MTV News

MTV News
Type	Weekly news
Owner	MTV Networks
Creator	Kurt Loder
Launched	1987 (1987)
Country of origin	United States
Language	English

MTV News was the news production division of MTV, originally launched in 1987 with the program The Week in Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder. They began publishing digital editorial content in the 2000s. On May 9, 2023, its parent company, Paramount, announced the removal of the site's archives and the closure of the division. This decision was due to the high cost of maintaining the sites, which generated very low traffic, outweighing the digital ad revenue they produced. The MTV News website shut down on June 24, 2024, resulting in the purging of thousands of articles, although it was preserved in a non-public archive. Many journalists were not informed, leading to public outrage and disappointment over the loss of their work.

The Internet Archive compiled a searchable index of over 460,000 web pages, which included the weekly hip-hop column "Mixtape Mondays." MTV News' founding editor, Michael Alex, praised the Wayback Machine's efforts, stating, "It's incomplete, but it's very impressive. It's like a treasure when you find something you're looking for."

The site hosted many articles concerning American rapper Lupe Fiasco, documenting his career.

Listicles

Title	Year	Rank	Ref.
Hottest MCs in the Game	2008	7

Articles

United Kingdom

Title	Year	Author	Ref.
"Lupe Fiasco Live"	2008	Unknown
Arriving late on stage at Londons Koko venue Lupe Fiasco still played a mammoth set that was nearly 2 hours long! During most Hip Hop shows it would be 2 hours too long, but thankfully the conscious MC didnt opt for a distorted decks and mic set-up. Lupe brought his six piece band from Chicago with a superb rhythm section and guest vocalist Matthew Santos (more of him later). Fiasco started by reminding his fans where they heard him first- on his mate Kanyes hit Touch The Sky. That understandably went down well but was not as loved as his solo breakthrough and the only hip hop hit about skateboarding- Kick Push. Also taken from his debut Food & Liquor was Pharrell produced Sunshine and his second hit single Daydream. It would have been a welcome surprise to see Jill Scott appear but while filling in Lupe showed off a strong singing voice similar to that of Mos Def. Highlights from his latest concept LP The Cool- which came out in January- were Go Go Gadget Flow with its speedy chorus and Streets On Fire. Before introducing Dumb It Down he sends up commercial rappers who spit about rims and Tims. The following track is an artful critique of hip hop and the commercial pressures. Its then bizarre that he follows it with a track called Gold Watch! New single Paris/Tokyo bumps along with a laidback beat and smooth flow like a global update of Kick Push. Your writer could have done without folkster Matthew Santos being given his own solo section though. Ending with a 10 minute version of recent hit Superstar its clear Fiasco is no ordinary rapper. He's lyrically intelligent (tackling politics on American Terrorist) and smart enough to bring a live band with him on tour. He's also complex enough to occasionally contradict himself. Lupes well worth catching live if you get a chance.
"Justice Remix Lupe Fiasco"	2008	Rickie
Lupe Fiasco recently caught up with our very own News Presenter Rickie when he hit London and was overflowing with enthusiasm about his latest projects. Alongside a "ridiculous" remix of his new single Paris, Tokyo, Lupe also told Rickie that a certain French electronic duo are remixing his new album: "Im remixing the album with Justice, Im gonna shout out to Justice". Justice have had massive club hits with D.A.N.C.E and more recently DVNO. That wasnt the only surprise The Coolest rapper dropped, he told Rickie that hes a massive UK music fan. Lupes latest album The Cool features British artist Unkle: "I worked with Unkle on a song called Hello, Goodbye and (they) introduced me to a lot of UK artists". There was one artist in particular that stood out for the rapper: "They introduced me to Ian Brown through their music and his stuff is like crazy. Like his song F.E.A.R is easily one of my top two (favourite songs). Thriller, then F.E.A.R".
"Lupe Fiasco's Inspirations"	2008	Unknown
When MTV spoke to Lupe Fiasco for a special online interview we thought wed explore the influences and inspirations behind his excellent second album The Cool. See what the Chicago MC revealed below The Concept Album: "I took that idea from a song I did on the last album (Food and Liquor) called The Cool its about someone who comes back from the grave. I had to put him in a story line because Im a writer first- rapper second. I used the characters as vessels for things I couldnt talk about (as myself). It was better for stuff to come from the first person." The Story: "When ever I play with the story I imagine it as animation as Japanese anime or like The Matrix. The Game (character) is inspired by Frankenstein and a lot of the sub-stories some from watching a lot of psychological thrillers and Steven King films." The Cool Continues: "This gives you more things to do out side of the album with marketing and presentation. I was more inspired by movies than other music when coming up with these characters and the stories. Now I can do toys- Its a creative franchise as well as an album" Music: "As a teen I listened to Nas, a lot of West Coast rappers like Snoop Dogg-then it was Wu Tang and Mobb Deep. It hasnt changed. I listen to a bit of everybody on the hip hop side. Now I listen to stuff I missed when I was growing up in the hood like techno and rock." Famous Friends: "I met Kanye before he was famous so I watched him become a celebrity. We are jumping off with CRS (Lupe/Pharrel and Kanyes group) on the Glow In The Dark tour in the US. Theres more coming! Jay-Z was one of the earliest people I got to meet and do business with. It was a shock to see that Jay-Z answered his own door! I knocked on the doorand it was him. I met Snoop (who features on his track High Definition) at a show for Pharrell (Williams- another friend) and it was a weird situation. He was driving a truck with Warren G in the passenger seat and called me over. That was so cool " I was starstruck." UK Artists: "Im a big Thom Yorke fan more than a Radiohead fan. I was listening to the radio and heard The Eraser (which CRS remixed as US Placers) so I went back and got all his stuff. I love Unkle too. I was working closely with some of James Lavelles associates and I was a fan so I reached out. I said I want to do a song with Unkle and I have (Hello Goodbye on The Cool). From the UK I like Sway and Estelle up to people like Ian Brown. Im a big Ian Brown fan- FEAR is one of my favourite songs of all time. I always find myself discovering new rock or techno when Im in the UK."
"Someset House: Lupe Fiasco"	2008	Rickie
After missing out on Lupe' this year at Glastonbury, there was no way I was going to make the same mistake twice! After finding out the super cool rapper was going to be performing at the open air Somerset House on July 14 I was first in line for a ticket! On arrival I was drawn to the stage by supporting act Ava Leigh. Her vocal style was very soulful paired with reggae beats which seemed to work well and warmed the crowd nicely for the main event. After a short intermission, the man everyone had come to see, Lupe Fiasco burst on to the stage like an exploding pyrotechnic. The crowd went ballistic! It was so deafening that before I knew it hed already started performing the Food and Liquor classic Kick, Push which had everyone reciting it word for word. The gig continued in the same vein- high energy from the Chicago rapper backed up with amazing vocals from Sarah Green and Matthew Santos. Their great band also performed with the utmost adrenaline needed to mirror Lupes crowd pleasing intentions. Jumping between anthems from his first album as well as his latest offering The Cool seamlessly, Fiasco rarely stopped to catch his breath but never lacked stage presence or looked out of control. He even had a swagger that his fellow Chi-Town Superstar Kanye West would be proud of! Gotcha, The Coolest, Hip Hop Saved My life and Go Go Gadget were all met with hands in the air accompanied by a sea of illuminated mobile phones all trying to capture the fans favourite moments of this great performance. The stand out tracks on the night for me were High Definition- which is a personal favourite- and then the trio including Paris, Tokyo, Daydream and Superstar. That massive single got the most hype on stage with excellent little cameos from the band as well as Sarah Green and Matthew Santos on the vocals. With the likes of Kelly Rowland (along with the rest of the crowd) enjoying what can only be described as a super-set, Lupe Fiasco rocked Somerset House to its foundations. For me, it was a true example of Real Hip Hop at its best.

United States

Title	Year	Author	Ref.
"Lupe Fiasco Hopes to Thwart Bootleggers So Album Sales Match Acclaim"	2007	Jayson Rodriguez
Sure, his surname may be synonymous with disaster, but Lupe Fiasco is looking for anything but when it comes time to roll out his sophomore album, The Cool, tentatively slated for summer release. The Chi-Town rapper topped multiple year-end lists with his debut LP, Food & Liquor, but his critical acclaim didn't exactly match his album sales, largely due to an Internet leak that pushed his project back a few months. So for his next effort, Fiasco said he's taking extra measures to avoid any bootlegging pitfalls. "The timing is gonna be pop, pop, pop," he explained. "There's gonna be a lot of setup and a lot of preproduction on this album, so it's gonna be in pieces. But the pieces won't come together, seriously, until like three weeks before it comes out. We'll probably record everything in, like, a week. So we're just gonna get it all together, map it out, have it done to a T, and then go and record. Then fresh from the studio, fresh to mastering ... so it eliminates a lot of time and error that was surrounding [my debut]." Aside from changing his marketing and promotion plan, Lupe also hinted at a few more changes. The skateboarding MC said not to expect any high-profile collaborations this time around — like production from the Neptunes or a guest verse from Jay-Z — save perhaps a beat from Kanye West. According to him, The Cool will be handled all in-house by his First & Fifteenth Entertainment producers and artists. And with such a whirlwind end to his 2006, from his three Grammy nominations to being honored by GQ at its Men of the Year banquet, the rapper admitted he's experiencing what he called a "reboot" stage. He hasn't written a rap in months while touring, he's sworn off the Internet temporarily, and he's turned into a bit of an insomniac, he said. He's building and destroying himself, he said, in order to begin the next phase of his career. "You got to take in everything," he explained. "Jay-Z's assistant, she pulled me aside at the GQ Men of the Year thing and she was like, 'Now I know you're in the process of rebuilding. You gave everything that you had. So now you got to take the experiences that you had throughout this process; putting out the album and traveling, doing all this stuff. And now you got to tell those stories.' So it's a whole 'nother side that people are about to see, [more] experienced." One thing the rapper won't change when it comes time to record, however, is the characters he said he slightly introduced on his debut. He expressed delight that most of his fans didn't notice certain characters on Food that he plans to bring back throughout The Cool. "It's gonna be weird," Fiasco said of the idea. "People are gonna see it and be like, 'Wow, ain't that the dude from this song?' I'm building concepts now for the album," he continued. "I got the title, and I work top down. ... This album is gonna be a bit more streamlined and a little bit more focused, I guess you could say. "Not a concept album," he continued. "But I been wrestling with how to make the concept about what I want to make the album about fit but still have enough room where it's just not a full-on story about somebody else. Where you still get all the — what I think are — necessary ingredients to do a good, good album."
