Listen to Lupe Fiasco on Batanga

Fiasco was born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco on February 17, 1982, in Chicago, Illinois. He was born to a gourmet chef mother and an engineer father. He was raised Muslim in an African American family living on the West side of Chicago. He went to high school at Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Illinois. He initially "hated" hip hop music for its use of vulgarity. He began rapping when he was in the eighth grade, and upon hearing Nas' 1996 album, It Was Written, began to pursue hip hop.

Growing up, Fiasco was given the nickname "Lu", the last part of his first name, by his mother. "Lupe" is an extension of this nickname, which he borrowed from a friend from high school. "Fiasco," he says, "came from the Firm album. They had the song, 'Firm Fiasco'. I just liked the way it looked on paper."

At age 19, Fiasco was in a group called Da Pak. They signed to Epic Records and released one single before splitting up. He 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 Foxx's 2004 "This Life". He also released the song "Coulda Been" on a compilation of MTV's Advance Warning. He began releasing many mixtapes, developing a fan base via the internet.

Fiasco had gained a large underground following with the release of a series of critically acclaimed mixtapes, prominently his Fahrenheit 1/15 Part I: The Truth Is Among Us, Fahrenheit 1/15 Part II: Revenge of the Nerds and Fahrenheit 1/15 Part III: A Rhyming Ape. In 2005, Fiasco was featured on two tracks on Mike Shinoda's solo mixtape titled Fort Minor: We Major and was even an active member on the official Fort Minor message boards. During this time, rapper and mogul Jay-Z heard Fiasco and assisted him in the production of what would become his debut album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor.

In 2005, Fiasco appeared on the Kanye Westtrack "Touch the Sky" from West's Late Registration, which peaked at number 6 on the UK singles chart and 10 on the US Hot Rap tracks, bringing Lupe mainstream exposure. Soon after, he released his first single "Kick, Push", a song heavily influenced by skateboarding. As his popularity slowly increased, so did anticipation for his upcoming album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. The album was officially released on September 19, 2006. The album featured production from Jay-Z, Kanye West Mike Shinoda, The Neptunes, Prolyfic, and more. Singles from the album were "Kick, Push," "I Gotcha" and "Daydreamin'" featuring Jill Scott. The critically lauded album was later nominated for three Grammy Awards including Best Rap Album. In the same year, he was voted by GQ as the "Breakout Man of the Year."

In 2007, Fiasco announced his second album, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, a concept album that expands on the story of the track of the same name on his first album. It was released on December 18, 2007 in United States. The first single and video from the album, "Superstar", featuring Matthew Santos, was released the first week of November 2007.

Also in 2007, it was revealed that Fiasco, Kanye Westand Pharrell Williamshad formed a group known as Child Rebel Soldier. Child Rebel Soldier, also known as "CRS", has released a mixtape called Rebel Music, featuring samples and remixes from the artists' respective then-current albums The Cool, Graduation and Seeing Sounds, and features other rappers, including Jay-Z, Common, and N.E.R.D. CRS has so far released one single, entitled "US Placers" and featuring a Thom Yorke sample.

In an interview with The Village Voice, Fiasco revealed that he was writing a novel about a window washer aptly titled Reflections of a Window Washer. In 2008, Fiasco and his band 1500 or Nothin joined West's Glow in the Dark Tour, which also features Rihannaand N.E.R.D. The tour stopped in several cities, including his hometown of Chicago. In 2008, MTV named Fiasco the 8th Hottest MC in the Game and announced that he was remixing The Cool with French electro house act Justice. Fiasco's "Superstar" has been included in the video game Lips.