Fiasco has said the album showcases more of his dexterity and lyrical substance.
31.
Lupe Fiasco then said that he would release another studio album in 2013.
32.
On October 14,2013, Lupe Fiasco released the first supposed song from the album, "Old School Love", featuring singer Ed Sheeran.
33.
On May 19,2014, Lupe Fiasco released the first promotional single before the announcement of the album's track list.
34.
Lupe Fiasco has teamed up with Stand Up to Cancer as a celebrity ambassador.
35.
On June 24,2014, Lupe Fiasco released a second promotional single titled "Next to It" which features Ty Dolla Sign on the hook.
36.
The feud between Kid Cudi and Lupe Fiasco has not been resolved and has reportedly become worse, with Lupe Fiasco making threats on MTV.
37.
In March 2018, Lupe Fiasco premiered a three-part television documentary called Beat N Path where he embarked on a journey around China to follow his passion for martial arts.
38.
On September 13,2018, Lupe Fiasco announced that Drogas Wave will be released on September 21,2018.
39.
On 28 April 2023, Lupe Fiasco released the song "SentRock" in collaboration with the Chicago visual artist SentRock.
40.
Lupe Fiasco rejects the misogyny common in hip hop, which he discusses in the song "Hurt Me Soul".
41.
Lupe Fiasco wrote plays as a child, which had a strong effect on his songwriting approaches.
42.
Lupe Fiasco utilizes both metaphors and literal statements in his work, which he describes as "getting from point A to point B in as few words as possible".
43.
Lupe Fiasco has sponsored a skateboard team and has endorsements from DGK Skateboards.
44.
In 2009, Lupe Fiasco performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that employs 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.
45.
On January 7,2010, Lupe Fiasco joined musician Kenna, actress Jessica Biel, and other celebrities and activists for an expedition to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro called Summit on the Summit to raise awareness of the billions of people worldwide who lack access to sanitary drinking water.
46.
On January 20,2010, Lupe Fiasco released a track called "Resurrection" with Kenna in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
47.
Between 2020 and 2023, Lupe Fiasco has been a visiting scholar and artist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, often in collaboration with Professor of Digital Media Nick Montfort.
48.
Lupe Fiasco is an avid gamer and likes to play the Street Fighter series of fighting games.
49.
Lupe Fiasco says he did not vote in US elections until 2018.
50.
Lupe Fiasco said on Twitter that he now votes due to the racial views of Donald Trump, and that he generally votes for Democratic candidates.
51.
In June 2015, Lupe Fiasco wrote an open letter about white supremacy.
52.
In 2006, Lupe Fiasco was named one of GQ's Men of the Year along with being awarded one Grammy in 2008 along with 12 nominations.
53.
Lupe Fiasco has been nominated for numerous other awards and has been awarded the Character Approved Award for a Musician by USA in 2009.