name	J. Cole
background	solo_singer
birth name	Jermaine Lamarr Cole
born	January 28, 1985Frankfurt, Germany
origin	Fayetteville, North Carolina
instrument	vocalist, sampler
genre	Hip hop, R&B;
occupation	Rapper, Producer
years active	2007–present
label	Roc Nation, Columbia, Sony Music Entertainment
associated acts	Jay-Z, Wale, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Fashawn, Omen, B.o.B, Talib Kweli, Jay Electronica, Big Sean
website	}}

Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985), better known by his stage name J. Cole, is an American rapper and producer. In 2009, he was the first artist signed to Jay-Z's label Roc Nation. His debut album titled ''Cole World: The Sideline Story'' was released on September 27, 2011.

Biography

Early life and career beginnings

Cole, was born in Frankfurt, Germany on January 28, 1985 to a European American mother and and a African American father. At the age of 8 months old, he relocated to Fayetteville, North Carolina where he was raised by his mother, aunt and his cousin. His father left him at a young age. Cole attended Terry Sanford High School in Fayetteville and graduated in 2003. He decided that he had a better chance of getting signed in New York City, so he chose to attend St. John's University on an academic scholarship where he majored in communication and minored in business, graduating ''magna cum laude''.

J. Cole started rapping at the age of 14 when J. Money put him in the rap game and his cousin showed him the basics of rhyming and word play. Inspired mostly by rapper Canibus and Eminem, Cole developed a love for telling stories in his lyrics. At age 15, J. Cole had notebooks filled with rhymes but no beats of his own to record them with. His mother bought him an 808 beat machine so he could produce music himself. By the age of 17, he was posting songs on various internet forums under the moniker "Therapist" J. Cole stood outside of Jay-Z’s place of business for three hours in order to give him a beat he sampled by Idris Muhammad, so that his mentor to be could use it. However, when Jay-Z came out of his building he shunned the up-and-coming rapper. Before J. Cole was signed to Roc Nation, he worked a job as a bill collector. One morning, he turned on his cell phone and noticed that he received a text from an associate asking him to call the associate back. When Cole returned the call, the associate informed Cole that he received a call from Jay-Z’s associates and that he had to meet with them as soon as possible. J. Cole decided not to stay at work and left to go back home to change and get ready for his meeting.

2007–2011: Mixtapes, features, accolades and nominations

Cole released his debut mixtape, ''The Come Up'', in late 2007 after graduating college. The mixtape, hosted by DJ On Point was cited as including "soul filled sound beats, raw, energetic drums and an endless range of topics; everything from the carefree days of college to the seemingly endless plight of those have-nots scrapping for change" Jay-Z signed Cole after hearing one of the songs, "Lights Please." Prior to releasing his second mixtape, Cole released the song, "Show Me Somethin'" for promotional purposes. He released his second mixtape, ''The Warm Up'', on June 15, 2009 to critical acclaim.

Cole appeared on Jay-Z's album ''The Blueprint 3'' (2009), on the track "A Star Is Born." He is featured on both Wale's debut album, ''Attention Deficit'' (2009) and mixtape ''Back to the Feature'' (2009) respectively.

In early 2010, Cole was chosen as one of ''Beyond Race Magazine'''s "50 Great Breakthrough Artists," he ranked 49, resulting in the cover story of the publication's #11 issue, as well as a Q&A; for the magazine's site. He was also featured in XXL magazine 2010 version of Top Ten Freshmen.

In January 2010, Cole, along with label mate Jay Electronica and Mos Def appeared on Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek's single, "Just Begun" for the follow-up of Reflection Eternal's album ''Train of Thought'' (2000), titled ''Revolutions Per Minute'' (2010). Cole has also appeared on B.o.B's mixtape ''May 25th'' (2010) on the song "Gladiators. On March 31, he performed a new song titled "Who Dat", which was once the first single off of his debut album. He later released the song on April 27, 2010. Cole was also featured on Young Chris' song "Still the Hottest" as well as Miguel's debut single "All I Want Is You." Additionally, Cole was featured on titled "We On", a song that failed to make final tracklist for DJ Khaled's ''Victory'' LP.