"Lupe Fiasco's Cool World: Tragedy Meets 'Mad Poppy Beats'"	2007	Jayson Rodriguez
First, Lupe Fiasco — along with Pharrell, of course — helped make skateboard culture hot in the 'hood with last year's deck anthem "Kick, Push." Now, however, the Chicago rapper is hoping he can make other, not-as-hip ideas pop with his sophomore set, The Cool, tentatively due November 20 on Atlantic. In town last week, Lupe recalled to MTV News seeing esteemed Princeton University professor Cornel West speak a few years ago. "He made a statement, he said, 'If you really want to affect change in the world, you gotta make those things that are cool, uncool.' He's saying that the cool things are what's destructive and what's got us down and depressed. And if you can make it hip to be square, you might really affect some actual social change in the world. So this is like my attempt, very blatant, over-attempt [at that], by naming the album, The Cool." According to Lupe, the tone of The Cool will be much darker than the tracks on his debut, and for a number of reasons. He said the album title actually stems from a like-named, Kanye West-produced track on his 2006 debut, Food & Liquor. The name also denotes a character in a narrative he created. In the song, the Cool is "actually a half-rotten hustler who dug himself out of his own grave. So anyone who does that has to be dark." Lupe told Mixtape Monday that he plans to introduce several characters throughout his Cool project. So far, the album is set to include the lead single, "Superstar," and "Intruder Alert," a song that Lupe said deals with rape and overcoming the emotional scarring from such a tragedy. "It's a record about a girl who gets raped and shuts down," he said of the tune. "But she meets someone who opens her up, and at the end, she gives him a hug. So it's a powerful record." But while he takes some creative license with that song, Lupe also suffered several personal losses that surface on the album. The losses occurred between his first and second albums and have weighed heavily on him, even if he hasn't had much time to deal with the pain. "I lost my pops, I lost my auntie, I lost one of my good friends, Stack Bundles, I lost my partner, [[[Chilly|Charles Patton]]], who got convicted [and is serving 44 years in prison on drug charges]," the rapper said. "So you lose those people, but you lose them on your way to a show. So you got this weird home that's crumbling, but then right there you have 50,000 people calling your name. You get caught. I still haven't really had time to get into it. It's like jet lag [in a way]. That's what's crazy. The reaction doesn't even fit into my schedule." But the Windy City MC is proving to be resilient too. His album isn't all downers. Lupe said fans should still expect him to impress with his lyrics and flow — and he says he has a point to prove now, as well. "I don't think people got it, honestly," he said of his debut. "I still don't think people get it. I think I'm still a little bit too complex, and I still think it goes over their head just a little bit, where it misses a great mass of people. And you got to bring it back down. I think I'm Reasonable Doubt right now; at first Jay-Z was like [he makes the hand motion for out there] and everybody was like, 'Huh?' But it was still ... some of the stuff was still relevant enough to everybody where everybody could relate to it, just because it was a good record, but the actual core was like, 'Yo, this kid is weird,' you know? "You gonna have mad poppy beats," he added of his upcoming project. "Everyone is going to dance to them. But when you listen to the records, it's kind of ... you can enjoy it, but wondering, 'Should I really be dancing to this record?' " The rapper is currently in Japan on a promo run, but he said he expects to film a video for "Superstar" as soon as he returns Stateside.
"Mixtape Monday: Are Diddy and Jay-Z Dissing on 50's Remix?; Lupe Fiasco Continues 'Cool' Concept"	2007	Jayson Rodriguez
You can call Lupe Fiasco a lot of things, and nerd is probably one that comes to mind first. But the skateboarding Chicago MC has no problem wearing that tag. In fact, after rapping about more everyday topics on his debut album, Food & Liquor, he's going comic book geek on his next release, The Cool, due in November. The title track, he told us, is a nod to a track of the same name on his debut, which was produced by Kanye West and introduced a character in the song who was a hustler who gets killed and later comes back to life. He actually digs himself out of his own grave. "[The song ends] with him making a statement to these two kids who put a gun to his head," Lupe explained. "And he said, 'Hustler for death, no heaven for a gangster.' And it kind of ends. No one really knows what happens. "So what I decided to do was go back and expand on his story," Lupe continued. "And I actually went and created other characters around him. It left me the freedom to go outside the realm, I guess, of reality. So I went and got real creative with it. Another character is the Game [not the rapper by the same name], and it's the personification of the game. Whatever the game may be — the hustle game, the pimp game, the mack game. And there's another character by the name of the Streets [also not the British rapper], and she's the personification of the streets. Everything about street life that you fall in love with. So I built up this trio and put a story line to it. But I didn't do it too heavy, 'cause I didn't want to get caught up in chasing this story and sacrifice me doing real records, like a single. But the album is very dark. It kind of focuses on ... anyone who digs themselves out of their own grave." So far, Lupe said only about five of the album's tracks will carry on with the concept. He said he wanted to avoid a concept album so he wouldn't feel pressured to chase the story. But, he explained, the story line traces back to his mixtapes and throughout his first album. "The little boy from 'He Say She Say' [a song from his debut] is actually the Cool," Lupe said. "The lack of a father, he grows up being brought up by the Game, who acts as his father figure, so he grows up to become the Cool. "But outside of that, I just made it so it's also good music. It can be your interpretation of what you want it to be, however you want to enjoy it." He even said he might put out a guide so his fans can connect the dots. ...
"Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump Gets Behind the Boards for Cool Collabo with Lupe Fiasco"	2007	James Montgomery
Patrick Stump channeled his inner Kanye West to team up with Lupe Fiasco. The only way that sentence could be more Chicago-heavy is if it featured Ferris Bueller doing the "Super Bowl Shuffle" while eating a Maxwell Street Polish sandwich and watching "Oprah" reruns on WGN. The Fall Out Boy frontman stepped behind the boards to produce a song called "Little Weapon," which will appear on Fiasco's upcoming The Cool (due December 18). And when we caught up with the two artists backstage at the mtvU Woodie Awards, they were more than ready to talk about the collaboration that has the Second City talking. "He got his Kanye West on," Fiasco said of Stump. "It's a song called 'Little Weapon,' and it talks about child soldiers. The bulk of The Cool is kind of dark. It comes from a dark place. So 'Little Weapon' is about the coolness — so-called coolness — of child soldiers. It's a real ill record." "I love how this one worked," Stump added. "We had a few snags, but in general, it was awesome, because I got to ask him about feel, like, 'What type of vibe do you want for this song?' And then I got to hear him take it to different places. I didn't have to steer too much, which is awesome. ... And I didn't sing on [the track], so this is a real test to see if I can make real music without my voice." The two also joined forces at the Woodies later that night during Fiasco's performance, when Stump made a surprise appearance to sing the hook on "Superstar," the first single from The Cool. The song features a big beat that belies the darker message contained within. "['Superstar' is] a macabre record," Fiasco said. "I took elements and compared them to other elements. Like, you'll see news footage of an execution, and you'll see people standing outside a death chamber with signs [that say], 'Yeah, Kill Him!' And those are the kind of things you see when you go to shows too. So it was putting those things together and then coming up with a weird story, like, 'What if getting into heaven were like getting into a club — a posh, super-hot club?' So it's kind of a dark record, but the bigness of the hook makes it this weird little thing." Despite The Cool's dark, complicated territory, Fiasco said that making the album was anything but difficult — especially working with Stump. "Man, it was easy," Fiasco laughed. "He's from Chicago, I'm from Chicago, [Shure] microphones are made in Chicago, so it just came about that way. Like I said, easy."
