GQ

GQ (formerly Gentlemen's Quarterly) is an American international monthly men's magazine based in New York City. Lupe Fiasco was added to their 2006 list for "Man of the Year" where he received the 'Breakout' honors on the annual ranking. He was also featured in their August 2006 issue—he wore a Maharishi hoodie paired with Levi's denim jeans, Reebok NPC Platinums, and a golden Casio watch. A dinner was held in celebration of the 11th Annual Men of the Year issue at the Sunset Tower Hotel on November 29, 2006, in West Hollywood, California.

There are two known GQ published articles online: one where Fiasco discusses his Top 10 Essentials, and the announcement of him planning to release three albums in 2016.

Articles

"The Secrets of My Style"

Chicago's breakout hip-hop star schools us on Japanese denim, halal McDonald's, and why a man should always bring his skateboard to the airport

Time Is Not Money
I wear the $50 gold Casio to spit in the face of ridiculous, overpriced jewelry. But I had a meeting with Pharrell recently, and he was like, "Yo, that's what I'm talking about—I'm doing one of those for [my line with] Louis Vuitton!" I was like, "Please don't! Just leave me be!"

Pants Make the Man
I do a lot of custom stuff for myself. I'll get into an Hermès scarf, then take Levi's and cut the pockets out and have the scarf sewn in, so it's like a patch. I'm a big Levi's fan—but Japanese denim, that's what's up.

Fine Dining
I'm Muslim, so I love halal McDonald's, halal Burger King, and halal Pizza Hut when I'm abroad.

Where I Shop
I was in Europe for my birthday, and the London streetwear scene is very healthy. There's Maharishi [www.emharishi.com], which is higher-end, and the Maharishi web-based, MHI, with toys and all that stuff. I did some collaborations with them, and I rock them pretty heavily. There's also a store called The Hideout (www.hideoutstore.com), which has a lot of Japanese streetwear, like Neighborhood and Good Enough. I especially love Dover Street Market (www.doverstreetmarket.com), 'cause they've got a huge collection of Junya Watanabe Levi's.

My Workout
I'm actually in pretty terrible shape; I need to get back on it. But I used to do karate for, like, twenty years, and I have four black belts. And I still skate—my goal was to skate every major airport, so I skated Heathrow, LAX, and LaGuardia. I don't skate New York city, 'cause there's too much dog doo on the streets.

My Morning Routine
When I get up, I check this sneaker site Hypebeast.com—I've been a fan since it first started. [He now has a blog on it.] Then I'll write some rhymes, look at my collection of stuff, feel ashamed about how much stuff I have, and try to get back to becoming a minimalist, like Hiroshi Fujiwara.

Grooming
When I'm at home chillin', I let my hair go. The only time I really get my hair cut is when I'm in rapper mode. If I'm going to L.A., I've got a friend out there who cuts hair. Or if I'm with Kanye, I'll do like Kanye—his assistant [?] cuts superfresh, like a barbershop.

Eyewear
I've been rocking Cartier since I was, like, 8, son!

Expression
Anything that I can't express musically I do through my brand, Righteous Kung Fu. It's like a design collective; I have five designers out of Chicago, and they range from graffiti artists to high-end sculptors. It's not really a clothing label yet, but I've been talking to Maharishi about helping me develop the brand. But I don't want my face to be on it, I don't want it to be a Sean John—I want it to be a clothing line that comes out of nowhere.

"10 Essentials: Lupe Fiasco"

Lupe Fiasco is back in the studio, working on one of the most anticipated hip-hop albums of the year, "Food & Liquor 2: Great American Rap Album." And Lu is back to his old ways: dope rhymes, thoughtful hooks, and promoting kosher beef. The Chicago MC checked in with us to give us the ten things he needs, from clean drawers to something a little more, well, complex: a sense of possibility.

1. The 1965 Shelby Daytona Coupe

"Classic. American. Racing. History. Legend. It's one of those iconic pieces. I always loved car racing, so to be able to have one of those iconic American cars, it's dope. The Shelby comes from the world of racing. It's one of the ultimate cars. It's one of those things that you get and you keep forever until they take your license from you."

2. OTW Vans

"Oh yeah, I'm literally walking through my house now looking down and there are maybe, like, 15 pairs on the floor. For real. Real talk. It's just simplicity. They're something I wear every day. Before I got a deal with them, I was wearing some type of Vans all the time. I would just order them by the box, like, 10 at a time. I'd wear them, go through the whole box, and then order another box. Vans reached out to us and were like, "Hey, man. Why don't you come in and work with us for real." I told them, I said, "Listen, even if I wasn't signed to you guys, even if I didn't have a relationship with you guys, I would still wear these shoes." It's just something that fits simple and easy. I don't mind jumping in a mud puddle or jumping on stage in them."