J. Cole began a college tour from March 19, 2007 to April 30, 2010 concluding in New Brunswick, NJ at Rutgers University's annual Rutgersfest. The tour also featured a stop at Syracuse University for a show with fellow rapper, Wiz Khalifa.

To celebrate the anniversary of the release of ''The Warm Up'' mixtape, J. Cole released a freestyle entitled "The Last Stretch" on June 15, 2010. On June 21 of that year, J. Cole premiered the music video to his first single "Who Dat" on BET's 106 & Park. In August 2010 J. Cole, was awarded the UMA Male Artist of the Year thanks to his heralded ''The Warm Up'' mixtape and a high profile deal with Jay-Z's label Roc Nation at the 2010 Underground Music Awards. In an interview, J. Cole revealed three song names from his upcoming album, including "Wet Dreams", "Won't Be Long", and "Never Told", which was produced by No I.D. On October 30, 2010, a demo titled "I'm Coming Home" was leaked onto the internet, Cole recorded the song as a reference track for Diddy, which later became "Coming Home" off ''Last Train to Paris'' (2010).

On November 12, 2010 J. Cole released his third official mixtape titled ''Friday Night Lights''. The tape included features from Drake, Wale & Omen with most of the production being handled by Cole himself.

Cole served as a supporting act for Drake, on the Light Dreams and Nightmares UK Tour, January 5–21, 2011. Cole will return to the UK in the Autumn to support Tinie Tempah on his 7-city Arena Tour which begins at Liverpool’s Echo Arena on October 31 and ends at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena on November 8 with a stop over at the 02 arena in London on November 4. Cole also supported Rihanna on the North American/Caribbean leg of her Loud Tour as the opening act, beginning in Baltimore in June 2011 and concluding in Barbados in August 2011. Rihanna announced in July 2011 via Twitter that Cole, who was already on the road with the singer, had been upgraded to the role of "official" tour opener and main warm-up act for the North American/Caribbean leg, after Cee Lo Green had to drop out of the Loud Tour due to other commitments. On January 17, 2011, J. Cole released a remix to Rihanna's third single, "S&M;", from her fifth studio album, ''Loud'' (2010).

On April 25, 2011, Vibe listed him at number 5 on their Vibe's list of Greatest Rappers Alive 30 Under 30. Cole was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2011 BET Awards.

2011–present: Any Given Sundays & ''Cole World: The Sideline Story''

On May 4, 2011 J. Cole wrote on Twitter, "All singles done. Album ridiculous. Title Perfect. Music incredible. Thank you for your patience. Let's change the game." In June 2011 he announced that the recording of the album was finished, and that the release date is set for September later that year. Through Twitter, J. Cole later confirmed that the release date for his album would be September 27, 2011 and that the title is ''Cole World: The Sideline Story''. On May 22, 2011, J. Cole released a song entitled "Return of Simba," the third in the "Simba series" following "Simba" and "Grown Simba." Cole purposefully avoided releasing his debut album’s title for fear of inconsistency. He only announced that Jay-Z will be featured on his debut album. Cole released his follow-up single to "Who Dat", "Work Out" on June 15, 2011, in honor of the second anniversary of his highly acclaimed mixtape ''The Warm Up''. The song, produced by Cole himself, samples "The New Workout Plan" by Kanye West and interpolates "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul.

On July 31, J. Cole took to Twitter and his website to announce Any Given Sunday. Reminiscent of Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Fridays, a weekly free music giveaway. J. Cole wrote "Every Sunday til the album drops I’ll be back with something. Maybe just 1 song, maybe a video, depending on how I’m feeling." For the 3rd installment of his Sunday series, "Any Given Sunday", J. Cole hopped on Ustream to update fans about the album and play some tracks that didn't make the cut. On August 22 Cole released his debut album's cover art, designed by Alex Haldi for Bestest Asbestos, whom J. Cole recorded a song for titled "Killers", for Haldi's mixtape ''The Glorification of Gangster''. For the fourth installment, on August 29, he released his debut album's track list, once again through twitter. On August 15 a music video was released for the album's first single "Work Out" on YouTube, Vevo and 106 & Park.