"Lupe Fiasco's Latest Single, 'Hip-Hop Saved My Life,' Honors Southern Rap Heroes Bun B, Slim Thug"	2008	Jayson Rodriguez
He's a backpack rapper with a penchant for flashy items and a knack for forgetting A Tribe Called Quest lyrics at the wrong time. But Lupe Fiasco's recent single, "Hip-Hop Saved My Life," is as endearing a record as any MC could put together. The song is from his sophomore set, The Cool. "With 'Hip-Hop Saved My Life,' I attempted to make 'Kick, Push,' but for rappers," he explained to MTV Base. "To give a real basic play-by-play of the life of a rapper before he makes it — if he ever makes it, because you can get stuck in that and be trying to make it for the rest of your life." And he's dedicated it not to one, but two of the game's finest: Bun B and Slim Thug. The genesis of the track came when the Chicago lyricist went to Houston for a show. The rapper said the town was "spaced-out," in terms of the distance between things, and it gave the city a feel as if there wasn't much to do. So UGK legend Bun B picked up Lupe and led him on a tour of H-Town. "He had his wife Queenie with him, and I was just sitting back, soaking it all in, and I was just thinking, 'How can I pay Bun B back?' " Lupe recalled. The result was "Hip-Hop Saved My Life." The track is a three-part narrative following a rapper putting together a track from scratch, going through the struggles of performing at open-mic sessions, then hearing a freestyle of his make it on the radio. When Lupe filmed the video in Houston, Slim Thug — who makes a cameo in the clip — approached the MC and asked if the song was about him. "My DJ first heard the record when Lupe's album came out," Slim Thug told MTV News. "I went on iTunes and bought it and was surprised it had a lot to do about me. I don't think it's entirely about me, but he took pieces of my hustle and put it in the song. We might not have the same type of rap style, but I respect him. I knew a lot of people that liked him when he first came out and checked him out, and he was jammin'. And anyone that's jammin' is all right with me. When he came to shoot the video, I got the call from Dr. Teeth, who directed it, and I was down. I brought some of my cars, you know, with the candy paint, and we did it." "It is based on Slim Thug," Lupe revealed. "I was with him when we shot the video, and he was like, 'Yo, is this song about me?' I didn't know at the time, but there was a situation in Houston where they were trying to figure out who the song was about. Was it about Slim Thug? Was it about Chamillionaire? And it was about Slim Thug, but [then] I dedicated the song to Bun. I called him up and said, 'Yo, Bun, I've got a song for you, check it out,' and he was the first person to hear it. I sent it to him and he was like, 'Yo, it's all good.' "
"Lupe Fiasco Wants to Quit Music Biz, but Promises More Collabos with Kanye, Pharrell; Fabolous Makes the Band: Mixtape Monday"	2008	Shaheem Reid
'Nuff respect to Lupe Fiasco. Usually, we take his word as bond, but when he starts talking about his next album being his career finale, that's something we refuse to believe. Maybe it's just denial that one of the most promising young superstars (pun intended) would retire before he even reached his prime. Recently he told MTV Base that he was 85 percent sure his next LP would be his last full-length solo set. "I don't want to say I'm 100 percent sure, like, 'Yeah, this is it.' But 85 percent," he revealed. "That 15 percent is the X factor. That could be bills. Like, 'Lupe, you got to pay the bills.' 'Oh, man, I got to put out another album.' " Fiasco says that the wear and tear of the music industry has taken its toll on him, physically and mentally. But he insists that he hasn't lost the passion for making music, just for the business of putting it out. "There's all types and parts of the music business," he said. "There's the studio, record-store music business, and then there's the performing music business. I love the performing, I could perform forever. I'll be on stage until I'm 90 doing 'Kick, Push' and all that stuff if I can. But it's the whole process of it that wears you down. I actually got sick right before the Grammys. Never got a chance to go to the Grammys. I was running so hard doing music, and then when I got to the pivotal moment where you get the accolades for it, I found myself in the hospital and the doctor telling me I can't even go. I had a long conversation with the doctor, and he doesn't know me from Adam. He just came in and said, 'This is your life. This is how hard you're going. What happens when there's nothing there, and you drop down again?' "When I came in, I was like, 'Yeah, I want to be a rapper, and I want to make three albums,' " he added. "But we'll see. It's amazing. I'm going to go away with a bang. Ahh, so good. I don't want to give too much away, because it's later. We're still just into The Cool project and still got more stuff to come out of this, but I am thinking on it. I'm already building it out, starting now, because it's massive. ... I'm treating it like I'm filming 'Lord of the Rings.' ... They had to film [that trilogy] over four to five years. It's going to take me about two years to put [my last album] together right. I'm 85 percent sure that my next album, LUPN, will be the end-all." This is where we insert a big Flavor Flav "Wowwwwww!" Hopefully, he'll stick around a little longer. Besides, there's still the matter of the super group Child Rebel Soldiers, or CRS. It's comprised of Lupe, Pharrell Williams and Kanye West. "Pharrell came up with the idea — 'Let's do a group, Child Rebel Soldiers,' " he recalled. "So, I did a song. Took Thom Yorke's 'Eraser,' cut it up, put 'Us Placers' on it, because I was going to do a mixtape called Us Placers and remake Thom Yorke's album [The Eraser] and Radiohead's stuff. I sent the record out, and it was initially supposed to have Kanye, and I wanted [U.K. artist] the Streets [on there]. The Streets, I got no response. He asked me to do the song for one of his artists. Then Kanye jumped on it and was like, 'I'm going to send it to P.' Then P sent it back, and it was like, 'This is the first song right here. Let's do it.' That was, like, a year and a half ago, and the whole time we've been figuring out what to do." Since all three will be on 'Ye's Glow in the Dark tour, Lupe promised we could expect to see that performance soon. "We don't know if there's going to be an album from CRS, what CRS are going to be," he said. "All we know is we're going to debut a piece of CRS on the Kanye tour. You have to come see it." ...
"Mixtape Monday: Lupe Fiasco Plans His Cool Viral Video; Joe Budden Compares Jay-Z to a 'Bully'"	2009	Shaheem Reid
Sit with it, don't sleep on it. Lupe Fiasco's The Cool album is one of those LPs that will take multiple listens to get all its metaphors and bar juggling, the Chicago native insists. "I think we got a solid body of work together," Lupe said recently in New York. He has a sold-out show at the Nokia Theater on February 2 (the night prior to the Super Bowl) as part of his tour (and he promised special guests such as CRS during the summer leg of his outing). "I think we got an album that people are gonna get. Initially, people enjoyed and loved it, but I think people are going to love it even more once it sits, because it's such a heavy body of work that you gotta break down. ... I think it's gonna re-evolve. It's gonna re-happen!" Fiasco's follow-up video to "Superstar" is going to be a low-budget affair and head straight to cyberspace. After that, he said some exec at Atlantic records is going to sign off on a big check for the next clip. "We're shooting a lot of videos," he promised. "The next viral record is gonna be 'Hip-Hop Saved My Life.' We're gonna leak that to [the Net]. The next main video is gonna be 'Paris, Tokyo.' Were planning a huge, big, kinda exotic, grandiose production for that. That'll probably come in February."...
"Exclusive: Lupe Fiasco Dropping New Mixtape on Thanksgiving"	2009	Shaheem Reid
Our Main Pick of the week had t[o] be pushed back to Tuesday. Lupe Fiasco dropped a jewel to the Mixtape Daily famo on the red carpet of Diddy's 40th birthday bash. Lu is putting out a mixtape Thanksgiving night. Damn, Giants football and a Lupe mixtape after dinner? If only Vince McMahon still put on the Survivor Series on Thanksgiving too. Guess you can't have it all. Back to Lupe. He told us he was inspired by the MTV News' Hottest MCs in the Game list, and he's about to go ham on the industry. "The last six months, it's been like, 'I gotta really, really go out there and show that I'm nicer than all of them,' " Lupe said. "It's like, 'All right, so be it. If it takes three more albums to do it, then so be it.' That's what I got left with Atlantic. Three more after Lasers. I'm already done with two. The mixtape is coming Thanksgiving. It'll be another mixtape after that and an album after that. It's really to get that status and lock it in and [and have people] be like, 'Look at this positive dude, the underdog. The positive one who came and murdered all these dudes. And he's there, and he's good.' " Lupe said he isn't concerned about what he has to do — he's going to prove he's the best. "I'm finnin' to house every single mode and arena I can get into," Fiasco promised. "If y'all had somewhere where it's live performances, I'm finnin to have the best live performances. If it's mixtapes, I'm finnin' to have the best mixtapes. If it's albums again, it's gonna be the best verse. If it's the best dressed, I'm going hard as well." Lupe said the yet-untitled mixtape will be him going in over other MCs' beats. "I got four days to figure it out," he said about the title. "I've been dabbling with some names. I don't know yet." Concerning the production, Lupe said he's not going to let any original production go. "Why waste it?" he said. "I still got my plan. I'm not finnin' to diverge off my plan and my career and how I wanna roll my music out."
"Lupe Fiasco Says He Isn't 'Romantically Intertwined' with Jessica Biel"	2010	Shaheem Reid
Lupe Fiasco said there is no truth to the rumors that he and Jessica Biel are hooking up. "With Jessica?" Lupe said with a smile Wednesday when asked if he was romantically involved with the "Valentine's Day" actress. "No. She's a very lovely person. I do consider her a friend. She's very dope, [a] very capable young woman. Very smart. But we are not dating or romantically intertwined in any way. But she's good peoples." Lupe did get a laugh out of being thrown in the gossip mill. After all, there are worse people he could be linked to. "It is what it is," the Chicago MC remarked. "Nobody really called me on it. I've seen it out in the world. ... But nah, she's good peoples. She definitely surprised me as far as how good and honest of a person she is. I do rock with her." Lupe and Biel — who is dating Justin Timberlake — recently made a trip to Tanzania, Africa, to climb Mount Kilimanjaro with a group of entertainers and scientists. "The people that were there were the support staff; they were our motivation," Lupe said about how he survived the elements. "That carried everybody. Attitudes and spirits were high."
"Lupe Fiasco 'Somewhat' Agrees With Controversial Bill O'Reilly Comment"	2010	Shaheem Reid
Controversial comments by TV talk-show host Bill O'Reilly hit the Internet on Wednesday (January 27), causing plenty of talk on the chat boards. Audio from an O'Reilly appearance in Westbury, New York, was posted on MediaMatters.org, featuring O'Reilly comparing Chicago to Haiti. "I'm seeing a guy [President Obama] who's very, very committed to the government," O'Reilly said. "The government's going to solve the problems, and I'm going, I don't know, how's that possible? If you've ever been to the South Side of Chicago, I mean, it's a disaster, all right? It's like Haiti, it's like — I've been to Haiti a couple of times. I support some charities there, but Haiti just never gets better, no matter how much money you put in there because they don't have a system. And I said the government can't do it, but Obama really believes the government can do it." One of Chicago's favorite sons, Lupe Fiasco, says that although he does not support O'Reilly, he does see the need to improve communities in Chicago. "There's a certain level of concurrence," Lupe said. "Not now. There's no toppled buildings, unless you want to count the projects. But pre-earthquake Haiti … When I went to Africa, when I was in Tanzania, it was weird because there was this extreme poverty and extreme corruption and it looked so much like the West Side of Chicago. In [the documentary I shot over there] you'll see me say that. There's no grass, there's a barbershop, there's a sneaker store, there's a liquor store and a bunch of Coca-Cola everywhere." Fiasco, who recently climbed all the way to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro with a group of activists and celebrities including Jessica Biel and Kenna, says that ghettos across the world can sometimes resemble each other. "I don't want to be pointed out as supporting Bill O'Reilly in any way because he can be on the garbage sometimes. When you're comparing certain areas in the U.S. that are predominantly African-American or Latino, it's very easy to compare it to the Third World," Lupe said. "Just in the amount of violence that's there, the corruption that's there, the gang activity that's there. It's prevalent and dominant in Haiti. The corruption of the local politicians, the abject, corporate exploitation that takes place there, loan sharking, all that stuff. I think you can make the comparison to a lot of places in the U.S. Oakland [California], Detroit. Detroit's got abandoned buildings. On that note, he's definitely not out of the ballpark. There's a credible argument there. I agree with that in some aspects."
