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Biography
Born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco to a mother who was a gourmet chef and a father who was an engineer, Lupe Fiasco has a background equally as interesting and unique as the music that he creates today. He grew up in Chicago’s Madison Terrace housing project, a dangerous neighbourhood at the best of times but Lupe’s parents, despite the fact that they split when their son was five, made a concerted effort to educate their son and bring him up the best way that they could.
After they split Lupe lived with his mother by day, who kept him as well read as he could possibly be, but his father was a very large part of his life even then. By sixth grade Lupe was living with his father and getting into music in a big way, but strangely enough it wasn’t hip-hop he was absorbing. In something that would allude to just how unique rapper he would become in his later years, the young Lupe hated hip-hop for its misogyny and vulgarity. He was hooked on jazz instead and was never going to be a passive listener but try as he might, he could never get the hang of an instrument.
This lead Lupe to try his hand at writing poems instead and that coincided with him discovering Nas’ 1996 album “It Was Written”, which captivated him and by 8th grade, he was taking his poems and performing them as raps. By high school he met a school-mate and gang member by the name of Bishop G, the two connected over a shared taste in music and began making mixtapes in Lupe’s father’s basement. Even from the start Lupe’s music was eclectic, to the extent that Lupe and Bishop’s first performance went disastrously as their local hip-hop community wasn’t as accepting as Lupe and Bishop were hoping it would be.
Undeterred, Lupe was still dead set on making music and at the age of 17, he decided to try out for a career in hip-hop, although his parents weren’t impressed. Taking an extended version of his nickname, Lu, and referencing The Firm’s song “Firm Fiasco”, he adopted the stage name Lupe Fiasco, and by 19, he was in a group called Da Pak. His group released one single on Epic Records before splitting up, and Lupe was highly critical of the song afterwards, which was a pretty standard guns and cocaine anthem and nothing that the more thoughtful Lupe wanted to put his name on.
It still made his name in a big way, and Lupe continued making music without a group, continuing to take his music down more interesting and esoteric avenues than hip-hop was used to going down. His song “Could Have Been” was discovered by MTV and led to a record deal with Arista Records, but was dropped when the label’s president and CEO L.A Reid was fired. It was still a vital time for Lupe, however, as during his time on the label he met Def Jam Recordings president and one of Lupe’s all time biggest influences Jay-Z, who took a shine to the young rapper almost immediately.
Hova was so impressed with Lupe’s work that he got the young rapper a record deal with Atlantic Records, and while working on his debut album, he released a series of massively acclaimed mixtapes onto the internet to build his reputation. Big things were afoot from the start, but Lupe’s career was given a jumpstart after featuring on the hit Kanye West single “Touch The Sky”, and the release of “Kick, Push”, Lupe’s debut single, was brought forward as a result of “Touch The Sky’s” success.
By September 2006, Lupe’s debut album “Lupe Fiasco’s Food And Liquor” was released. Ever since then, his work has been feted for his lyrical dexterity and eclectic choice of samples and production work. On some occasions he’s even managed to take such left-field music and make legitimate smash hit singles out of it, with “Superstar” and “The Show Goes On” hitting the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. Clearly, there are very few artists around with the vision, talent and work ethic of Lupe Fiasco, and every hip-hop fan should be proud of the fact that he’s in his prime right now, and he’ll remain there for a very long time.
Live reviews
A musician and an entrepreneur; not something that is common in rapping world, but Lupe Fiasco, as well as being a top class rapper, successfully runs two clothing lines, designs trainers, and is involved in charity work. It’s fantastic how an artist can make the time for all these other business ventures along side a busy schedule touring the world.
