Being co-signed by Jay-Z over three years ago would seemingly ensure Lupe Fiasco’s propulsion to superstardom. However, the Chi-Town native’s deals with Roc-A-Fella Records, an L.A. Reid-helmed Arista and a group project via Epic all crumbled. Still, a talent like Lupe Fiasco isn’t anchored by the trials of life – he rises. Eventually, Atlantic Records CEO Craig Kallman signed the lyrical prodigy after being introduced by Mark Pitts, the former manager of the Notorious B.I.G.

How big Lupe gets depends on how much of his raging buzz is translated into record sales. The 23-year-old born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco is more than capable. A devout Muslim, the rapper is the product of inventive parents, the streets, the ‘burbs, Hip-Hop and popular American ethos like skateboard culture. A bio this isn’t, allow him to reintroduce himself. His name is Lupe Fiasco.

AllHipHop.com: What was your upbringing like?

Lupe Fiasco: I grew up in what’s called the West Side of Chicago; grew up in like the hoody-hood with the prostitutes, and the drive-bys, and the cocaine, and the heroine, and all that. At the same time, my mother was like really cultured. [She was a] gourmet chef, she really into like Black culture and you know like doing really – having a really healthy household and all that stuff.

AllHipHop.com: So what were you like as a child?

Lupe Fiasco: [Lupe discusses the nerdier aspects of his persona] I was so cool because I was from the hood, you know what I’m saying? I could still relate to this person or that person you know, but like for the most part it was like I had like this nerdy kind of like appeal because of the stuff I was into too. I was into comic books and you know Japanese cartoons, and you know into classical music and reading, and different uncool stuff like that.

AllHipHop.com: What about Hip-Hop?

Lupe Fiasco: You know, at first, I didn’t like Hip-Hop.

AllHipHop.com: Why not?

Lupe Fiasco: You know, it was vulgar. It was demeaning, but not all of it. My father introduced me to Hip-Hop through N.W.A. so that was my first experience. He would be driving down the street like banging N.W.A., and I would be like tucked in the seats like ashamed, you know what I’m saying? When I started discovering like Fu-Schnickens, it was all kind of fun, M.C. Hammer or something like that, you know what I’m saying?

AllHipHop.com: When did Hip-Hop really get serious for you?

Lupe Fiasco: Like during High School, I really got into Hip-Hop and really started liking it, and really started doing it, and the rest is history. I got my first record deal when I was in high school, and that was like in 2000. I was with Epic Records. I was with a group called Da Pack from Chicago,

AllHipHop.com: The first time I ever heard your name was regarding the “Conflict Diamond” thing. Somebody said that you had started that whole concept, and then Kanye swooped it from you. What happened with that?

Lupe Fiasco: [Click to hear Lupe talk about the "Conflict Diamonds" mishap] Well, I don’t really discuss the “Conflict Diamond” situation anymore, because people take what they want to take from it; you know what I’m saying? I actually did my radio show last night, and my co-host was like, “Yo he did [take] it, you know what I’m saying?” But it was like that was all over the world. Like, I would go to London and everybody [said], “Hey, ‘Conflict Diamond’ is over, how did you feel Kanye jacking your words?” You know and than it was people on the other side trying to play me and Kanye against each other.

AllHipHop.com: Right, I get it. But what really happened?

Lupe Fiasco: So what happened was, I did “Conflict Diamond” right after Kanye released the original version of [“Diamonds from Sierra Leone”], and [I] like sent it all over the world. Like, so I got connections in different countries and stuff like that, so when I do mix tapes, some stuff might even bang in the U.S. but it will be banging in Kazikstan, you know what I’m saying? I would just send it out and it was bubbling and popping and popping, and popping and Kanye heard it and me and Kanye went to do “Touch The Sky.”

AllHipHop.com: Ok, go ahead.