"Lupe Fiasco Halts New Mixtape Because of Recent Leaks"	2010	Shaheem Reid
Thanks a lot, music thieves and Internet hackers — or at least the ones who have been pillaging through Lupe Fiasco's new joints. Because of you guys, the MC said he's not putting out the sequel to his Enemy of the State: A Love Story mixtape anytime soon. "I was plotting on doing the follow-up to that," Lupe said. "Simply because [Enemy of the State] was short. And I felt like it was space to do another one. I was gonna do another one called Friend to the People, but I started to get wind that people had songs they shouldn't have had. I was like, 'This is just gonna open the floodgates if I come out with another record. I know these dudes are threatening to leak records and do crazy stuff.' Sometimes I feel there may be too much Lupe music out there — whether it be old stuff or new stuff or freestyles. I don't want to have a ton of music sitting out. I made the decision to fall back from it and really focus on the climb. We were a couple of weeks away from doing that." The climb he referred to was his recent Mount Kilimanjaro trek. There was also another Lupe mixtape that DJ Absolute was supposed to be putting out. "With this Absolute tape, I had to tell him straight up, 'We homeboys, and you got all this old music, but it ain't time right now. It's too much going on. It's too many people with music they shouldn't have, and I don't want to get it clouded,'" said Lupe, who's putting out his third LP, Lasers, this summer. The lead cut from the album, "I'm Beaming," was recently leaked without Lupe's consent. "There's investigations going on," he said. "So let's just postpone that and wait until we got a clearer time to do it. Even with that, we're going in to Lasers. The one thing I don't want with that is confusion. I want the message to at least connect until we get to the release date. After that, we can do whatever. Right now, it's Lasers time." Well, almost. On Monday, Lupe Fiasco will be right back here on Mixtape Daily giving you the exclusive interview and performances of songs from his Enemy of the State: A Love Story mixtape.
"Lupe Fiasco's Enemy of the State Inspired by MTV's 'Hottest MCs' List"	2010	Shaheem Reid
"I had mad titles," Lupe Fiasco said with a grin when talking about his Enemy of the State: A Love Story mixtape. "I was gonna call it Brain. I had mad titles. But it was fitting, especially going into Lasers and what Lasers stands for, which is chaos, anarchy, rebelling against the system, doing you, individuality. When you do that, you become an enemy to the status quo, you become an enemy of the state. So it stuck, it fit. There we go. It wasn't from the [Will Smith] movie. I feel like I'm the enemy of the state of hip-hop right now. Because what I'm finnin' to be is so against what's going on." Lupe's tape was tapped as one of the best of 2009. He became inspired to put it together by seeing our 2009 Hottest MCs in the Game list. Fiasco made the 2008 top 10 but was left off last year, chiefly because he didn't have any current material. "That's y'all," Lupe said about the muse for his tape. "Y'all sit at that table, and y'all forget who I am. It's like, 'That's cool. I been through this before.' " He made Enemy of the State in just 48 hours. "It was super easy. I did it in two days," he detailed. "Lasers was almost all done. I said, 'Let me go out here.' 'Cause I knew none of that was on Lasers. Just the super 'I'm the best MC' — lyrical — there's wasn't really room for that on this album. I was like, 'Let me give my fans that. Let me let them know that I'm still capable of that. Let me show MTV I'm hot too.' Kept it short. I felt, if you're nice, you don't need an hour. You don't need one hour and 35 minutes. You don't need 100 freestyles every week. You need a nice demonstration of what you're capable of doing very effectively, and you step back. Leave you wanting more. Sometimes the best part of the movie is the trailer." Lasers comes out later this year. Joints to Check For » "Say Something." "It's just certain records that should be yours," Lupe said. "Wayne should have 'A Milli.' It should have been his song. It's certain records that fit an MC and what he does, and the instant you hear him, it starts to go. There's certain beats that don't do that. There's certain beats MCs shouldn't have. That's just me stuntin', sorry. I heard the track. I hadn't even heard Drake or [Timbaland's] song 'Say Something.' I didn't even know what was going on. I just heard the beat and 'Say Something,' the freestyle came out. I could have kept going. I could have rapped over that for 20 minutes." » "Turnt Up." "I went to Atlanta and was asking my homeboy, I said, 'What's the hottest record in Atlanta?' He said Waka Flocka ['O Let's Do It'] and [Travis Porter's] 'All the Way Turnt Up.' He played the beat. I said, 'What?!?' Same thing too. I hadn't heard the song, I heard the beat and said, 'I need to destroy this properly.' You know when the Chinese circus comes to town and they just wilding, doing mad flips and unnecessary extraordinary things? That's how I look at it. No holds barred. It ain't about having no hooks. I ain't gotta prove no points. It ain't gotta show no purpose. It's a demonstration of skill. When I get into that zone, I ain't really gotta write nothing down. It's like, 'Let's go.' " » "Yoga Flame." "The Lil Wayne 'Fireman,' tracks speak to you. I was just like, 'I need to speak back to it. This one is calling me.' I was going to do the 'Compton City G's' beat. I said, 'Let me not get on something too old.' [The name] 'Yoga Flame' came from the engineer. He went in and got the jawn. That's just a demonstration of what I'm capable of at 11 p.m. at night. No sleep."
"Lupe Fiasco Reaches Out to Jay Electronica, Explains Jay-Z Comment"	2010	Shaheem Reid
Please respect our exclusive game. Just a couple of weeks ago, we told you how one of the underground's favorites, Jay Electronica, said he wanted to make an album with Lupe Fiasco. He also said he wanted to go in on projects with Nas, Mos Def and a slew of others, but who's counting? On Wednesday night in Manhattan, Lupe popped up on the red carpet for the MTV documentary "Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro," which airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV. Not only did Lu say he was down with collaborating with Jay, he's initiating things. "I reached out to him a couple of days ago with some real serious ideas," Lupe said. "'Let's put a program together. Something that works out and makes sense for the both of us.' He's a very talented MC. One of the few MCs that I actually listen to what they're saying. I don't listen to 98 percent of the rappers out there. But he's one of the MCs I listen to and I'm inspired to do so. A collaboration is in the works." Lupe also clarified the comments he made to TheAge.com, when he said he did not want to be like Jay-Z. "There's a misunderstanding with my fanbase," The Age quoted him as saying. "People [at Warner] feel they know my fans more than I do. They want me to step out of my comfort zone and step into theirs. I don't have necessarily the celebrity success they want me to have, but it's more social success and being able to speak at a college about world affairs. That's a success to me. I don't want to be Jay-Z and be worth $400 million and perform on every awards show. It's getting in touch with somebody who needs to improve their self-esteem as opposed to driving a Bentley and putting some chains on." Lupe told us he didn't mean any malice toward Jigga but was speaking up for individuality. "Jay-Z's a personal friend of mine. [He] executive-produced my first album," Fiasco said. "[My comments were] just an example using him of how people rate success. There's an idea of the status quo that every rapper wants to be Jay-Z. Nah. Every rapper does not want to be Jay-Z. Every rapper don't wanna be Kanye West. Everybody don't wanna be Lil Wayne. They wanna be who they are. … You're a fool trying to chase that success down and manage it like that. I always look at my success as further than a dollar sign, further than record sales. … Everybody thinks because you're black and you're from the 'hood, you wanna be Jay-Z. There's kids who wanna be astrophysicists and don't care about rap. That should be OK. You should be OK just being you, working your regular job and being happy. That's why I made that statement. I felt it need to be said."
"Lupe Fiasco Talks Fan Petition, 'Lasers' Being In Limbo"	2010	Shaheem Reid
"He thinks he's Martin Luther King, Malcolm X/ Tupac, Bob Marley." Lupe Fiasco just put out a freestyle over Rick Ross' B.M.F. beat (Lu's song is called "Building Minds Faster"), but says another official mixtape isn't coming anytime soon. Just as well, his fans want his album Lasers. Last week, some of Fiasco's fans launched a website petitioning Atlantic Records to release the LP, which has been completed for at least several months. Lupe maintains that he had nothing to do with the petition, but the fans' support has moved him. "I love to see progression," he said yesterday via phone. "I love it. I love to see this petition. It brought me to tears a couple of times like, 'these n---as really f--- with me. All these kids and these fans f--- with me and it's some positive sh--. Go to Wearenotlosers.com and see what Lasers really is. ... That's what they're petitioning for. Listen to 'I'm Beamin,' the song. It reaffirms what we're doing." On Friday, one of Lu's former producers, Prolyfic, took the Chicago MC to task on Twitter. Lupe was portrayed by Prolyfic as stubborn and as someone who's constantly throwing tantrums, among other assertions. "My old producer Pro, he was signed at the company maybe four or five years ago," Fiasco said. "We used to be cool. But Pro knows why we ain't cool no more. I'm not him, the type to air business or make false accusations just for the sake of getting my name out there. He knows why I don't really f--- with him. He knows why Chill don't f--- with him. He knows why the company don't f--- with him, why half of the city don't really f--- with him." At the heart of Lupe's album being in limbo are his singles, or lack thereof. He says that Atlantic presented him with choices of singles they wanted him to record and put on his album. One of them turned out to be B.O.B's "Nothing on You." Fiasco, however, turned down using those records because, he says, it wouldn't by fiscally sound. He was told he wouldn't have any ownership of or publishing rights to the records. "I don't think the label cares about an album," Lupe assessed. "I don't think n---as care. People just want their number-one record. They don't care about the rest of the album. I was talking to an engineer the other day and he said, 'These n---as don't even care about mixing an album no more.' They just want the first three songs. Three singles. They get them, one, two, three, they don't care what's on the rest of the album. I know this for sure. I've seen it. You can't blame them because of the attention span of the game and the attention span of music, how fast things are going. You only got them one, two, three shots. I'm not no fool. I'm looking at it like 'Yeah, you're right.' "You just want them, one, two, three. Can I get two? Can I get three. I'm talking about equity in the songs. I wrote 'Superstar.' The hook, all that sh--. That whole song is mine. I'm not doing it outta fame. I don't mind having people come in and support. That's how my career started. With all that said, I own some of 'Superstar.' These records, I'm not finnin to own sh-- on those records [Atlantic chose as singles]. N---a, that's not success. That's stupidity. ... I have no problem accepting help, but you ain't finnin to take advantage of me. I got nine brothers and sisters. They gotta eat. ... F--- what n---as gotta say on a message board. F--- what Pro is talking about. I got a whole family, a whole team, a whole crew of n---as I f--- with in the streets that's eating off what Lupe Fiasco is doing. I gotta do what's best. If I'm not getting no publishing check, that means I can't pay for my man's lawyer. So n---a, f--- you." Six months ago, Lupe said tensions between him and his recording home were "extremely ugly." Now, however, the volatile relationship has simmered down. "It's not necessarily a standoff. Record executives at the company signed the petition. That's no bullsh--. It's something that's systematic. At the end of the day, everything I'm talking don't mean sh-- until they feel like they gonna move with what they gonna move with. They could put Lupe Fiasco on the shelf forever. At the end of the day, it's not about me going to war or having a standoff. It's about having an agreement that's mutually beneficial, and I think we've done that. It's at the point that everybody is kinda comfortable, but in the midst of everybody getting right, here comes this petition. Then in the midst of this petition, you get this punk n---a Pro coming out the box talking all this crazy sh--. It puts more negativity into the situation. But the people at Atlantic love that. I'm not saying they love the negativity, I'm talking about the petition. For them to see 16,000 people say, 'This is what we want and what we want now. We're sick of all this dumb bullsh--.' They love to see fans that actually care." Lupe does have a new body of work out right now. He's the frontman for a punk rock group called Japanese Cartoon. Their project In the Jaws of the Lords of Death is available for free download on Allsabotage.com.
