2001

In 2001, Lupe Fiasco and Chilly founded the record label and company 1st & 15th Entertainment. After the disbandment of Da Pak, Chilly saw potential and decided to leave his company, On the Rocks, to work with Fiasco. They had in-house producers DJ Marbll and Frankie B. Nice at the time, where Fiasco recorded several songs. A few known ones include "Pop, Pop," "Where Do I Go," and "Coulda Been." GemStones also joined the imprint label.

In an interview on The Coda Collection channel, hosted by Fake Shore Drive's Andrew Barber, Fiasco recalled battling fellow emcees and creating songs. He believed the songs he made didn't reflect his battling skillset. He also mentioned a released compilation mixtape, which may have been called 1st & 15th Presents.