3. United Airlines

"It's the same way you have preferences about anything else, you gain preferences as to how you want to travel and move around. To me, the other airlines just kind of pale in comparison. There are certain airlines that me and my entourage, or even when I travel on my own, refuse to fly. United airlines is simple, it's easy, it's relatively inexpensive. I have so many miles and I've been flying for so long that every time I fly, it's first class. It's one of those things that, if I needed to jump on a plane, and fly to Spain tomorrow, I know I could get it done. Just like that."

4. Hebrew National Kosher Hot Dogs

"I love hot dogs. Most hot dogs are pork. Hebrew National answers to a higher authority, better packaging. It's one of those things that, coming from Chicago, it's one of our staples. And it's kind of like, hey, I love hot dogs and I like my hot dogs not to have pork in them. Hebrew National serves those purposes. They're good."

5. Reggae

"Reggae, oh man. It's the ultimate music. The positivity. The musicality. The whole cultural expressionism of it. The dancibility. Just the cool factor. The melody factor. Some of it comes from a religious place. If there were a competition of who makes the best religious music, it would definitely be the Rastafarian reggae."

6. Dita Glasses

"I remember one of my first videos was "I Gotcha," with Pharell, and one of my homies, Woody, had on a pair of Ditas. I was like, ‘Y'all I need some sunglasses for the video.' I was always one of those dudes who shied away from sunglasses. So I put them on and they were fresh. It just so happened that my friends in Tokyo took what I was wearing in that video and made a t-shirt out of it, so there's this iconic Lupe Fiasco cartoon character who's rocking Dita sunglasses and a hoodie."

7. Tokyo

"I could just stay in Tokyo. I think that's because I'm a slight Japanophile, a slight otaku kind of kid. I love manga. I love Japanese animation. I did martial arts for like 20, almost 30, years of my life. My father was a martial artist, so every time we went to our house, it was like Japanese culture infused with soul food, you know. All these different things, like Bruce Leroy."

9. Military Speck Camo Pants

"My father used to own army surplus stores. He used to own them before we were born because he comes from the military. He brought that whole military culture to the family. We used to wear full camo suits and flight jackets to school. It wasn't a fashion statement, those were our clothes, you know? Some of my baby pictures or when I was maybe four or five years old, are me in full camo regalia with a beret and an M-16 and in combat boots and what have you. It's just a part of who I am."

10. That This Isn't It

"It's a little more complex, but it's the idea of knowing that there's something else out there. It's very liberating. You don't feel trapped in any certain way. It comes from me studying different things and different people. Hunter S. Thompson said he would go crazy if he didn't know he could kill himself at any given minute in this world. That's the extreme example: that you feel that trapped, but to know you have an outlet, and that release that gives you some comfort and direction to move in when you're alive. When I used to live in the hood, I lived on Madison street. You could look down the street and the hood was literally fucked up. You had drugs, and prostitutes, and police, and these different things, but you look down the street and you can see the Sears Tower, the skyline of Chicago. And you knew this wasn't it."

"Lupe Fiasco Plans to Release 3 Full Albums in 2016"

Rapper Lupe Fiasco is outdoing us all. After releasing a full album, Tetsuo & Youth, in January and his mixtape, Pharaoh Height 2/30, in August, Fiasco isn't slowing down, promising to release three full albums in 2016. It's like, we get it, you're prolific.

The first album is called Drogas, and while we don't know much about the projects, we know the first single will be called "Mural, Jr." All of this news is pretty exciting, though. (An actual Christmas miracle?) Three albums in a year means you'll always have more new music to look forward to.

Feel free to think about this as you concoct your New Year's resolutions. Going to the gym twice a week or cooking a couple times a month is pretty pathetic in comparison. You win this time, Lupe Fiasco.

Photoshoot

"Men of the Year 2006"

"In high school, I was the cool nerd," says the hip-hop sensation Lupe Fiasco, whose album Food & Liquor was one of 2006's best surprises.

"I was from the hood, so I could relate to the gangstas. But I also talked about The Simpsons and comic books and rock 'n' roll. So the nerdy, skateboarder, art-buff, toy-collecting type thing—that's not an image. That's me. And when people hear me just talking, they're like, 'He's honest.'"

The Roof Is on Fire

Fiasco attended the third annual summer bash event, The Roof Is on Fire, presented by GQ and Guess. It was held at Petersen Auto Museum in Los Angeles, California. His set was around thirty minutes, where he concluded with "Kick, Push".

Gallery

Photo by Terry Richardson

Photo by Terry Richardson

Photo by Kevin Winter

Photo by Frederick M. Brown

Photo by Michael Tran

Photo by Mirek Towski

Photo by L. Cohen

Photo by L. Cohen