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1. Lupe Fiasco – Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco, is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album and he also performs as the frontman of rock band Japanese Cartoon under his real name. As an entrepreneur, Fiasco is the executive officer of 1st. Raised in Chicago, Jaco developed an interest in hip hop after initially disliking the genre for its use of vulgarity, after adopting the name Lupe Fiasco and recording songs in his fathers 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 deal with Atlantic Records. In September 2006, Fiasco released his debut album Lupe Fiascos Food & Liquor on the label and he released his second album, Lupe Fiascos The Cool, in December 2007. The lead single Superstar became his first top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, after a two-year delay, Lasers was released in March 2011 to mixed reviews, however, it became his first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. His latest album, Tetsuo & Youth, was released in January 2015, 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 and 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 interviews and his music. Fiasco was born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco on February 16,1982 in Chicago, Fiasco is of West African descent, one of nine children of Shirley, a gourmet chef, and Gregory, an engineer. His father, a member of the Black Panther Party, was a prolific African drummer, karate teacher, operating plant engineer, Fiasco was raised Muslim on the West Side of Chicago on Madison Terrace housing project. At the age of three, Fiasco began taking martial arts classes and 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. In sixth grade, he went to live with his father full-time in Harvey and his father lived next door to a crack house and taught Fiasco to use guns to defend himself from drug dealers. As a teenager, Fiasco participated in Academic Decathlon competitions and his mother described him by saying, He was a great spirited child. Smart, a bit complex, he kind of was a loner, 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 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 grade, and upon hearing Nas 1996 album, It Was Written
2. Lupe Fiasco discography – The discography of American rapper Lupe Fiasco consists of five studio albums, thirteen singles, and thirteen music videos on Atlantic Records and his sub-label 1st & 15th Entertainment. Lupe has also released several mixtapes, Fiasco has made music with a number of artists including international artists, such as Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Pharrell Williams, Jay Z, DOUBLE, Joy Denalane and Dan the Automator. He has also made music with musicians outside of the hip hop genre and his debut album, Lupe Fiascos Food & Liquor, was released in 2006. His second album, Lupe Fiascos The Cool was his first album to be given an RIAA certification, Lupe Fiascos The Cool has also spurred his first top 10 single, Superstar. The song was certified platinum by the RIAA. Both of his first two albums have met with positive feedback, with several critics labeling his debut as a masterpiece. Some critics have also stated Lupe Fiascos The Cool as an even greater followup, Lasers has also been certified Gold. The lead single for the album, The Show Goes On has been his most successful single to date, reaching the top 10, despite the succes Lasers was met with mixed reviews from music critics. In 2012 he released his 4th studio album Food & Liquor II, the album was met with positive reviews. In 2015 he released his 5th studio album Tetsuo & Youth after being delayed several times and it debuted at number 14 on the charts and was met with critical acclaim from music critics and was ranked in many year end lists. Lupe Fiasco discography, forum, and marketplace at Discogs
3. Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor – The album features production from The Neptunes, Kanye West, Mike Shinoda, Craig Kallman, Prolyfic, Needlz, Soundtrakk, and Brandon Howard. Jay-Z, Chill, and Fiasco himself are credited as the producers for the album. Songs on the record discuss poverty, Islam, terrorism, racism, the album received four Grammy Award nominations, including Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 49th Grammy Awards. Daydreamin, featuring Jill Scott, won Best Urban/Alternative Song at the 50th Grammy Awards, the album was digitally re-released on September 13,2011 to mark its 5th anniversary, this version features four new tracks. On April 30,2015, Lupe Fiasco released a video for Just Might Be O. K. nine years after the albums original release. At age 19, Fiasco was signed to Epic Records and was a member of a group called Da Pak, the group released one single before splitting up. He later signed a contract with Arista Records, but was dropped when president. In 2006, recording artist Jay-Z was impressed by Fiascos feature on Kanye Wests Touch the Sky, the title of the album, refers to the various Food and Liquor stores in Chicago neighborhoods. It also refers to the constant tug of war between good and evil, the title is a philosophy that Fiasco believes about human nature. He went on to elaborate, In Chicago, instead of having bodegas like in New York, the store is where everything is at, whether it be the wine-o hanging by the store, or us as kids going back and forth to the store to buy something. The Food is the part and the Liquor is the bad part. I try to balance out both parts of me, prior to the release of Food & Liquor, Fiasco was one of Rolling Stone magazines List of Artists to Watch in 2006. In April 2006, the album was leaked onto the Internet. With the leak of the album, Fiasco was heralded as the savior of hip hop by critics, as well as fellow recording artists West. In response of the leak, Fiasco recorded additional songs for the album, despite stating he would only work with Prolyfic and Soundtrakk, he also worked with other record producers, including Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Mike Shinoda. Recording sessions took place at the 1st & 15th Studios in Chicago, Illinois, the Record Plant Studios in Hollywood, California, prior to its release, Fiasco had to make several last-minute changes due to sample issues. Food & Liquor contains elements of midwest hip hop and alternative hip hop, Fiasco covers a wide variety of subjects on the album. The opening track begins with Fiasco chanting the opening lines of the Quran in Arabic, the following track, Real, is a reflection of making music of which he doesnt have to be ashamed
