Lupe Fiasco is a rapper, songwriter, record producer and entrepreneur who has been an exciting presence in the music industry since 2006. It was the year he released his highly anticipated debut album, Food and liquor from Lupe Fiasco. In the years that followed, Fiasco branched out into many other businesses, from fashion to charity. Yet his fans love him the most for his music and for his innovative stage presence. It was his innovation and creativity that led him to adopt his unique stage name, which he chose when he was still a teenager.
How did Lupe Fiasco get her stage name?
Lupe Fiasco was born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco in Chicago, Illinois. Raised as one of nine children, Fiasco’s father was a member of the Black Panther Party and his mother worked as a food chef to help support the family. When he was only 3 years old, Fiasco started taking karate lessons, but his world changed when he was 5 and his parents divorced.
Fiasco went to live with his father and it was around this time that he began to develop a serious love for music, especially jazz and hip-hop. He started rapping when he was in eighth grade and eventually decided to pursue a career in the music business.
He decided to adopt a stage name, giving a lot of thought to the perfect new identity to represent him. As he later told SoundSlam, he took the name “Lupe” from one of his friends – the latter, Fiasco, coming from one of his favorite Firm group albums. “They had the song ‘Firm Fiasco’. I just liked the way it looked on paper. And so it’s like, Lupe… Fiasco, ”the rapper said.
Lupe Fiasco is involved in fashion and business as well as music
Lupe Fiasco also revealed to the post that he chose his stage name as a precaution, of sorts. “You know how rappers always have names like MC Terrorist – like they’re ‘terrorizing’ other rappers? I knew the fiasco meant a big disaster or something, but I didn’t know that the person named Fiasco would be the disaster, and that you should call the other MCs a bust – not yourself … It taught me : ‘Yo, stop rushing, or you’re going to have a crash.’ “
Fortunately, Fiasco didn’t go through many of the rough times he referred to in this interview. The young rapper forged an early partnership with music mogul Jay-Z, who signed him to a recording deal when he was just 20 years old. His debut album earned him three Grammy nominations, and in the years since his breakthrough, he continued to be critically acclaimed for his inventive lyrics and rhyming style. In addition to music, Fiasco operates two clothing lines, Righteous Kung-Fu and Trilly & Truly, and has also designed a line of specialty sneakers for Reebok.
Lupe Fiasco isn’t the only rapper to take inspiration from a friend’s stage name
Lupe Fiasco may be one of the most famous rappers to work on creating the right stage image, but he’s far from the only one who chooses a unique stage name. As reported by Billboard, rapper The Game chose his stage name based on a nickname given to him by a family member when he was a child. As a young man, The Game would have been excellent at sports, with his family saying he was always “ready to play” for anything.
Additionally, Jay-Z, Lupe Fiasco’s mentor, combined his childhood nickname “Jazzy” with the name of his friend and producer, Jaz-O, to create his stage name, Jay-Z. Stay tuned to Showbiz Cheat Sheet for all the latest entertainment news!
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