Lupe Fiasco (Wasalu Muhammad Jaco) was born on February 17, 1982 in Chicago, Illinois is an American rapper.

He came to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor, which received three Grammy nominations.

Prominent hip hop mogul Jay-Z describes him as a "breath of fresh air" in a new hip-hop world characterized by mainstream pop and glamor, a sharp contrast with the widespread lyricism-focused rap of the 1990s.

By 19, Fiasco was in a group called Da Pak. They signed to Epic Records and released one single before splitting up.

Fiasco later signed a solo deal with Arista Records, but was dropped when president and CEO L. A. Reid was fired. During this time, he had guest appearances on singles on Tha' Rayne's "Kiss Me" and "Didn't You Know" and also K Fox's 2004 "This Life".

He also released the song "Coulda Been" on a 10/03 compilation of MTV's Advance Warning. He began releasing many mixtapes, glorifying himself as a hero of the nerd and middle class.

In 2004, Arista went out of business and Lupe was signed with Atlantic Records. In early 2006, Brian 'Busy' Dackowski of Atlantic Records approached Lupe and his friend/hypeman Dusean "Bishop G" Dunbar to start FNF Radio, a show on the college radio station WIIT located at the Illinois Institute of Technology.