"Lupe Fiasco Teaches Teens to Rap at NYC Event"	2010	Mawuse Ziegbe
For many young people, becoming a superstar MC is a much-treasured dream. However, for about a dozen New York City teens, recording a track heard around the world with the assistance of a much-respected lyricist became a fun reality on Saturday (October 9). Chicago MC Lupe Fiasco helmed a recording session with a crew of young people during an event thrown by hip-hop-oriented nonprofit World Up as part of NYC's Re:Form School pop-up art exhibition. The "Superstar" rapper guided several amped teens through the process of penning lyrics, crafting a hook and laying down the vocals for a track. Two versions of the song were created simultaneously as a production team based in Brazil Skyped in during the three-hour session. The event was truly an international effort as remixers from far-flung locales such as Istanbul, Berlin and Amsterdam were also involved in the project and reworked audio tracks via a digital shared folder. Lupe was a hands-on instructor, motivating kids when they slipped up, coaching outsize swagger from the novice spitters and coaxing shy participants into sharing their ideas. The crew wrapped up with a freestyle cipher, banging on desks, dropping bars and belting out heartfelt vocals. Lupe even spit a few lines and indulged the kids' requests for autographs and pictures. "It was dope. It was real dope today," Lupe told MTV News. "It was a very exhilarating kinda thing to see the youth and the talent that they already have within them and kinda get an opportunity to converse with them and learn some things from them and vice versa." Although the "Dumb It Down" spitter seemed at home in the classroom and has pondered abandoning the music industry in the past, Lupe insisted he wouldn't make teaching a full-time gig anytime soon. "Nah, I'm not no teacher. I ain't no teacher," Lupe said, brushing off the suggestion. "I'm good at certain things that I do but, you know, teaching is a very hard job. I don't low-ball it by any means. I definitely don't think ... 'cause you can rapport with somebody that you can be a teacher with no training or no nothing like that. You gotta have the curriculum and make sure that kids [will be] able to comprehend and make sure you even can fully explain actually what you're trying to teach to somebody at the same time too. I don't have any of those qualities or any of those responsibilities so [these] hour, couple-hour sessions showing kids how to rap is all that got."
"Lupe Fiasco Reveals 'Don't Stop' Is Two Years Old"	2010	Mawuse Ziegbe
Between jetting around the world, finishing up an album, making a film and leaving a trail of headlines wherever he goes, Kanye West's commitment to releasing a free song every week until Christmas seems almost superhuman. However, it appears the MC got a head start on creating his latest G.O.O.D. Friday joint, "Don't Stop," a collaboration with Pharrell and Lupe Fiasco, who together make up the Child Rebel Soldier supergroup. MTV News chopped it up with Lupe a day after the track hit the Web and the Chicago lyricist revealed that "Don't Stop" is a holdover from the early days of CRS. "We went on the Glow in the Dark tour and it was just kinda like, maybe, maybe not, let's do a record, let's see ... so, 'Don't Stop' is kinda one of the records from that creative process a couple years ago," Lupe said, adding that West's bars may have been updated. "The song is two years old. I think 'Ye verse might be a little recent but I don't know." Lupe explained the track was created as a way to gauge the direction the trio wanted to take with their sound. "That song is like a song that we did in the midst of being CRS when we were actually going to put out an album and just really wanted to test records and see if we should do more records like that, or should we do more records like 'Us Placers' or ... more down-low records, up-top records," Lupe said. "We were just trying to figure out what should we do and that was one of the experiments that was bananas." The "Superstar" spitter said that he's not sure what the MCs plan to do with the CRS project next but while the "The Eraser"-sampling "Us Placers" plays up the plaintive vibe of Thom Yorke's song, "Don't Stop" displays the crew's ability to create a club-friendly record. The rumbling beat is powered by flossy, swagger-driven lyrics such as, "Mr. West turn that new child rebel/ Loud as a badass child level," and "Brand new Ferraris, I gotta make the donuts/ CRS is like a hip-hop Christmas bonus."
"Lupe Fiasco on Atlantic Agreement: 'We're Rolling'"	2010	Hillary Crosley
Lupe Fiasco has had a busy few weeks. From publicly disagreeing with his Atlantic Records home, organizing Fiasco Friday (which would bring the MC's qualms to the label's doorstep on October 15), and then reconciling with Atlantic late last week, it's been a whirlwind. Over the weekend, at an event where Fiasco taught New York teens about the recording process, the Chicago MC spoke for the first time to MTV News about the the release of Lasers and the resolution he and Atlantic reached. "We just came to a reconciliation, saw both sides of the argument of what was going down, found a midway point that we can all agree on, and we're rolling," Fiasco said. "March 8: Lasers. Single drops in a couple weeks. It is what it is." According to Fiasco, the rift between him and his label began when executives called Lasers "wack," and then attempted to sign him to a 360 deal. Under this new contract, Atlantic would receive "25 percent of any ancillary properties that you do that come from your music," Fiasco explained. But the MC wasn't interested. "I'm not a 360 artist, and I'll never be a 360 artist," he declared over the weekend. "And you should never be a 360 artist. If that's something that you need, then your situation is different. I'm not the type of artist that needs a 360 deal, but it's probably some newer artists that need that kind of motivation or extra support to enhance their operations in the future. I don't necessarily need that. If it comes along in the future, who knows? But, right now, I don't need it. Thank you, but no thank you." As for what Lasers will sound like, Fiasco's decided silence is the best weapon — almost. "I'm keeping my mouth shut, to be honest, on the album," he said. "The album is bananas. But mum's the word, because I don't want to spoil it. ... Over the next couple months, as more stuff comes out ... I'll be a little bit more comfortable to talk." And we've only got two more weeks to wait. "I'll talk about the next single on October 26, when it comes out," Fiasco promised with a smile.
"Lupe Fiasco: A Child Rebel Soldier LP Depends on 'Demand'"	2010	Mawuse Ziegbe
The hip-hop supergroup Child Rebel Soldier — a collaborative effort between Kanye West, Pharrell and Lupe Fiasco — has scored buzz with sporadic releases over the past few years. Although they recently dropped "Don't Stop" as part of Yeezy's G.O.O.D. Friday series, Lupe maintains the future of the project is at the mercy of fans. When MTV News caught up with the Chicago lyricist in New York last weekend, he said the trio is gauging the feedback to their music and will then decide whether to forge ahead with new tracks. "We'll see what the reaction is to ['Don't Stop']. Every time we put out a record, whether it be ... that or [N.E.R.D.'s] 'Everybody Nose' remix or the original record ... 'Us Placers,' it always gets a crazy reaction," Lupe said. "So we just seeing if it's there, seeing if the demand is there, if people really want it." However, Lupe also said that the demands of each MC's individual career may impinge upon the trio's ability to carve out quality CRS time. "It's going to take a lot of time to come off our schedules," the "Superstar" MC explained. "Everybody got albums coming out: N.E.R.D., Kanye's next album, my album drops in March." Ultimately, an enthusiastic reception from fans will determine when a full-length LP comes from the hip-hop crew. "If people really want it, then we'll do it," Lupe said. "But if the demand is not there, it'll just be as we get to it." The "I Gotcha" spitter has also said that "Don't Stop" is an experiment aimed at sussing out the CRS sound. "That song is like a song that we did in the midst of being CRS, when we were actually going to put out an album and just really wanted to test records and see if we should do more records like that, or should we do more records like 'Us Placers' or ... more down-low records, up-top records," Lupe explained. "We were just trying to figure out what should we do and that was one of the experiments that was bananas."
"Lupe Fiasco Fans Celebrate Lasers Release Date at NYC Rally"	2010	Jayson Rodriguez
Lupe Fiasco and his fans rallied outside the offices of Atlantic Records, the rapper's label, in Manhattan to celebrate executives setting a release date for his forthcoming album, Lasers. The fan-organized event was dubbed "Fiasco Friday," but the event was anything but a disaster. Upward of 200 fans cheered, danced and rapped Lupe's lyrics for hours before he arrived just shy of 3 p.m. to address the crowd. "So, y'all actually did it, huh?" he said to the audience. "The first thing I want to say is: Congratulations. The second thing I want to say is: Thank you very much for putting on a very peaceful protest. The third thing I want to say is: Lasers is dropping March 8th!" Each remark from the MC drew a loud reaction. The event was initially organized by two New Jersey natives, Matt Morrelli, 19, and Matt La Corte, 17, as a way to help Lupe Fiasco score a release date for his long-delayed third album. The rapper had been at odds with his label over creative differences, among other issues. But last week, he sent a picture via Twitter of himself with Atlantic Records executive Julie Greenwald with the caption "Victory." A press release was issued the next day announcing the March date for Lupe Fiasco's album. During the rally, Warner Music Group executive Lyor Cohen addressed the crowd before the rapper showed up and played the first single from his forthcoming project. According to La Corte, fans traveled from as far as Los Angeles to attend the event, which was transformed from a protest into a march. Fans walked from outside Central Park to the label's Sixth Avenue offices in midtown. A rally was also held in the rapper's hometown of Chicago. "It's really an incredible moment, after doing all this work, to really see Lupe Fiasco in front of you," La Corte told MTV News of the event, which he organized with Morrelli without having ever met his fellow Lupe Fiasco fan. "I went up and shook [Lupe's] hand, asked him to make a speech for us, and it was really a culminating moment for a fantastic experience for all of us here." "Lupe came out," Morrelli told MTV News after the rapper's address. "A lot of artists would have turned their cheek to this and say they couldn't support this. This could have gone against him. But it went the other way. He supports his fans. He knows his fanbase, and that's what we love. He's staying true to us. That really speaks to what he is. That inspires us, that's what caused this, and that's what we're about: staying true."