Lupe Fiasco: So when we went to go do “Touch The Sky”, Kanye was like, ‘Yo, it’s funny that you did “Conflict Diamond”, because that’s the theme to my video, you know what I’m saying? Like little kids getting their hands cut off, I just didn’t talk about it in the record, but my whole video is about blood diamond you know?’ So it’s just two people thinking alike on the same subject, you know what I’m saying, and bringing it out.

AllHipHop.com: Oh okay, now you have your own company,

1st & 15th, which will release your Atlantic-distributed debut?

Lupefiasco: Yeah, I started 1st & 15th. The deal with Epic

Records fell through with the group and one1st & 15th together. So it was like I went straight from being like

this – you know one of the members in the group, quote/unquote to

being you know like an owner of my own company, you know what I’m

saying?

AllHipHop.com: Right.

Lupefiasco: So like that happened when I was 19, so I’ve had 1st & 15th now for about five, six years, being Vice President.

AllHipHop.com: Okay, how does your Muslim faith factor into your music and how you approach music?

Lupe Fiasco: Well, I was born Muslim, so Islam plays a part in my everything I do, to a certain extent. I’m not like the poster boy for Islam you know what I’m saying? So it’s like I still got my flaws and stuff like that, so I don’t really wear that on my sleeve. [But] I’m really with some underlying consciousness, no matter what it is that I can talk about -cocaine, or I can talk about carrying guns. I’ve been literally carrying guns since I was five, like four or five years old, simply because my father was in the military and he wanted to teach us how to shoot. I’ve been shooting AK’s since I was as baby, you know? I don’t like to glorify ignorance or nothing like that, but I know you need to – you can talk about it in certain aspects. You’ll still get the people who don’t listen unless you’re talking about nonsense. Catch their ear, and then at the same time, teach them something, you know? It [also] plays on the extra curricular stuff that happens about, about being like a rapper and being in the music business like going to – all right, I don’t go to clubs, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, you know like my whole – the whole groupie situation is shut down.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve adopted the nerd persona, but you’re also in a position associated with popularity and fame. How do you balance the two?

Lupe Fiasco: Well, I think everybody is a nerd in a certain aspect. You’ll be surprised who you’ll walk with, smoking his weed, smoking his gun, toting this 20" rim, [is the same guy who has] the whole collection of transformers at the crib. I don’t wear that on my sleeve though.

AllHipHop.com: Moving on, I like what you’re doing musically. What can we expect album wise?

Lupe Fiasco: Your album should be a whole performance, you know what I’m saying? It should be a whole movement to draw people in. I just tried to create a balance of good and bad, and that’s where Food and Liquor comes from. Food is good. Liquor’s always been bad – without being a Muslim. So I tried to create this balance of like really good you know happy stuff, you know what I’m saying? With this sharp reality, you know contrast to with it some real deep reality and real realness. I’ve been working on Food and Liquor for like five years, and it’s really like my baby and masterpiece, and it’s changed as I grew up with the album. When I first was working on Food and Liquor – at that point in time I had three chains and two Rolexes and driving this and running around in this, and you know I was hanging with them so it was really violent, you know what I’m saying? And really directed to my peer group, you know what I’m saying? I was aware at the time but this one’s a little bit more general, it’s going to be more universal, it’s a little softer, you know? Almost grown up.

AllHipHop.com: [Click to hear to hear more about Lupe’s influences.] Okay, who would you say your influences were?

Lupe Fiasco: You know I really tried to go back and recreate [Nas’] It Was Written, you know what I’m saying like that? [I would play] It Was Written and then I would play my album, and it was like, ‘Do we got [this] record, do we got that record?’

AllHipHop.com: All right, what have you learned from Kanye West, if anything?

Lupe Fiasco: One thing I learned from Kanye, and what I think people don’t focus on, they focus more on just the whole outwardness of him, you know what I’m saying? Like Kanye is really – when he gets creative – in the studio, performing, behind the camera, directing or co-directing, like he’s really on his game. The way he goes at it and the way he attacks it, is crazy.

Click here to listen to an AllHipHop exclusive – Lupe Fiasco’s "Switch

(Science Project)!"