On August 30, after an unfinished version had leaked, "Can't Get Enough" featuring R&B; singer Trey Songz was released as the album's lead single. While in Barbados for his last performance as the official opening act for Rihanna's Loud Tour, Cole shot the music video for his debut album's second single, "Can't Get Enough", with Songz and Rihanna, who provided a cameo while in her home town.. The video, directed by Clifton Bell, was released on September 14, 2011. In addition early on September 25th, two days before his album's release, Cole released a music video for the iTunes bonus track "Daddy's Little Girl".

Discography

;Studio albums

''Cole World: The Sideline Story'' (2011)

;Mixtapes

''The Come Up Mixtape Vol. 1'' (2007)

''The Warm Up'' (2009)

''Friday Night Lights'' (2010)

References

External links

Official blog

J. Cole on MTV.com

Category:1985 births Category:African American rappers Category:American musicians of German descent Category:Living people Category:Military brats Category:People from Fayetteville, North Carolina Category:German expatriates in the United States Category:American record producers Category:Hip hop musicians Category:Hip hop singers Category:Rappers from North Carolina

cs:J. Cole da:J. Cole de:J. Cole fr:J. Cole ja:J・コール ru:J. Cole

Name	Trey Songz
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Tremaine Aldon Neverson
Alias
Born	November 28, 1984Petersburg, Virginia, United States
Instrument	Vocals, keyboards, sampler
Genre	R&B;, Hip-hop
Occupation	Singer–songwriter, record producer, actor
Years active	2004–present
Label	Atlantic, Songbook
Associated acts	Drake, Troy Taylor, Twista, Juvenile, Bun B, Rick Ross, Plies
Website	www.treysongz.com }}

Tremaine "Trey" Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), better known by his stage name Trey Songz, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. His debut album, ''I Gotta Make It'', was released in 2005, while his second album, ''Trey Day'', was released in 2007. His third album, ''Ready'', was released in 2009 while his fourth studio album, ''Passion, Pain & Pleasure'', was released on September 14, 2010.

Life and career

1984–2004: Early life

Songz was born Tremaine Aldon Neverson on November 28, 1984, in Petersburg, Virginia. Raised as a military brat, Songz did not have aspirations to have a musical career as a child due to his shyness, saying "Singing wasn't a reality for me, until other people started noticing I sounded good." He recognized his vocal abilities at the age of 14 in 1998. Reluctant to sing, he began performing with encouragement by friends and family in high school. Record producer Troy Taylor discovered Songz during a talent show in 2000, which led him to signing a recording contract with Atlantic Records in 2002. After graduating from high school in 2002, Songz moved to New Jersey to begin recording his debut album, though recording didn't actually begin until 2003.

2004–2006: ''I Gotta Make It''

While recording his debut album in 2004, Songz released multiple mixtapes under the alias ''Prince of Virginia''. One of the mixtapes featured an "answer track" to R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet", entitled "Open the Closet". The song gave Trey some notoriety. His debut album, ''I Gotta Make It'' was released on July 26, 2005. It debuted at #20 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 40,000 copies in its first week of sales. It has sold 300,000 records in the US, but was never certified by the RIAA. Songz's debut single, ''Gotta Make It'', featuring Twista, was released in March 2005 and reached #87 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #21 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. It garnered success in the R&B;/urban community but failed to make a mark in mainstream music. The album's second and final single, ''Gotta Go'', was released in July 2005 and reached #67 on the Hot 100 and #11 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming even more successful than his debut single in the R&B;/urban community and in the mainstream community. After promotion for his debut concluded, he was featured on the lead single from Twista's fifth album, ''The Day After''. The single, "Girl Tonite", reached #14 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming a huge hit.

