Wasalu Muhammad Jaco was born on February 16, 1982 in Chicago, Illinois and is better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco, the American rapper. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his critically acclaimed debut album, Lupe Fiasco's "Food & Liquor." 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 glamour, a sharp contrast with the widespread lyricism-focused rap of the 1990s, and critics have called him the "hip-hop Generation Next vanguard." His second album, Lupe Fiasco's "The Cool," is expected to be released December 18th, 2007.
