Lupe Fiasco

West Side roots

Wasalu Muhammad Jaco was born in Chicago on February 16, 1982, and grew up on the city's West Side before his family moved to the suburb of Harvey, Illinois, when he was in sixth grade. At 19 he joined the group Da Pak, which signed to Epic Records but split after a single song. He then co-founded 1st & 15th Entertainment and had a brief stint with Arista Records before Jay-Z helped him secure a deal with Atlantic.

Breakthrough

His verse on Kanye West's 2006 single “Touch the Sky” brought him national attention, and his “Fahrenheit 1/15” mixtape series built anticipation for his debut. “Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor” arrived on September 19, 2006, via 1st & 15th and Atlantic, debuting at No. 8 on the Billboard 200. Led by the skateboarding anthem “Kick, Push,” it drew four Grammy nominations, and “Daydreamin'” with Jill Scott won Best Urban/Alternative Performance. Producers included Soundtrakk, Kanye West, the Neptunes and Mike Shinoda.

Chart peak and later work

“Lupe Fiasco's The Cool” (2007) yielded the top-10 single “Superstar” with Matthew Santos. After a long label standoff, “Lasers” was released on March 7, 2011, and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200; its lead single “The Show Goes On,” built on Pachelbel's “Canon,” reached No. 9 on the Hot 100. He followed with “Food & Liquor II” (2012), “Tetsuo & Youth” (2015), “Drogas Wave” (2018), “Drill Music in Zion” (2022) and “Samurai” (2024).

Legacy

With one Grammy win from a dozen nominations, Lupe Fiasco is regarded as one of the most technically ambitious lyricists of his generation, and he has also worked with the rock band Japanese Cartoon and the group Child Rebel Soldier.

Read the story: Chicago Rap, Decade by Decade: From Hip House to Drill