2007–2008: ''Trey Day''

In mid-2006, Songz began work on a follow-up album to his debut with longtime collaborator Troy Taylor and also employed hitmakers Bryan-Michael Cox, Danja, Stargate (production team) and R. Kelly to help create the album. Trey aimed for the album to be more mainstream-oriented than his debut album. His second studio album, ''Trey Day'', was released on October 2, 2007. The album reached #11 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 73,000 copies in its first week. It has since sold 400,000 records in the US, becoming his second album not to be certified by the RIAA. The album was going to be released on May 8, 2007, but was continually delayed in order for a successful single to precede the album, as the lead single failed to impact charts. His second album was preceded by the lead single, "Wonder Woman", which was released in February 2007. It reached #54 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but failed to impact the Hot 100. Because of the single's failure, his second album was delayed from May 2007 to October 2007. The album's second single, "Can't Help but Wait", was released in August 2007 and was released to promote his second album and the film ''Step Up 2 the Streets'' soundtrack as a single for it. The single reached #14 on the Hot 100, and #2 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It became Songz's first Top 20 hit on the Hot 100, and helped to boost his second album's sales. The single was also nominated for Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance at the 2008 50th Grammy Awards. The third single from the album, "Last Time", was released in January 2008 and reached #69 on the Hot 100, and #9 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The fourth and final single from the album, "Missin' You", was released in May 2008, but failed to chart completely. In mid-2008, Songz was nominated for a BET Award for Best Male R&B; Artist but didn't win the award.

2009–2010: ''Ready''

In late 2008, Trey began work on his third studio album with Bryan-Michael Cox, Sean Garrett, Stargate and Troy Taylor and aimed for the record to be more mature than his first two. Before releasing his third album, Songz released a mixtape titled ''Anticipation'' in June 2009 through his blog, which featured songs from his third album. Another mixtape from Trey was released in the summer of 2009, called ''Genesis''. ''Genesis'' was a collection of Trey Songz's first recordings when he was fifteen years old and was released to show his fans the dedication that he had to making a record when he was young. Trey released his third studio album, ''Ready'', on August 31, 2009. The album reached #3 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 131,000 copies in its first week. These are his best first week sales to date and the album was his first to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard 200. The album has since sold over 800,000 records in the US, earning a Gold certification from the RIAA in February 2010, becoming his first album to be certified by the RIAA. The lead single from the album, "I Need a Girl", was released in April 2009 and reached #5 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop songs chart and #59 on the Hot 100, becoming an R&B;/urban hit but not a mainstream hit. A promotional single, "Successful", featuring rapper Drake, was released in June 2009 and reached #17 on the Hot 100, becoming Songz's third Top 20 hit. The single also served as the second and final single from Drake's EP, ''So Far Gone''. The second official single from his third album, "LOL Smiley Face", featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em and Gucci Mane, was released in August 2009 and reached #51 on the Hot 100 and #12 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The third single from the album, "I Invented Sex", featuring Drake, was released in October 2009 and reached #42 on the Hot 100 but #1 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming his first single to top that chart. Like the first two singles from the album, it achieved success in the R&B;/urban community but only some mainstream success. charted within the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and topped the R&B; chart. The fourth single from the album, "Say Aah", featuring rapper Fabolous, was released in January 2010 and reached #9 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The single has become Trey's highest charting single on the Hot 100 and one of his most successful singles on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The fifth and final single from the album, "Neighbors Know My Name", was released in February 2010 and reached #43 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. A sixth single, "Yo Side of the Bed", was going to be released in June 2010, but its release was canceled due to unknown reasons. A music video, featuring singer Keri Hilson, was filmed and released, however. Songz was also the opening act for Jay-Z on his Jay-Z Fall Tour in late 2009. The album was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B; Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards in 2010, but lost to Beyoncé's ''I Am... Sasha Fierce''. On April 1, 2010, he recorded an episode of MTV Unplugged, which aired on April 26, 2010. A documentary-series about Trey, ''Trey Songz: My Moment'', began in June 2010 to positive reviews and high ratings. The 10-part series will end in August 2010 and follows Trey during his time as opening act on Jay-Z's Jay-Z Fall Tour in late 2009.