You know the saying – rappers wanna be ballplayers and ballplayers wanna be rappers. NBA veteran, Nick Van Exel of the World Champion San Antonio Spurs, is yet another basketball player with Hip-Hop aspirations. However, instead of getting on the mic, Nick has decided to stay in the cut and help develop his own record company, Kwik Entertainment. With his cousin, Smoot, as the label is also looking to dispel the stereotypes associated with ballplayers and Hip-Hop. In an exclusive interview with AllHipHop.com, Nick and Smoot are adamant that this is no gimmick. With a heavy reliance on content and conceptual material, Smoot is looking to prove his worth in this Hip-Hop game this summer with his debut album Change Gon Come. With guest appearances by Scarface, Chamillionaire, Bun B, Jadakiss and Swizz Beatz, Smoot will certainly garner the attention he feels he deserves. But can an NBA superstar really overcome the odds and build up a legitimate Hip-Hop label? Nick and Smoot are here to tell you why they feel they will be the first to do so.

AllHipHop.com: What is your first memory of Hip-Hop growing up?

Nick Van Exel: My first memory? Man! The thing I can really recall is when the movies started coming out, like Beat Street and Breakin’. I think that is what took it to another level, as far as nation wide is concerned. But I was always listening to Afrika Bambaataa coming up.

Smoot: I would say the same thing, when those two movies came out – that was my first big memory of Hip-Hop. I actually used to break dance, so that movie was big for me. But I used to look up to 2pac a lot – ever since his first album 2pacalypse Now.

AllHipHop.com: A lot of people have that one tape or album they listened to constantly growing up – did you have that one album?

Smoot: Definitely All Eyez On Me.

Nick Van Exel: My favorite rap album of all time is Snoop’s Doggystyle.

AllHipHop.com: Nick, when did you know you wanted to start your own record label?

Nick Van Exel: I really don’t know. I always thought about it, but my cousin Smoot really got involved in the game around ’97 and ’98. He started taking his craft more serious then, but at that time I was still a fan and I wasn’t trying to get involved. But eventually Smoot came to me wanted to start a label and I was like, ‘Man, I ain’t really trying to do it.’ But eventually I said, ‘F**k it. If he wants to do it, then I’ll back him.’ So I started to get involved around ’98 or ’99. I then started taking it more serious around ’01 and ’02 because his skills started to get a lot better and he was evolving as a rapper. My first love is basketball, but I’m a big fan of Hip-Hop so it was only right.

AllHipHop.com: I know you want to touch base on the lawsuit you currently have going on with two individuals, Wilson Ebiye and Leonard Chukwemeke, you used to work with. Can you tell us about that situation?

Nick Van Exel: Basically, there was four of us in the beginning when Smoot came to me first with the idea of a label. The other two dudes, they really didn’t have any money and they weren’t rappers. I really wasn’t too involved in the label at the time because I was busy playing basketball. So those two guys came at me with the idea of splitting the company four ways, so I was like, ‘Cool.’ But as the years went on, I saw we weren’t making that much progress and every time something needed to be done or paid for it was always coming out of my pocket. So I was like, ‘Hold on, if these dudes are the owners, then they have to come with something to the table as well.’ Smoot was the MC, and I was bringing the money – so these dudes should have been coming with something. I gave them an opportunity to be apart of what we are doing but they didn’t want to take a smaller percentage. And I didn’t understand that because they weren’t doing s### in the first place.

AllHipHop.com: How did you originally meet these two individuals?

Smoot: I actually met them. They came to me in L.A. when we were at Mack 10’s album release party. They approached me about doing a concert called Hip-Hop Unity Fest. Out of that concert, we formed this documentary called Hip-Hop Story. After that, then one thing lead to another.

AllHipHop.com: And with the money you gave these guys for the label, they bought cars instead – correct?

Smoot: Yeah, they bought cars and other things.

AllHipHop.com: Nick, what do you see in your cousin Smoot as an artist that makes you believe in him?