Going to see Fiasco, you can expect an energy filled performance. His lyrics are truthful and original, and the pace and clarity at which he speaks them is something that will catch you off guard even if you’re accustomed to listening to his recorded work. More often than not, Lupe will hand his microphone to one or two very lucky audience members who are able to sing along with him to an entire stadium of fans. This is an incredible experience, and something that really makes the audience understand how grateful he is for his opportunities.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Lupe is incredibly cool, and the show he brings is just that. He creates an incredible story for each of his songs and is honest and down to earth with his audience about his past and influences. An honest, sobering, yet electric performer, who seems to never have a bad day.
yazhow
Seeing Lupe Fiasco live always feels like a treat due to the fact being a hip hop sensation is not his only day job. Lupe also owns two businesses and is heavily involved in the fashion industry so when he does step from out of the studio and onto the stage, the fans are always excited. Since his debut in 2006, Fiasco's reputation and fan base has grown at a rapid pace due to the simultaneous commercial and critical success that his work garnered.
Now his live shows are packed to the rafters and from the moment the stage lights go down the audience erupts in cheers and keeps this level of enthusiasm throughout the gig. An undeniably cool performer, Lupe has brilliant rapport with his crowd and a charmingly cheeky personality between tracks.
Although when he performs slick renditions of 'Out Of My Head' and 'Words I Never Say' he is completely in the zone and concentrating on recreating the complex verse. A surprise cover of Kanye West's 'Touch The Sky' makes the audience scream even louder before wrapping up a concise, high quality set with the booming 'Battle Scars'.
sean-ward
Lupe Fiasco is an American rapper who has achieved commercial success and steadily been rising through the ranks of rap music since 2006. Fiasco has accumulated a lot of fans since his early days in the early noughties. His fans are some of the most devoted around and are always incredibly excited when Fiasco tours, especially as he dedicates a lot of his time these days to the fashion industry and the running of his two businesses. Despite this, Fiasco has his roots in music and when he does step on to stage, you can see why. He is a natural performer with great stage presence and confidence. His performance was energetic and exciting, the lyrics of his raps powerful and original. Fiasco engaged with the audience, getting them to jump up and down for ‘The Show Goes on’, which the crowd happily complied with, and holding the microphone out for us to sing along to his best known tracks. ‘Battle Scars’, ‘Words I Never Said’ and the hit ‘Superstar’ were all highlights of the night.
sabraziz
Lupe has a show format that is unlike any other show I've seen... It's like a get-together with the artist. The music is there... And the music is awesome as usual. But it fades into the background really as you hang out with the person himself. He had one half of the crowd competing with the other half of the crowd. For that reason always stand on Lupe's right side ( left side of stage ) ... That side usually wins :-)
He talked with individual people in the front row very personally in a comedic way but also in a serious way. He asked them how many shows they have been to... It was my first but for them it was their 15th or 7th... I totally understand why people would go and see him so many times. Awesome person. Amazing performance
digitalextremist
Hands down a must see hip hop performer. It was amazing how he played his setlist an in order that kept everyone going, Really had a blast! This was my first lupe fiasco show but trust me there will be more to come! Good vibes everywhere and the crowd was superenergetic. If you are thinking about going to one definently do it, its totally worth it.
kevinpantoja28
Lupe Fiasco gave the best live performance I have ever attended. He played a full 2 hour set in Chicago of hits, deep cuts, and his legendary technical songs. Hype energy, audience participation, his funny banter with the crowd kept everyone happy, and his live delivery is untouchable. Incredibly dope show!
OceanSage
SHIT WAS FIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I LEARNED MORE FROM THIS CONCERT THAN I DID IN HIGH SCHOOL. EDUCATE YOURSELF WITH MURAL; A GLIMPSE INTO LUPE'S STREAM OF CONCIOUSNESS. STOP BEING DUMB NIGGA, GET EDUCATED. GO TO A LUPE CONCERT.
danyiel
First time seeing Lupe perform and it was great I mean this dude had great stage presence. His definitely been my favorite since his mixtapes and all his album. He is a legend and in my greatest rappers of all time list . First and fifteen yeaaaaa
KevThePope
Lupe Fiasco was awesome! Apparently he had to leave early last time he was in Seattle, so he went on for another quarter of a show, rapid firing some of his tracks for us. He's definitely a weird character and it was awesome to see him!
saiichi
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