4. Lupe Fiasco's The Cool – Lupe Fiascos The Cool is the second studio album by Chicago-native rapper Lupe Fiasco. It was released on December 18,2007, by 1st & 15th Entertainment, Recording sessions took place during 2006 to 2007, with Lupe Fiasco himself, alongside Charles Patton serving as the records executive producers. The concept album, The Cool was based upon the song, the album features guest appearances from Gemini, Snoop Dogg and Matthew Santos, while the production was provided by Patrick Stump, Soundtrakk and Unkle, among others. The album debuted at number 15 on the US Billboard 200, the album debuted as the number-one rap record and remained for 9 weeks. To date, the album was a gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. At the 2009s Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for the Best Rap Album, when asked about the albums dark side, Lupe Fiasco replied, Oh yeah. I lost my father, I lost my business partner to prison and it was a very dark period. It still is in some aspects, but you know, Im kind of coming out of it, but especially during the time that the album was being cooked, in my head it was a very dark kind of period. Lupe Fiascos The Cool expands on the story with Lupe telling on the track, Fiasco introduces the characters the Streets and the Game. Speaking on the concept Lupe said, I expand on the story, shes like the action personification of the streets, the street life, the call of the streets. The Game is the same way, the Game is the personification of the game. The pimps game, the game, the con mans game. Like the Cool, his hand is rotted away. The only thing that rotted away was his right hand and it represents the rotting away of his righteousness, of his good. And the Streets and the Cool kind of have an affair going on. So shes represented by this locket, and the locket has a key and its on fire. And as a gift to the Cool on his rise to fame, and the key represents the key to the Streets. So she wears a locket around her neck at all times, and the way the story goes, she has given that key to tons of people throughout time
5. Lasers (album) – Lasers is the third studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, released on March 7,2011 by Atlantic Records. Production for the album took place between 2008 and 2010, Lasers features production by The Audibles, The Neptunes, Needlz, Alex da Kid, Syience, and long-time collaborator Soundtrakk, among others. Trey Songz, John Legend, Skylar Grey, Sway, Matt Mahaffey, MDMA, Eric Turner, Lasers was preceded by the lead single The Show Goes On and its follow-up Words I Never Said featuring Skylar Grey. The former became Fiascos highest charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been certified double Platinum in the US, the latter, however, only achieved moderate success on the Hot 100. The album has received mixed or average reviews from most major music critics, Lupe Fiasco was supposedly going to released a triple album, titled LupE. N. D. as his third and final record, but his contract with Atlantic Records prevented him from doing so. Indefinitely and intended on releasing an album tentatively titled The Great American Rap Album in June 2009, instead, the album was also postponed and he announced that a new album was in the works, originally titled We Are Lasers and then changed to Lasers. Lasers is a backronym for Love Always Shines Everytime, Remember 2 Smile, referring to the title of the album, Fiasco has stated, Ive always had that word in my head, Im a word guy. And I thought lasers would be a name for an album, so when I came up with it I just put it in my think-tank and let it evolve. In 2010, to promote the message of the album, Fiasco released a video onto the internet titled The L. A. S. E. R. S. Manifesto, which can be found on both YouTube and the official website, the manifesto reads, On January 4,2011, Billboard revealed two guest appearances on Fiascos album Lasers. The guests confirmed were Trey Songz and British rapper Sway, in the interview with Billboard, Fiasco expressed his thoughts on music piracy and fighting track leaks on various blogs. I definitely think I was part of changing that, and an influence to a lot dudes that are coming out today, some of the records are controversial, but it’s less cohesive than The Cool. Talking about the album with Details, Fiasco has stated that he wanted to make a popular record and he has also stated that the creation of the album was a very painful, dark, fucked-up process. In a February 2011 interview with Complex, Fiasco has stated, Speaking about the album with the Chicago Sun-Times, Fiasco has stated, Im actually happy with the record. I feel I got to say what I wanted even with -- It doesnt make up for what it took to get through it and its still being argued and debated upon. The climate of record was very weird, in some instances surreal. I had to create this commercial art that appeases the corporate side, I had to acquiesce to certain forces. Hopefully within that I snuck in some things I actually wanted to say any way I can, in an interview with The Guardian, Fiasco has expressed that during the recording process of the album he has dealt with depression and suicidal thoughts, It was mentally destructive