2010–2011: ''Passion, Pain & Pleasure''

Songz's fourth studio album, ''Passion, Pain & Pleasure'', was released on September 14, 2010. Trey began work on the album in early 2010 with Sean Garrett, Troy Taylor and Stargate and has stated that the album will be his most personal to date. The album was completed in July 2010. The album's lead single, "Bottoms Up", featuring female rapper Nicki Minaj, was released on July 27, 2010 and has reached number twenty-four on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart and was shared enough on Facebook to appear as a trending video on ItsTrending. Its video was filmed on July 31, 2010 and is pending release. Trey also filmed the video for the album's second single, "Can't Be Friends", on August 1, 2010. "Can't Be Friends" was released as the album's second single in August 2010. Songz embarked on the ''Passion, Pain & Pleasure Tour'' on August 6, 2010 with singer Monica. The tour is his first headlining tour to date and consists of shows in venues that seat 3,000 to 5,000 people. Songz also contributed the song "Already Taken" to the ''Step Up 3D'' soundtrack, which was released on July 27, 2010. He filmed a video for the song, which was released in July 2010. The leading lady in the video is former girlfriend and professional dancer Helen Gedlu. Songz appeared at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010. Songz performed at BET Awards 2011 which broadcasted on June 26, 2011.

In July 2011, he was cast in ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D'' as Ryan, the male lead role.

2011-Present: Chapter 5

On August 18th, 2011, It was announced Songz will be working on his fifth studio titled ''Chapter 5''. In a interview Trey said The album, which will act as the follow-up to ‘Passion, Pain, & Pleasure’, is said to be nearing completion. He also carried on to say "It’s my sixth year in the game so I’ve been here for a while now. You can expect the best me you’ve ever heard. I don’t have any release dates in mind right now but I’m just making music and enjoying myself in the studio and having fun. When I get to a place where I feel comfortable saying a date or all of that, people will definitely know. I have a few dream collaborations on that album that I want, but they say if you blow out your candle and make a wish you can’t tell people what you ask for or it won’t come true."

Discography

''I Gotta Make It'' (2005)

''Trey Day'' (2007)

''Ready'' (2009)

''Passion, Pain & Pleasure'' (2010)

''Chapter 5'' (TBA)

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" !style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Year !style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Title !style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Role !style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Notes |- |2008 |''Queen of Media'' |DJ I.V. |film |- |2009 |''Lincoln Heights'' |Himself |Episode: "Relative Unknown" |- |2010 |''Preacher's Kid (film)'' |small role |- |2010 |''When I Was 17'' |Himself |Interview-like show, about what he did when he was 17 |- |2010 |''Trey Songz: My Moment'' |Himself |Interview-Documentary show, following him around on tour with Jay-Z. |}

Awards and nominations

{|class="wikitable" !Year !Award !Result |- |rowspan="3"|2008 |BET Award for Best Male R&B; Artist | |- |Grammy Award for Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance for "Can't Help but Wait" | |- |Ozone Award for Best R&B; Artist | |- |rowspan="1"|2009 |Soul Train Awards for Best Collaboration "Successful" | |- |rowspan="5"|2010 |Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B; Album for "Ready" | |- |BET Award for Best Male R&B; Artist | |- |BET Award for Best Collaboration for "Say Ahh" w/ Fabolous | |- |BET Award for Best Collaboration for "Successful" w/ Drake | |- |BET Award for Viewer's Choice for "Say Ahh" w/ Fabolous | |- |rowspan="2"|2011 |BET Award for Best Male R&B; Artist | |- |BET Award for Coca-Cola's Viewer's Choice for "Bottom's Up" | |}

References

External links

Official website

Category:1984 births Category:African American actors Category:African American musicians Category:African American singers Category:American actors Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American tenors Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Living people Category:Military brats Category:People from Petersburg, Virginia Category:Musicians from Virginia

de:Trey Songz es:Trey Songz fr:Trey Songz hr:Trey Songz it:Trey Songz he:טריי סונגז sw:Trey Songz mk:Треј Сонгз nl:Trey Songz ja:トレイ・ソングス no:Trey Songz pl:Trey Songz pt:Trey Songz simple:Trey Songz fi:Trey Songz sv:Trey Songz tr:Trey Songz zh:崔·颂

name	Lupe Fiasco
background	solo_singer
birth name	Wasalu Muhammad Jaco
alias	Lupe Fiasco
born	February 16, 1982Chicago, Illinois, United States
origin	Chicago, Illinois
religion	Islam
instrument	Keyboards, Piano
genre	Hip hop
occupation	Musician
years active	2005 to Present Day
label	1st & 15th, Atlantic
associated acts	Child Rebel Soldier, Japanese Cartoon, Matthew Santos, B.o.B, All City Chess Club
website	}}

Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, artist, producer and CEO of 1st and 15th Entertainment. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his critically acclaimed debut album, ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor''. He also performs as the frontman of post punk band Japanese Cartoon under his real name. He was raised in Chicago, Fiasco developed an interest in hip-hop after initially disliking the genre for its heavy use of profanity and vulgarity; Fiasco eventually adopted the name Lupe Fiasco beginning to record songs in his father's basement then later joining a group called "Da Pak". This group disbanded shortly after its inception and Fiasco then met the bestselling rapper Jay-Z who helped him get signed to a record deal with Atlantic Records. In 2006, Fiasco released his debut album ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor'' on the label; Fiasco's debut album became a commercial success as well being critically acclaim. In the next year, Fiasco released his second album, ''Lupe Fiasco's The Cool'' in December 2007 which the lead single is titled "Superstar"; this became a market success and later becoming a music hit, peaking at #10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Life and career

1982–98: Early life

Fiasco was born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco on February 16, 1982 in Chicago, Illinois. Born of West African descent, he was one of nine children of Shirley, a gourmet chef, and Gregory, a engineer. His father, who was a member of the Black Panther Party, was a prolific African drummer, karate teacher, operating plant engineer, and owner of karate schools and army surplus stores. Fiasco was raised Muslim on the Westside of Chicago on Madison Terrace housing project. At the age of three, Fiasco began taking martial arts classes. His parents divorced when he was at the age of five and he went on to live with his mother throughout the rest of his life; Fiasco's father still remained prevalent in his life, "After school, my father would come and get us and take us out into the world—one day, we're listening to N.W.A, the next day we're listening to Ravi Shankar, the next day, he's teaching us how to shoot an AK-47, the next day, we're at karate class, the next day, we're in Chinatown...". In the sixth grade, he went to live with his father in Harvey, Illinois; his father lived next door to a crack house and taught Fiasco to use guns to defend himself from drug dealers. Despite his unstable upbringing, Fiasco states that he was well-educated as a child, asserting that "I grew up in the hood around prostitutes, drug dealers, killers, and gangbangers but I also grew up juxtaposed: On the doorknob outside of our apartment, there was blood from some guy who got shot; but inside, there was ''National Geographic'' magazines and encyclopedias and a little library bookshelf situation. And we didn't have cable, so we didn't have the luxury of having our brains washed by MTV. We watched public television – cooking shows and stuff like that."

He initially disliked hip hop music for its use of vulgarity and profanity so he preferred to listen to jazz; Fiasco idolized clarinet player Benny Goodman. He began rapping when he was in the eighth grade and upon listening to Nas' 1996 album, ''It Was Written'', Fiasco began to get into hip hop. Early in his career, he went by stage names Little Lu/Lu tha Underdog. Growing up, Fiasco was given the nickname "Lu", the last part of his first name given by his mother; "Lupe" is an extension of this nickname which he borrowed from a friend from high school. "Fiasco," he says, "came from the Firm album, it had the song, 'Firm Fiasco'. I just liked the way it looked on paper." He also said more details on his name, "I simply like the way the word "looked" (Fiasco). You know how rappers always have names like MC Terrorist—like they're 'terrorizing' other rappers? I knew fiasco meant a great disaster or something like that but I didn't realize that the person named Fiasco would be the disaster, and that you should be calling other MCs fiascos—not yourself. I was moving real fast at the time and it kind of humbled me in a sense. It taught me like, 'Yo, stop rushing, or you're going to have some fiascos.' So I just kept it. It's like a scar, I guess, a reminder to not over think or overrun anything ever again." Fiasco later described the experience saying, "We had a song out about cocaine, guns, and women and I would go to a record store and look at it and think, 'What are you doing?' I felt like a hypocrite. I was acting like this rapper who would never be judged and I had to destroy that guy because what Lupe Fiasco says on this microphone is going to come back to Wasalu Jaco(speaking in third person). When the music cuts off, you have to go home and live with what you say." After turning away from gangsta rap, he developed a greater appreciation of the lyricism of the likes of Jay-Z and Nas. In the process, his mother had given him a record of The Watts Prophets, one of the first bands to use spoken words with music and would become the basis of the genre, Hip Hop.

