Lupe Fiasco

Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco, is an American rapper and record producer.

Fiasco was born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco on February 16, 1982, in Chicago, Illinois.

Fiasco is of West African descent, one of nine children of Shirley, a chef, and Gregory, an engineer.

His 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.

Fiasco was raised Muslim on the West Side of Chicago on Madison Terrace housing project.

At the age of three, he began taking martial arts classes.

His 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.

He described his father's influence over the family by saying, "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 full-time in Harvey, Illinois.

His father lived next door to a crack house and taught Fiasco to use guns to defend himself from drug dealers.

Despite his unstable upbringing, Fiasco states that he was well-educated as a child, asserting that his parents exposed him to a diverse array of subjects and that reading was highly encouraged in his household.

As a teenager, Fiasco participated in Academic Decathlon competitions.

His mother described him by saying, "He was a great spirited child. Smart, a bit complex; he kind of was a loner; he didn't hang with a lot of people...He always had the glasses. Always had a book bag over his shoulder and some type of a writing tablet."

Fiasco initially disliked hip hop music for its use of vulgarity, and preferred to listen to jazz; he idolized clarinet player Benny Goodman.

His struggle to learn to play an instrument led him to create poetry instead, which led to his interest in the lyrical aspects of music.

He began rapping his poems in the eighth grade, and upon hearing Nas' 1996 album, It Was Written, began to pursue hip hop.

While attending Thornton Township High School, Fiasco met gang member Bishop G. The two became friends due to their shared interest in music.

Fiasco's father allowed him and Bishop to make mixtapes in his basement, and the two gained notoriety at the school for their music.

However, they were kicked off stage during their first performance because their eclectic musical style was not embraced by the hip hop community.

Early in his career, he went by stage names Little Lu and Lu tha Underdog.

He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor.

He also performs as the frontman of rock band Japanese Cartoon under his real name.

In September 2006, Fiasco released his debut album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor on the label, which received three Grammy nominations.

He released his second album, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, in December 2007.

The lead single "Superstar" became his first top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

He 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.

Fiasco is also noted for his anti-establishment views, which he has expressed in both interviews and his music.

After a two-year delay, his third album, Lasers, was released in May 2011 to mixed reviews; however, it became his first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200.

The album was preceded by his highest charting single, "The Show Goes On", which peaked at number 9.

He released his fourth album, Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1, in September 2012.

As an entrepreneur, Fiasco was the chief executive officer of 1st and 15th Entertainment.

Raised in Chicago, Jaco developed an interest in hip hop after initially disliking the genre for its use of vulgarity and misogyny.

After adopting the name Lupe Fiasco and recording songs in his father's basement, 19-year-old Fiasco joined a group called Da Pak.

The group disbanded shortly after its inception, and Fiasco soon met rapper Jay-Z, who helped him sign a record deal with Atlantic Records.

His fifth album, Tetsuo & Youth, released in January 2015.

His sixth album, Drogas Light, released in February 2017.

His seventh album, Drogas Wave, released in September 2018.

His eighth and latest album, Drill Music in Zion, was released in June 2022.

In addition to music, Fiasco has pursued other business ventures, including fashion.

He runs two clothing lines, Righteous Kung-Fu and Trilly & Truly; he has designed sneakers for Reebok.