"Lupe Fiasco Says He's 'Joyous' That Fans Rallied for Lasers Release"	2011	Jayson Rodriguez
Six months ago, Lupe Fiasco's Lasers LP was in limbo and in danger of being ignored by his record label. The Chicago rapper and Atlantic Records were at odds over creative and business decisions. But then Lupe's fans mobilized to organize the "Fiasco Friday" protest, resulting in the long-delayed Lasers, Lupe's third album, finally getting a release date, which came earlier this week. The effort of his fans was not lost on the rapper. "I'm joyous, it's happy times. It's something that's never been done before in hip-hop, to have fans protest for the release of a record," he told MTV News. "That's never been done before, so that milestone in itself is something to be happy about. The other side of it is that it's another Lupe Fiasco record. It always feels good to put new music out there." With Lasers, the talented lyricist aimed to target a larger audience, as evident by his current single, "The Show Goes On." "For this record, being a more popular record and being the goal of this record from its inception, no matter what changes and phases and label battles that it went through, it was always about, 'Let's take it to another level,' " he told MTV News. That his devoted fanbase stayed on the board touched the rapper. "Getting a chance to introduce my message and my movement to a wider audience is always a good thing, but at the same time, to have my fans support it in a major way feels really good," he said.
"Lupe Fiasco Aimed to Pull Back Curtain with 'Show Goes On' Video"	2011	Jayson Rodriguez
Lupe Fiasco ran into a few road blocks while he was putting together his third studio album, Lasers. From his manager's imprisonment to a public spat with his record label, the Chicago rapper had a lot to reflect on. So when he fully launched the project — after a fan-fueled protest pushing for an officially release date — he led off with the string-heavy "The Show Goes On," an introspective number that finds the Chicago rapper narrating his plight and highlighting his eventual resolve against it. It only makes sense that the video matches the track with its emphasis on Lupe Fiasco the man over Lupe the MC. "This one seemed fitting in the sense that [the director] wanted to tell the story about what goes on behind the scenes, which, I think, was so much a part of Lasers, the album," he told MTV News on Monday (March 7). "Why it is, how it's manifested, the songs on there, all have these massive amounts of story lines of behind the scenes. This is what happened; this is what happened with this record. Even 'The Show Goes On' has a story to it that some people, when they hear it in its completion, their jaws drop." In the clip, directed by Hiro Murai, Lupe is shown making his way from his dressing room to a performance area. It's a symbolic gesture, meant to illuminate all of the mechanisms involved in getting the star to the stage. Fiasco told us the visual strikes a chord that resonates throughout the album. "We already know what the performance is, we already know [who] you are, let's give it a little more of a personal feel, so we can see the route taken behind the scenes, literally, from the dressing room to the stage," he explained of Murai's approach to the clip. "We already know what is onstage. We already know what the public life is, so let's see what goes on behind the scenes. And [the video] speaks to a lot of the stuff on the album, beyond 'The Show Goes On.'"
"Lupe Fiasco Wants Lasers to Take Him to 'Another Level'"	2011	Jayson Rodriguez
Lupe Fiasco is undoubtedly one of the most talented MCs in hip-hop, but he is still working to earn a place in the upper echelon of rap superstars. With the Chicago rapper's third album, Lasers, out Tuesday (March 8), Lupe makes a leap in that direction. "For this record, being a more popular record and being the goal of this record from its inception, no matter what changes and phases and label battles that it went through, it was always about, 'Let's take it to another level,' " he told MTV News. "If we're gonna go and try to get on radio, trying to capture that bigger audience, there's a certain format that you have to fit to do that. That's the growth that the fans want, the underrated things that the critics say. So to achieve those things, you have to play that [game]. You can't say, 'I wanna play for the Yankees,' and you're a football player. That's not gonna work. You have to learn how to play baseball." His current single, "The Show Goes On," with its triumphant production and melodic chorus, is a prime example of the rapper's shift. Although the emphasis on a more mass philosophy was the intention, Lupe is still wrapping his head around his new direction. "I was literally told for 'The Show Goes On' that I shouldn't rap too deep," he said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. "I shouldn't be too lyrical. It just needs to be something easy on the eyes. Like a record company telling Picasso that we don't need these abstract interpretations of life, where people have to sit down and look at it and break it down. It was better to paint the Upper West Side lady and her poodle so everyone could look at it right away and understand what was going on. I felt like I was painting poodles."
"Lupe Fiasco Recording Food & Liquor Sequel"	2011	Jayson Rodriguez
It's not exactly one step forward and two steps back, but after aiming for mass appeal on his recently released Lasers LP, Lupe Fiasco is already hard at work on the follow-up, which he described, surprisingly, as a "hood album." "There's no attempt to get on the radio, except maybe once, thus far, it's still a work in progress," he told MTV News about his next effort. "It's a harder album — the beats are way harder. It's not about being progressive. It's not about making music, which is weird [to say]. It's 'let's make some really hard-ass songs.' " Regardless of the change in direction, the project should still manage to get plenty of attention: It's called Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor 2 and is the sequel to the Chicago MC's heralded debut. So far, he hasn't recorded any material for Food & Liquor 2 that includes the cast of characters he introduced on his debut and his sophomore set, The Cool. Fiasco does plan on reintroducing those concepts, but the collection is, at this point, more along the lines of "S.L.R. (Super Lupe Rap)," a lyrical dynamo that the rapper unleashed online last year in the wake of a comment made by Soulja Boy about MC-ing. "It's not an attempt to remake Food & Liquor," Lupe explained, citing "SLR" as an example of the project's DNA. "It's not any attempt to reshape it or reintroduce it. I just think Food & Liquor was a dope title and I wanted to use it again."
"Lupe Fiasco Talks Spring Break Performance"	2011	Jayson Rodriguez
When you combine spring break and Las Vegas, things are bound to get exciting — or out of control. For the MTV Spring Break 2011 performers — Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Pitbull and Lupe Fiasco — the challenge is to keep the crowds entertained when shots, lost tops and sunny weather threaten to steal their attention. According to Lupe Fiasco, though, it doesn't matter to him whether he's performing at a spring break gig or a room of Timberland-wearing concertgoers — the show goes on. "It's no different," the Chicago rapper told MTV News recently. "I did a show for the hardcore [fans] yesterday and it was the same thing. The same energy. At the end of the day, it's about getting in touch with the energy — I don't want to sound too mystical — but that human energy. It don't matter if you black, white, Italian, Asian or in a bikini or have a fitted hat on thugged out, everybody wants to hear something and be moved by something, so for us, we want to take it to you as energetic as we possibly can." On Monday, Wiz Khalifa's MTV Spring Break 2011 performance aired as the Pittsburgh star hit the stage for his breakout tune "Black and Yellow." Later in the week, Snoop Dogg and Pitbull's spring break performances will be shown on MTV, MTV2 and mtvU. Catch Lupe Fiasco performing in Las Vegas during MTV's Spring Break on Tuesday night (March 29) on MTV at 9:50 p.m. ET.
"Lupe Fiasco Recalls Being Paid in Food, on 'When I Was 17'"	2011	Jayson Rodriguez
Lupe Fiasco may be a man about the world now — check his past single "Paris, Tokyo" — but back when the Chicago MC was a teenager, he was only a local explorer. "When I was 17, I worked at this restaurant that was behind my house," Lupe says during the latest episode of "When I Was 17," airing at 11 a.m. Saturday on MTV. "It was literally my house, the alley, work. I used to jump over my back fence, and I was in the parking lot of my job. I was the short-order cook. It was fast food. It was really crappy. I would work 40 hours a week, and it was 60 bucks. I remember trying to get my homeys jobs there, and they would be like, 'Are you stupid? I'm not working for 60.'" "We had better things to do than work at a restaurant," Fiasco's friend Doughboy said. "Especially when we knew how much he got paid and how long he had to be there." The Lasers MC maintained he had a plan that his friends couldn't quit comprehend. He knew he was underpaid, but he decided he would get his due by way of his stomach, if not his wallet. "They didn't see my vision: I didn't have to pay for any food," he said. "I ate the rest of my salary that I thought I deserved." His plan, however, wasn't approved by management, and Lupe wasn't afraid to voice his displeasure. " 'Well, you should pay me some more and I'll stop!' " he recalled telling his boss.
"Lupe Fiasco Talks Spring Break Performance"	2011	D.L. Chandler
As we salute Chicago artist and prolific "tweeter" Lupe Fiasco as he reportedly intends to depart the fast moving social media network Twitter and also handing over his account – and 700,000 plus followers – over to singer Nikki Jean, RapFix has compiled a short list of the Lasers rapper's top tweets in no particular order as he rides off into the Internet sunset. 1. Lupe Vs. Prolyfic – Lupe's old producer and friend Prolyfic – who has worked alongside Kanye West and No I.D. – decided to get at his former collaborator and provoked a bit of a Twitter war with the rapper. Prolyfic went on to air a lot of dirty laundry, prompting Lupe to respond in kind. Lupe eventually stopped responding to the producer who continued to rail against the rapper. The pair would eventually squash the beef. 2. Lupe Vs. Atlantic Records Beef Gets Settled In A Twitpic – Smiling and sitting alongside Atlantic Records honcho Julie Greenwald, Lupe's longstanding battle with his label to release his Lasers album was finalized and the rapper gleefully tweeted this photo of he and Ms. Greenwald along with getting a release date for the record. 3. Lupe Defends His Obama Comments – Lupe's controversial criticism of President Obama was one of this summer's hottest issues with the rapper declaring the Chief Executive a "terrorist" – and defended his stance vehemently on his Twitter account. 4. Lupe starts Twitter book club #TheReaders – As one of the headier MCs in the game, Lupe began a Twitter online book club back in October of last year dubbed "#TheReaders" in which the rapper would suggest titles and then urge his followers to join him in live chat discussions of the book on Twitter. The popular idea has been is still going strong with fans tweeting today about their next book discussion. 5. Lupe Vs. MTV – On the heels of his label issues with Atlantic Records last year, Lupe Fiasco took to Twitter to offer some harsh criticism of the good folks over at 1515 Broadway, using his account to bash the network in a long series of tweets that set off a series of discussions online and abroad. Lupe Fiasco may not be terribly fond of us, but we'll miss the talented and outspoken rapper on Twitter. Until then, fans can expect a new album from the MC this coming fall.
