– In January 2006, Fiasco signed a deal with Reebok. His first artist (outside of his own projects) will be Gemini. – Through Atlantic Records, his homebase, Fiasco launched his own company, 1st & 15th Entertainment. – His most nominations came at the 2007 BET Hip Hop Awards: Hip Hop CD of the Year (Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor) Hip Hop Video of the Year (“Kick Push”) Rookie of the Year and Element Award – Lyricist of the Year. – In addition to the Grammys, Fiasco was also honored at the 2007 BET Awards (Best New Artist nomination) and 2007 Soul Train Awards (Best New R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist nomination for “I Gotcha”). – Fiasco was nominated for three Grammy Awards-Best Rap Solo Performance (“Kick Push”) Best Rap Song (“Kick Push”) and Best Rap Album (Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor). – In 2005, Fiasco delivered a scene-stealing verse on Kanye West’s hit single, “Touch The Sky.” Having brushed with fame while admirably maintaining his integrity, Fiasco is now taking his substance-over-style approach to new, conceptual levels on his sophomore effort, Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool. Such verbal gifts became crystal clear on his critically lauded debut, Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor. After years of false-starting label deals and mixtape dominance, Fiasco broke through the mainstream’s shield in early 2006 with “Kick Push,” a breezy skateboarder’s ballad that only hinted at his lyrical wizardry. If most year-end top-10 lists hadn't already been compiled, this would be a cool addition.Lupe Fiasco (star/narrator/writer/director)īiography: Born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, Lupe Fiasco is a rarity in today’s record industry – an artist more concerned with creating timeless, not timely, music. At more than 75 minutes, the album runs on a little long, and the excision of the more repetitive, midtempo tracks wouldn't have done any harm. There are only two things that aren't so cool about Fiasco's sophomore release. (The best bit involves a thug MC excoriating Fiasco's "boring" flow and then asking to be on his next single.) Each is concerned that rap fans might realize smart can be cool and that they actually have options. The pinnacle of these examinations is "Dumb It Down," which finds Fiasco ramping up the dreamy metaphoric imagery on the verses as various voices - friends, executives, fellow rappers - plead with him on the clever choruses to try rapping about his bling, his rims, or his desire to douse chicks with designer champagne. (Technically, it's a concept record about "the life," but it's not necessary to grok the characters to enjoy the record.) He's as interested in the negative themes in contemporary hardcore hip-hop as he is in the socioeconomic underpinnings that helped create them and turn them into saleable commodities of urban realism.įiasco uses his cerebral but accessible lyrics to examine all angles of the games being played out on neighborhood street corners, in corporate boardrooms, and at strategy sessions on front lines in all kinds of wars around the globe.
#Lupe fiasco the cool plus#
Plus he employs Snoop Dogg with nary a mention of weed or a whiff of misogyny that's cool.īut perhaps what's most refreshing about "The Cool" is Fiasco's strict adherence to raising the level of conversation about hip-hop itself.
Fiasco seems to have chosen his guests based on their creative merits instead of mutually beneficial brand marketing. Textured tracks - with help from disparate producers like Soundtrakk and Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump - go in dramatically opposed directions but still sound good side by side. He also earned cool critical acclaim and the embrace of the hipster crowd with his inventive rhymes on tracks like the pensive skater jam "Kick, Push." Some observers also thought it was cool that he was a Muslim who didn't shy away from his religious identity, even though it wasn't the focus of his music.įiasco builds on that promise exponentially with the triumphant "Cool," which gets extra style points for bringing back the idea of the headphones hip-hop album. On his 2006 debut, "Food & Liquor," the Chicago MC (né Wasalu Muhammad Jaco) was cool by association since he was Kanye West's protégé. Lupe Fiasco's second album, out today, is called "The Cool." When you make a statement like that, it begs the question: How cool is Lupe Fiasco? Let us count the ways.
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