Nick Van Exel: I like his style, delivery and he has a lot of love for the music. When you listen to a lot of his songs you realize its not just about the same things. He has a song called “I Choose Hip-Hop” where he talks about all the songs and artists he listened to growing up. A lot of people nowadays don’t give a tribute to the artists of the past and I think its important for the new artists to do that. He also talks about a lot of meaningful issues and isn’t just focusing on the money, cars and woman.

AllHipHop.com: Yeah, I noticed that with the song “Change Gon Come,” that you were focusing on making conceptual material.

Smoot: That’s right. But my first single off the album is going to be “Grain Gripper,” which features Slim Thug, Chamillionaire and Killer Kyleon. It’s a Houston based sound but it’s a club banger.

AllHipHop.com: I know you guys spoke on wanting to dispel the stereotype of another ball player with a label. So how do you guys plan on marketing yourself or proving to people that this is legit? Do you think the music will speak for itself or do you feel you have to go the extra mile on top of that?

Smoot: I think that the music and my presence is going to speak for itself. I won’t need Nick to sit there and talk to me and make other people believe in me. The music will speak for itself and I will make people believe myself. We made the mistake in the beginning of putting Nick in the forefront because he is a ballplayer and a celebrity – and I wish we didn’t do that and just did our thing – but we are going to try and keep Nick in the background and let the music speak for itself.

AllHipHop.com: Smoot, hailing from Wisconsin, not a lot of acts have broke from that state. Why do you feel the state or region has been overlooked?

Smoot: Wisconsin isn’t known for Hip-Hop, it’s known for cheese. It’s known for the Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Bucks – ain’t nobody really trippin’ off Wisconsin. But there are a lot of people that love Hip-Hop in Wisconsin. I feel I can be what Nelly was for St. Louis – I can be that spokesperson for Wisconsin Hip-Hop. I’m willing to take that load on my back.

AllHipHop.com: As you know, Hip-Hop is very much a political game. Its becoming harder and harder for a new record labels to get their artists airplay and whatnot. So what challenges have you guys experienced so far?

Smoot: I feel my talent gets overlooked a lot of the time because they know Nick is involved, and they are too busy looking at his cash. So I just have to get out here and get people to listen to my music. And whoever I deal with in this industry, I try and sit down with them and really feel them out so I know I’m dealing with the right person. And right now, we are trying to get the right people in here. This game is really built on relationships. It’s political, but it’s built on relationships.

AllHipHop.com: Do you think the key for you right now is to cement your home base and gain a strong following, which will then allow you to further branch out?

Smoot: Yeah, the key is definitely to gain a strong backing. I’m currently living in Houston, so I’m getting a lot of love here. I’m getting just as much love here, if not more than I am in Wisconsin. The key is to build that fan base, because those are the people that are going to help you take it to the next level.

AllHipHop.com: Nick, once you retire, do you plan on focusing on the label more?

Nick Van Exel: A little bit – I’m gonna let Smoot run it and do his own thing. I have a bunch of other stuff I’m focusing on as well, which I’m more hands on with.

AllHipHop.com: How many more years do you plan on playing? Do you have an estimate in mind?

Nick Van Exel: I plan on making this year my last. After that, I can go ahead and do other things.

AllHipHop.com: How would you assess the Spurs performance this season so far?

Nick Van Exel: I think with the way that these guys approach the season, that we have a long way to go. But if I had to rate the season right now, I would give the team a B. I think we are finally starting to gel and play better ball as of late. And as the season goes on, you want to start playing better ball. That is what we are doing now. We lost some games that we shouldn’t have lost, but that happens during a long season. One of the most important things for us is to try and stay close with Detroit, because they are rolling right now. That home court advantage is very important to winning a championship in the NBA.

AllHipHop.com: Some critics feel that the Spurs are just coasting now and you will turn it up when the playoffs start. But is it realistic for an NBA team to just turn it on and off like that?