"Lupe Fiasco Tearfully Remembers Late Chicago Friends"	2012	Rob Markman
It's amazing how far Lupe Fiasco has come. In 2006 he was a rap rookie, coming out of Chicago's notorious West Side with the unsuspecting-yet-catchy single "Kick, Push." Today Lupe is one of the most powerful voices in rap using his intricately laid lyrics to point out political and social inequalities, and while he stands as one of the game's most beloved stars, the Food & Liquor MC is haunted by his past. On Wednesday's (July 25) episode of "RapFix Live," host Sway Calloway played back a six-year-old clip of the MTV show "My Block," on which Lupe played tour guide by taking our cameras through his native Chicago. But the trip down memory lane proved to be too much for Lu, who started to cry while watching the footage. "It's some of them dudes is dead," Lupe said after the clip rolled, taking several moments to collect himself. It was a tense and emotional moment because in the clip, there was footage of Fiasco's old friends, some of whom are in dire straits today. "Chicago's the murder capital. The dudes in that video are in prison, a couple of fed cases, and then there's ghosts. You see people that, that ain't there," he said sobbing, hiding his tears behind his round-rimmed shades. Lupe's mentor, friend and business partner Charles "Chilly" Patton was sentenced in 2007 to 44 years in prison for drug conspiracy, so it all hits pretty close to home for the MC, who is set to drop his fourth solo LP, Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Part 1, in September. In the old "My Block" clip, Fiasco admitted that the conditions in his poverty-stricken neighborhood weren't cool to him. "Ain't no song that I can make, there's no 'We are the World' that I'm gonna make that's gonna unify and make all this better," he said back then. "Nothing's changed," he said Wednesday. "Some of those kids ain't gonna make it out of there. You feel so helpless. That was me, talking to me six years ago." Though Lupe has built a catalog filled with uplifting rap tunes, he admits to feeling hopeless. "For me to see myself six years ago, surrounded by people that's not even here, reppin' the 'hood, doin' what they do, that never left. It's a sober thing to me," he explained. "It's sobering because you know your father was right, your mother was right." The lyricist, who at first was at a loss for words, exhausted his tears and delivered a heartfelt message to the inner-city youth: "You gotta get out. Stick to what you know and get out. Because if you stay here, you gonna die, and you not gonna die for anything heroic, you not gonna die for anything meaningful. You gonna die for something that is worthless and nobody is gonna remember your name." The part that is most painful for Lupe Fiasco is that he wasn't able to deliver that message to his friends that may have needed to hear it most. "To see that so real, it hurts, bro," he said to Sway. "I ain't gonna front. It hurts; it hurts a lot to speak to ghosts."
"Lupe Fiasco's All City Chess Club Will 'Live in the Mixtape World'"	2012	Nadeska Alexis
The first rule of All City Chess Club is: "If they said it, they're in it." That's the word according to Lupe Fiasco, who gathered a few talented young rappers that were "rocking on the same wavelength" to form a powerhouse collective. The problem, however, is that J. Cole, Wale, Blu, Mickey Factz, B.o.B, Asher Roth and company haven't linked up to record anything substantial, but Lupe says the right efforts could yield a mixtape in the near future. Lupe has his own album, Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Part 1, coming up this fall, but during this week's episode of "RapFix Live," a few members of his club — Diggy, Mickey Factz, and B.o.B — had questions for him about the status of the collective. Mickey Factz, echoing the sentiments of fans, wanted to know, "When are we gonna get everybody to do this All City Chess Club project, brother?" adding, "Call B.o.B, I'll get Wale, I'll get Cole — let's just make this happen. It's getting ridiculous now. We're going on about two years now. Let's make it work." Lupe, momentarily taken aback but generally amused by the barrage of questions, laughed it off, then gave in. "Aight, let's do it," he said. "Everybody who's a part of the All City Chess Club, let's do it. Let's make something happen. I'm ready." Since we've haven't heard much from or about the crew, save for their "I'm Beamin' (remix)," Lupe explained his original vision behind the all-star collective: "Everybody [has] their own piece, and I never meant it to be a Wu-Tang thing or nothing like that," he said. "[It was] just to show some unity from everybody who was rocking on the same wavelength — so Blu, Asher Roth, the Cool Kids, Mickey, I reached out to J. Cole, I reached out to Wale, Diggy of course, and my man Dosage from Philadelphia." Of trying to rope everyone in to record a project, Lupe said, "That's gonna be mayhem, but ya'll wanna do it? Let's do it. It's a process. We'll put it together correctly and write, and make sure everybody gets their fair share. I think it'll most likely live in the mixtape world so we don't get caught up in that label thing." With the head count over 10 at this point, it seems reasonable to expect a mixtape project from the All City Chess Club over a studio-backed LP. "You know, the publishing splits on that are gonna be bananas?" Lupe said, laughing. "And that's what I was tryna tell 'em, like, 'Man, you gonna get like 30 cents [each].' " So, new mixtape from All City Chess Club following Food & Liquor II? "I'll do my best. I can't make any promises, but I'll do my best," Lupe said. Currently, the full lineup stands as: J. Cole, Wale, B.o.B, Charles Hamilton, Blu, the Cool Kids, Dosage, Diggy, Asher Roth and Pharrell. And far as his Child Rebel Soldier supergroup with Kane West and Pharrell, Lupe explained: "Everybody's schedule is mad different, everybody's in mad different places. I honestly think it's something that went into a coma on the operating table, and it's just in a coma in the other wing of the hospital, waiting to wake up."
"Lupe Fiasco's 'Bitch Bad' Premiere to 'Start a Conversation'"	2012	Rob Markman
Lupe Fiasco may be best known for delivering fans his unforgettable debut album Food & Liquor, but no matter what, the LP the Chicago lyricist always manages to give us food for thought. On Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET, Lu will deliver another serving of brain food when he premieres his "Bitch Bad" video on "RapFix Live." The clip will also air simultaneously on MTV Jams, mtvU, MTV Hits and MTV.com and then immediately after the "Kick, Push" MC will join "RapFix" host Sway Calloway and a number of industry pundits to discuss the message behind his new clip. "Whether right or wrong, some things need to be said in order to start a conversation ... that's all I try to do with my music," said Lupe Fiasco in an MTV press release Tuesday (August 21). "Bitch Bad" is the latest single off of Lu's Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1, which is due out in stores on September 25. In the song, Fiasco lyrically contemplates the long-term psychological effects of the word "bitch," by weaving together a narrative of both a young boy and girl who are separately exposed to the degrading language. Fans should expect an equally open-minded video. A still-shot from the Gil Green-directed video shows a young lady applying black makeup to her face.
"Lupe Fiasco Planned Food & Liquor II as Double CD"	2012	Rob Markman
When Lupe Fiasco was on the road to release his 2011 LP Lasers it seemed as if the project would never see the light of day. These days, rarely does any album release date stick, and Lu's third had been delayed by his record label several months — even sparking protest amongst his fans. This time around, Fiasco's Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Pt.1 will arrive on Tuesday as scheduled, but Lupe revealed to MTV News on Monday (September 24) that if he had his way, fans would've waited just a few more months. "Shoot, man, it feels good to have an album with no kinda hesitation," Lupe said. "I wanted it to be a double CD at first and I was gonna push it back till Christmas." If Lupe would've followed through with his original vision for Food & Liquor II, he would've joined the likes of the Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Jay-Z as just a few of the rap acts who have tested the waters with the higher-price double album. His parent label, Atlantic Records, had another idea, however, to release the album as two separate parts at two separate times. "The label wasn't really diggin' that so we kinda split the difference," Lu said of the new plan to release F&L;, Pt.1 on September 25 and its sequel at the top of 2013. "People are not gonna pay $25 for two CDs, but they'll pay $12.95 for one? It just didn't work out, but for [Atlantic] it made sense." Fans will have to wait until Tuesday to hear the album, which is spear-headed by singles like "Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)" and "Bitch Bad." On Wednesday, the Chicago spitter will break down specific tracks from the album at Brooklyn's new Barclays Center on "RapFix Live," Wednesday at 4 p.m. on RapFix.MTV.com.
"Why Lupe Fiasco 'Can't Pledge Allegiance' to U.S. Flag"	2012	Rob Markman
Lupe Fiasco often draws fire for his political views, but don't paint the Chicago lyricist as unpatriotic, even if he does start off his new album, Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Pt. 1, with a pretty bold statement. "Now I can't pledge allegiance to your flag/ 'Cause I can't find no reconciliation with your past," Lu spits on the album's first song, "Strange Fruition," a modern-day take on Billie Holiday's 1933 racially charged "Strange Fruit." "I don't know if I should speak on that, to be honest," a reluctant Lupe said on Wednesday's (September 26) "RapFix Live." Though he was a bit hesitant, Lupe went on to explain the song's lyrics, noting that his refusal to pledge allegiance to the nation's flag is partly due to his Muslim faith as well as his political views instilled in him by his progressive parents. "My moms and my pops told us when we were little kids, 'You don't say the pledge of allegiance'," the rapper began to explain. "More from a religious kind of thing, halfway. You pledge your allegiance to God and that's it. Being Muslim and things like that, you don't pledge allegiance to no flag." On top of that, America has some changes to make before he would consider pledging his allegiance to the U.S. "My father was a Black Panther, my mama was super intellectual, left-wing, the whole kind of situation. So it's that layer on it too," he said. "Not yet, you don't pledge allegiance yet, we're still working on this place." In his music, Fiasco has consistently questioned U.S. politics and shed light on socio-economic inequalities. He also once called President Barack Obama a terrorist and refuses to vote in the November 6 presidential election. But does this make him anti-American or unpatriotic? Lupe laughs off the notion. "Give me a little benefit of the doubt before we start tacking stigmas and putting definitions on me," he said, defending that there is more to his person than what we hear in his music or see in his interviews. Actually, Lupe sees himself as quite the opposite. For him, in order to truly love his country, you must take the good with the bad. "Let's just say that The Great American Rap Album, in its totality, both albums and all the music that's in it is me trying to define what America is. Trying to figure out what an American is," he contended. "If you truly are a part of something and even if you say you take the good with the bad, or the lesser of two evils, you still have to take into consideration the evils and you still have to take in the considerations of the bad." The exceptional MC uses Food & Liquor II's first single, the Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth-sampling "Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)" to illustrate his point. "America created Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth to make one of the illest hip-hop beats of all time; that's American culture," he said before setting his sights on the ills in impoverished American cities like Camden, New Jersey, and Pine Ridge, South Dakota, which he raps about in "Around My Way." "America produced that, the beauty of that record. But America also produced Pine Ridge, South Dakota," he argues. "That's America, does that make you a bad person to recognize that and embody that?" Through his music, Lupe Fiasco identifies what he sees as the country's problems. With his lyrics, hopes to bring an understanding that could aid in eradicating social injustice. "What is being an American? What is being patriotic? Do you sweep that under the rug or do you try and help your fellow American?" he said. "Do you help them by bringing that situation to the forefront and letting people see it? "I know I get hit for it, but I'm gonna hit y'all back. Now you gotta tell me: What's America? Is it just New York, is it just Chicago? Is it just the beautiful things?" he asked.