6. Tetsuo & Youth – Tetsuo & Youth is the fifth studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco. The album was released on January 20,2015, by 1st & 15th Entertainment and it was promoted by the Tetsuo & Youth preview tour, which took place on November 2,2014 to December 15,2014. Lupes label-mate Stalley was an act on the tour, while The Boy Illinois took role as an opening act. The album was supported by the single Deliver, Tetsuo & Youth received generally positive reviews from critics, citing it as a significant improvement and return to form in comparison to previous work. The album debuted at number 14 on the Billboard 200, selling 42,000 copies in its first week, on February 10,2013, on the red carpet for the Grammy Awards, Lupe Fiasco has announced that his fifth studio album would be titled Tetsuo & Youth. LupEND confirmed on his Tumblr account that features on his album would include the guest appearances from Rick Ross, chance the Rapper, Ab-Soul, Ed Sheeran and Ty Dolla Sign, among others. Lupe Fiasco says the name of the album was inspired by Tetsuo Shima. For me, Tetsuo sounds cool he stated, on August 24,2013, Lupe revealed a preview of Crack, a single featuring Chris Brown. The track was first said to be the first single released from the album, another song, entitled Drizzys Law which was intended to make the album cut, has also not officially been released. Though he still plans to release these songs according to his Twitter account, on October 14,2013, Lupe released a standalone single Old School Love featuring English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, who contributes vocals to the songs hook. The song peaked at number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and its music video was filmed with Sheeran in Chicago, and was premiered on December 9,2013. On May 19,2014, Lupe released the first promotional single titled Mission, the intro to the song features singer-songwriter Charlie Wilson and other cancer survivors detailing their type of cancer and when they were diagnosed. On June 24,2014, Lupe released the promotional single titled Next to It featuring Ty Dolla Sign. The song was produced by Ty Dolla Sign, and co-produced by Shafiq Husayn of the Los Angeles production team Sa-Ra. On November 10,2014, Lupe released the first official single from Tetsuo & Youth titled Deliver, Tetsuo & Youth received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications. Club said, Tetsuo & Youth finds its equilibrium by not pushing as hard, opting for subtle, michael Madden of Consequence of Sound said, Lupe is still a guy to root for, and Tetsuo & Youth is full of daring songs that remind you of why. Stephen F. Kearse of Paste said, On the whole, Tetsuo and this energy isnt always wielded coherently or even interestingly, but he seems to have found comfort in his murals and dots and lines
7. Occupy Wall Street – The Canadian, anti-consumerist, pro-environment group/magazine Adbusters initiated the call for a protest. The OWS slogan, We are the 99%, refers to income inequality, to achieve their goals, protesters acted on consensus-based decisions made in general assemblies which emphasized direct action over petitioning authorities for redress. The protesters were forced out of Zuccotti Park on November 15,2011, protesters turned their focus to occupying banks, corporate headquarters, board meetings, foreclosed homes, and college and university campuses. The New York Times reported in May 2014 that declassified documents showed extensive surveillance, earlier, on November 25, Wolf asserted in the Guardian that the crackdown itself was coordinated by federal agencies. The first such proposal appeared on the Adbusters website on February 2,2011, lasn registered the OccupyWallStreet. org web address on June 9. That same month, Adbusters emailed its subscribers saying “America needs its own Tahrir. ”White said the reception of the idea snowballed from there, the protest was promoted with an image featuring a dancer atop Wall Streets iconic Charging Bull statue. Meanwhile, several proposals were being explored by independent groups, as reported by journalist Nathan Schneider in his book Thank You, Anarchy. Which eventually became known as Occupy Washington, D. C, on August 1,2011, almost a month prior to the major media event, a group of artists were arrested after a series of days protesting nude as an art performance on Wall Street. This event may have inspired or triggered the event to follow. This was a protest by the 49 participants on American Institutions and was titled Ocularpation, Wall Street by artist Zefrey Throwell. The group began holding meetings to work out issues and the movements direction, such as whether or not to have a set of demands, forming working groups. The Internet group Anonymous created a video encouraging its supporters to take part in the protests, Day of Rage, a group that organized to protest corporate influence corrupts our political parties, our elections, and the institutions of government, also joined the movement. The protest itself began on September 17, a Facebook page for the demonstrations began two days later on September 19 featuring a YouTube video of earlier events, by mid-October, Facebook listed 125 Occupy-related pages. The original location for the protest was One Chase Manhattan Plaza, with Bowling Green Park, Police discovered this before the protest began and fenced off two locations, but they left Zuccotti Park, the groups third choice, open. Since the park was private property, police could not legally force protesters to leave without being requested to do so by the property owner. Because of its connection to the system, lower Manhattan has seen many riots and protests since the 1800s. Occupy Wall Street, in turn, gave rise to the Occupy movement in the United States and it derives from a We the 99% flyer calling for OWSs second General Assembly in August 2011. The variation We are the 99% originated from a page of the same name