Nick Van Exel: Nah, that is very very unrealistic – especially, nowadays. Because there is too much parody. You can’t play with a team like Detroit, Phoenix or Dallas and just turn it up when you want to. If you do that, you will be going home early. There is no such thing as playing to the level of your competition and then turning it up when you have to. In this league, you have to be ready every night and play championship type basketball every night. Because everybody wants to beat the Spurs and Pistons, so it’s a championship game for us every night. We just have to be ready.

AllHipHop.com: Has it been different for you coming off the bench this year with a limited amount of minutes?

Nick Van Exel: Yeah, it’s real different. [laughs] It was tough in the first month, but I’m starting to adjust a little bit more now. Usually, when I was coming off the bench in the past I was getting more minutes. But here, Tony Parker is playing All-Star basketball. I think we have a team which is deep enough, so guys like me and Robert Horry, we can rest throughout the season and be in full strength during the playoffs.

AllHipHop.com: Nick, you have been mentioned in a couple rap songs over the years, so which one has been the most memorable?

Nick Van Exel: The Jay-Z and Beyonce joint [“Crazy In Love”] was probably the hottest one. That was a number one hit and every time we were in the club they were playing that.

AllHipHop.com: Smoot, as the artist here, any parting shots?

Smoot: Be on the lookout for that Smoot album Change Gon Come – it’s gonna hurt ’em once it hits. Also be on the look out for that big NBA All-Star party on Friday, February 17. I’m gonna get down and do my thing and perform. So check me out at that, which is being hosted by Nick, Steve Francis, Sam Cassell, Catino Mobley, and Chauncy Billups.

When MC’s brag about hailing from tough hoods, Dave Ghetto might take the cake. Famed by a landfill and a prison, Camden, New Jersey attracts trouble from Philadelphia and New York. It also has a crime-wave not unlike scenes from Sin City. But amidst the depression, is a lot of living beauty. Dave Ghetto brings both sides to his debut album, Lovelife?

Equally, Dave Ghetto is outspoken against the status quo of radio rap. However, he’s not throwing pennies at a window he can’t reach. Reportedly, Just Blaze and Fat Joe are checking for Dave, as well as others. With a good heart, a quick pen, and a sharp tongue, Dave Ghetto may be an independent artist that shakes things up a bit.

AllHipHop.com: How much has your environment, you know growing up in the notorious Camden, New Jersey, influenced you in your rhymes?

Dave Ghetto: Well, Camden is part of my personality, my swagger, the way I walk, the way I talk, how I carry myself is all about Camden. My music is what represents all the inner-workings of me which is Camden, the hood, education, some street bulls**t. You know these are all a part of me and I am just presenting it to the world, Camden is just one aspect of that.

AllHipHop.com: When you write your lyrics do you have anyone you are specifically trying to reach out to?

Dave Ghetto: No, I just write. I write about things that affect me, you know push my buttons. You know get me going and it just so happens that there are people that feel the same way I do. You know it is everyday adult s**t: things like bills being paid, the President being a p####, whatever is on your mind as an adult.

AllHipHop.com: You tackle a lot of social issues on your album, in “Hey Young World Part Two” you talk about girls growing up too fast. What do you think that is down to, bad parenting?

Dave Ghetto: I think it is down to a mixture of a lot of things. Systematically, things are set up and then you fall into [traps]. As far as a woman raising multiple children on her own, in order for her to make that happen she has to work extra jobs so she may not be spending as much time in the house or whatever. The father may not be present for whatever reason, you know he may also be working; he may be locked up or may not even be around at all. Me as a father, I do the best I can for my children. I came up in a house where my pops wasn’t necessarily present all the time. I feel that I am doing a pretty good job, based off that. It is all relative; you know what some people see as bad parenting, other people see as I am doing what I can.

AllHipHop.com: With topics like this in your rhymes, what are you trying to bring to the listener?