"Lupe Fiasco Wrote Anti-Cancer Anthem 'Mission' for His Grandmother"	2014	Adam Fleischer
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of new cases are reported every year. Count Lupe Fiasco among the many people whose lives have been directly affected by the disease. "My grandmother passed away from cancer," Lupe explained on "NewsNation With Tamron Hall," while discussing his new single, "Mission," which is meant to uplift those affected by the disease and was released in collaboration with Stand Up To Cancer. "It was very sudden; it wasn't a drawn-out battle or fight." The Chicago native added that in recent years, he's had a number of friends diagnosed, including a professor from Chicago State University, who particularly inspired the song. "His reaction to it was he was gonna fight it, and fight it in a very bold, aggressive, vigorous kind of manner," he explained. "And it was the first time I had ever seen a close friend of mine battling with cancer." Lu decided to write the song in his friend's honor, as well as for his grandmother and everyone else who has battled cancer. The track, which also serves as a single for upcoming album Tetsuo & Youth, includes both vocals from cancer survivors giving personal accounts and finds the rapper telling stories from their perspectives in his verses. Once it was finished, but before it was released, Lupe went around and played it for patients at the Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center in Chicago. With their approval, he knew it was a go. "I didn't want it to be something sentimental or something you sit down and be sad about, but something where you can get up and actually go out and feel invigorated about."
"Lupe Fiasco Wanted 'Mission' to Be 'Uplifting'... But Still a Little 'Ratchet'"	2014	Adam Fleischer
Lupe Fiasco is on a "Mission" to empower those affected by cancer with his latest single, but he wasn't always sure that the song would head in that direction. "When I first heard the track, and the chorus was already in the track, it was like, 'Hm, what can you talk about, with what the chorus is saying?' " Lupe told MTV News on Wednesday (June 4). "You could be cliche and be like, basketball, a story about a basketball player. Or just something very, very general." But the Chicago native didn't want to take that route. "Coulda died, but I came out fighting," the chorus booms. "It was like a eureka moment," he explained. "I was listening to the beat in the car and I was like, 'Fighting cancer.' This is the song right here. Once I kind of established that that is what it was gonna be, I just started to pull from personal experiences that I had with people who are fighting cancer; St. Jude's commercials. Just kind of every reference point that I had from a personal point to just kind of a more general point." Those ideas became the single, which will appear on his upcoming Tetsuo & Youth. Each of the three verses on the energetic song tell the story of cancer's effects on different people -- and, more specifically, how they refused to let it overtake them. There are also more than a dozen additional vocalists on the track, as Lupe enlisted cancer survivors -- among them, singer Charlie Wilson -- to speak about their experiences during the opening of the six-minute song. "I didn't want it to come across as a sad, make-you-cry song," he said. "I wanted it to be like an uplifting, powerful and almost ratchet."
"Lupe Fiasco Compares Justin Bieber to Donald Sterling"	2014	Nadeska Alexis
When video footage of Justin Bieber's offensive racial joke leaked earlier this week the pop star blamed the screw up on his age, explaining that he was only 15 years old at the time. But when a second video leaked, with footage of him replacing "One Less Lonely Girl" song lyrics with the "N-word" Bieber had some more explaining to do. Lil Wayne and other members of the YMCMB camp have come to his defense after the second clip surfaced, but Lupe Fiasco isn't letting him off so easy. When asked his thoughts on the uproar over Bieber's racist joke, the Chicago rapper said that excuses were being made for the pop star, while former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was taken to task for his racially-insensitive comments and feelings about black people attending his basketball games. "Justin Bieber said it [so] it's cool, and people are already coming to his defense," Lupe told MTV News, in disbelief. "I don't think anybody should be allowed to profit off racism," he continued. "Donald Sterling made a billion dollars [when] he sold the team, and there was such an uproar about somebody who didn't use the N-word at all, but then you have somebody who made a very racist joke about it — I wonder if Justin Bieber's gonna get the same treatment as Donald Sterling?" "I don't think he will," Lupe said, answering his own question. "It's an absurd thing — you get somebody who we 'like' who says it, and says it even more 'racist-ier' and we don't bat an eyelash at it." Migos, who recently collaborated with Bieber on "Looking For You," had this to say about the controversy: "It wasn't a good move to make but he accepted what he did and he don't use that lingo around us," they told MTV News. "We ain't personally see the video anyway we just heard about, but it feels [like it's] in the past and that's not what we condone. "We do our music together and we're good through music. So [we] don't feel like he's a racist."
"'Drizzy's Law' — What's Drake Got to Do with Lupe Fiasco's New Song?"	2014	Nadeska Alexis
Lupe Fiasco is prepping his fifth album Tetsuo & Youth for release later this year, and although he led with the empowering, anti-cancer anthem "Mission," expect things to take a sharp turn soon. "The album is compartmentalized into different zones," Lupe told MTV News of the project. "So there's a ratchet zone on the album — unapologetic, summer in the club, freaknik type records but with a Lupe twist. [I thought..] let's put out substance first, lets do 'Mission' and actually create something substantial, then lets have an afterparty." Lupe enlisted Ty Dolla $ign for one of those so-called 'ratchet' records, which will definitely be a single, in addition to working with Ab-Soul and Big K.R.I.T. "There's a few uplifting things, a core of ratchet stuff and some 'no pressure' records," he added. "You need your singles, you need your clubs records, your radio records and those are 'pressure records.' Once you accomplish all of that then you get into those no pressure fun records." One of those 'no pressure' records will be "Drizzy's Law," which he previewed at a concert last year. Lupe asked all of the men in the audience to turn their heads, while he spoke specifically to the ladies during this particular track. It all started as a joke within his private Twitter nation (called "North Scorea"), but now it will actually end up on the album, likely with a different title though. "We noticed that the guys were hating so we set up a law where we only [talked] to the ladies, and it was called "Drizzy's Law,'" Lupe explained. "It's definitely gonna make the album." When asked if he would consider having Drake featured on the song, since it was partially inspired by him, Lupe wasn't against it. "I don't think [Drake] would do it but the offer is open," he said. "We'll probably change the name of it from 'Drizzy's Law' to 'Lupe's Law,' or something, just so people don't take it the wrong way. [Because at first] it was only meant to be on my locked Twitter page." The Chicago rapped says there's no doubt that Drake is 'king' when it comes to addressing the ladies. And, in terms of the album title: Tetsuo was definitely inspired by the Japanese manga series and film "Akira." Hear Lupe explain it all in the video above.
"Would Lupe Fiasco Release a Sequel to 'The Cool?' — He Already Has the Storyline"	2014	Nadeska Alexis
Lupe Fiasco is gearing up to drop his Tetsuo & Youth album this fall, led by the singles "Mission" and "Next to It," but might we see another Lupe sequel down the line? The Chicago rapper released Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 in 2012, and he tells MTV News that he really considered releasing a follow up to 2007′s The Cool, called… The Hot. In theory, the sequel would've furthered the storyline of his character. "I wanted to pick it up with his daughter. If you follow the story of The Cool, he has a daughter and that's who he was going to go see," Lupe explained. "It leaves off with him being on the train and getting robbed." "I was gonna pick it up to where he goes back to his neighborhood and gets in touch with his daughter and it's this whole weird thing that starts to play out," he continued. "But it wasn't gonna be a hip-hop story, it was gonna be super simple." Since Lupe is currently juggling a couple of projects, we might not see that sequel anytime soon — if at all. Next up is his Black Vietnam album with S1, which took shape after they recorded multiple tracks together that couldn't all fit on Testuo & Youth. "It's me and [S1's] Gang Starr kinda piece — he does the beats, I do the raps," Lu explained. "I had this concept called Black Vietnam that I was gonna give to Kanye but he didn't want it, so it's an extension [of that and] the records we made for Tetsuo and Youth. It might be independent, or it might be somewhere we sign with." Oh — and he's already working on another solo project.
"Lupe Fiasco Agreed to Battle Mos Def — But Here's Why It Didn't Go Down"	2015	Andres Tardio
When Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) challenged any three MCs on the planet earlier this year, Lupe Fiasco accepted. He recruited Mickey Factz and Daylyt against Mos, King Los and Black Thought, but that potentially epic battle never happened. Why? Daylyt, a battle rapper known for his antics, thinks he knows the answer. "Mos Def got his squad together and Lupe got his squad together," Day told MTV News. "Mos Def seen what type of squad Lupe had and waved the white flag." For his part, Yasiin said he didn't mean for his challenge to be spread across the web. "Spend time all day writing battle raps?" he said at the time. "I'd rather be filing paperwork at the post office. That sh-t does not sound like fun." While it may not be fun for Yasiin, it has been fruitful for Daylyt. The Watts MC — who recently dressed up as Batman in a battle — has become a fixture in the scene due to his shenanigans like saying he was signed to Shady Records (he wasn't) or involving himself in the rumored Drake and Diddy fight. But the man who once tried to take a "boo boo" onstage is also respected by some of hip-hop's acclaimed stars for his lyricism. He considers Lupe Fiasco his "jedi master," and then there's Ab-Soul, who battled Day on "W.R.O.H." off These Days. "I'm very close friends with Ab-Soul," Daylyt said. "This was one of those moments where I had to tell myself, 'Damn, I just battled Ab-Soul and it's about to be on his album.' I might be the first person in history to have a battle as a record on an album. It's the last track on the album. So, it was epic. That's one of the priceless moments of my life." Day, who's also battled Canadian rap star Mad Child, is looking to take on other opponents too. He has plans to "do something innovative" with Hopsin and Bizzy Bone in the future and he's even got his eyes on battling one of the genre's most celebrated artists of all time: KRS-One. "Somebody tell KRS-One, let's make something happen," Day said, challenging the Blastmaster. "He's one of the last strands of the true form of hip-hop. Let's put something together and save hip-hop. I want do it the old fashioned way." Daylyt's debut album is slated to be released November 1.