Lupe Fiasco is
bringing more to the rap game than show-stealing cameos and great lyrics. The
23-year-old product of Chicago’s west side, whose debut album Food and Liquor
drops this spring on Atlantic Records, is also pushing street clothes, a radio
show and a record label.
Fiasco co-founded
the label, 1st and 15th, with a manager of his former group Da Pak after their
deal with Epic Records fell through.
Fiasco currently
serves as the label’s vice president. The rapper is also promoting his own apparel
through ventures with various companies, many of them based overseas.
"I’m real
heavy into street wear, got a lot of collaborations and stuff in Asia,"
said the former underground rapper, who admitted to working with companies in
Hong Kong, Singapore and London.
Stateside, Fiasco
recently completed a deal with Reebok for his own shoe. The devout Muslim and
jazz fan is collaborating with Mila Wang and Mike Jones for a campaign as well
as St. Alfred, a Chicago-based shop, and BGK.
Fiasco admits that
his side hustle has "took me to more places then Hip-Hop has." "I
got stuff in different exhibits around the world, so I just did five shows in
Southeast Asia with some of my shoes and some toys and some tape decks and stuff
like that."
When he’s not touring
overseas with his street wear, Fiasco can be found on the airwaves hosting FNF
Radio, a college radio show on 88.9 FM in Chicago, with his friend Bishop G.
The one-hour to hour-and-a-half show is broadcast live on Monday nights and
streamed online at Radio.IT.edu.
"It’s real
unprofessional, and we stick to that," Fiasco revealed, adding that the
show averages "five, six thousand listeners."
With the show’s
liberal atmosphere, Fiasco says anything can happen, from playing music to giving
away clothes to talking to fans and keeping them "abreast on what’s going
on."