Dave Ghetto: Balance. A sound that is reminiscent of the better days, when quality music was created. I am not saying that what is going on right now is the worst that Hip-Hop has to offer, but I remember a time when you could hear a variety of music on the radio. Now, it is conveyor belt rap, two three albums a year and all the records start to sound alike. You know there is no real difference between G-Unit, Dip Set and D-Block, it is all the same concept, and there is no variety. I am trying to bring a little change and to solidify the presence of Little Brother, myself, and allow others to be heard that walk along the lines that we walk.

AllHipHop.com: But with the wider audience we have now; do you think there is more room for what we may consider sub-standard Hip-Hop?

Dave Ghetto: That is very true. But that being said, with the way music is set up now a particular region tends to dominate and you don’t get to hear so much the dope music that is being made in the East or in the West. All you are getting is the music from down South and when you hear that there is a lot of nonsense mixed in with that.

AllHipHop.com: Doesn’t the worst of the worst make the best of the best come out in some artists?

Dave Ghetto: Yeah that too, but it doesn’t mean that it has to be played to the rest of the world. [Laughing]

AllHipHop.com: The “Groupie Sex” track you did with Cee-Lo, was that encouraged after Confessions of a Video Vixen or was that something you were working on previous to her expose?

Dave Ghetto: Well, no. Conceptually, “Groupie Sex” was done a minute ago. But the Superhead line in the rhyme came up more so recently. You know I wrote it a while back but when we came up to record I did change a few lines here and there.

AllHipHop.com: As a dude in the industry, do groupies make it that easy for you?

Dave Ghetto: Well see me, personally, I am a people person, so I have never really had problems meeting women. but I really don’t see the difference. It is what it is. We meet people, sometimes they are genuine, sometimes they are not but at the same time, it is like that on an every day basis. When I wrote that track, it was more from a particular view but it was to outshine the entire concept of groupiehood so to speak.

AllHipHop.com: Just Blaze, Fat Joe and Bahamadia have all given you your props. How were you brought to their attention?

Dave Ghetto: Well Bahamadia and I are family. Just Blaze and I, we have people, and where Fat Joe is concerned, the label I work with let him hear the music, and he was pretty happy with what he heard. It feels good to be seen in that manner by the people that you and your peers look up to. Jazzy Jeff, he showed me some love and that is an icon right there. It’s a great feeling and it keeps me on my feet to keep doing what I am doing.

AllHipHop.com: Is there a chance that we can see you working with Blaze at some point?

Dave Ghetto: Definitely. I think he is the best in the game right now, and I look forward to that happening. Everybody is about their business, and when everyone’s business is straight, and we all get to the table, then anything is possible. That is something that I would most definitely push for.

AllHipHop.com: Do you find that East coast artists don’t encourage each other so much?

Dave Ghetto: It is hard as hell to break a new artist from what I am seeing. Philly is a big city, you can move some units, but for some of these artists to come out and not move the units, they are expected to move in their own hood, it is kind of rough. The crazy thing is that there is so much competition up here too. Even in the South, even though they are all in competition, they are all collaborating. Up here, the only time when people come together is when they are dissing someone and ganging up on someone else. I mean that’s what I think is the dope thing about Jazz, you know you had people collaborating, forming trios and quartets and it would be some of the illest people that ever played Jazz in the same quartet, with no egos, not doing it for shine but just trying to make dope music.

AllHipHop.com: But isn’t Hip-Hop an egotistical genre of music?

Dave Ghetto: Oh my God, it has to be the most egotistical. Even behind the rhymes I just look at it sometimes as people are scared for their jobs, you know both artists and people at the record labels. Record companies, A&R’s are scared to take a chance on an artist because they are scared if it doesn’t work out then that’s their job. Other artists are scared to help put other people on because they are worried that that dude might get more shine than him, so that being said you are not going to hear a lot of strong collaborations, you are more than likely going to see a lot of the same collaborations from the same group of people. When somebody says a collabo with Talib Kweli, you expect to hear a Pharaoh Monche, a Mos Def, Black Thought, you hear a Cam’ron you are going to hear the Dip Set or guys that sound like him, there is no variety, no balance, just a whole bunch of people giving that same sound all the time.