Later, Fiasco later signed a solo deal with Arista Records but was dropped when President and CEO L. A. Reid was fired. During his short tenure at Arista, he did meet Jay-Z, who was the president of Def Jam Recordings at the time, he referred to him as a "breath of fresh air" saying that he reminded him of a younger version of himself. Jay-Z would later go on and help him get a record deal at Atlantic Records.

During his early hip hop career Fiasco remixed another one of West's songs, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" by renaming it as "Conflict Diamonds". This caught Kanye West's attention thus resulting in him asking Fiasco to perform on the song "Touch the Sky" off his album ''Late Registration''; tise song which sampled Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up" became a music hit in the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at #42. When Fiasco released his first Atlantic Records single, "Kick, Push" it was released earlier than expected, the song was a love story about two lovers sharing a passion for skateboarding. It would go on to be nominated for two 2007 Grammy Awards. Fiasco's "Kick, Push" and its accompanying music video helped Fiasco get respected but not revered in the hip hop community. During this time, he had guest appearances on singles on Tha' Rayne's "Kiss Me" and "Didn't You Know" and also K Foxx's 2004 "This Life"; he also released the song "Coulda Been" on a compilation of MTV's Advance Warning.

2006–08: ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor'' and ''The Cool''

In 2006, Jay-Z assisted him in the production of what would become his debut album ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor''. The title of the album is a reference to 'Food and Liquor' stores common in Chicago. He explains, "the store is where everything is at, whether it be the wino hanging by the store, or us kids going back and forth to the store to buy something. The 'Food' is the good part and the ''Liquors'' is the bad part. I try to balance out both parts of me... Food to me represents growth and progression. You eat food and you get strength. You need it to live. Liquor is not a necessity; it is a want. It destroys you. It breaks you down. I can see why it's prohibited in Islam...I've always felt like liquor represents the bad, the food represents the good, and everyone is made up of a little of both." His single "Kick, Push" became very popular and was featured in the videogame ''NBA Live 2007''. As his popularity steadily increased his anticipation for his upcoming album after ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor''. The debut album was officially released on September 19, 2006. The album featured production from Jay-Z, Kanye West, Mike Shinoda, The Neptunes, Prolyfic, and more. Singles from the album were "Kick, Push," "I Gotcha" and "Daydreamin'" featuring Jill Scott. The critically lauded album was later nominated for three Grammy Awards including Best Rap Album. Fiasco won "Best Urban/Alternative Performance" for "Daydreamin". In the same year, he was voted by ''GQ'' magazine as the "Breakout Man of the Year." He also received four BET Hip Hop Award nominations, and it made it to No. 8 on Billboard 200 and No.2 on Billboard Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

In 2007, Fiasco announced his second album, ''Lupe Fiasco's The Cool'', a concept album that expands on the story of the track of the same name on his first album. While recording this album, Fiasco's father died of type II diabetes and his business partner, Charles "Chilly" Patton, was convicted of attempting to supply heroin and was eventually sentenced to forty-four years in a correctional facility. These events greatly affected Fiasco and the subsequent themes discussed on the album; the album was released in December 2007 in United States while the first single and video from the album, "Superstar" featuring Matthew Santos was released the first week of November 2007. Baseball's Hanley Ramirez, Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Zimmerman, Gerald Laird and Ryan Braun have used "Superstar" as their at-bat song. The song has also been featured in HBO's ''Hard Knocks'' TV show. The album's second single (released in the UK in April 2008) was "Paris, Tokyo" – a song based around Fiasco's experiences of touring the world between his first and second albums. Moreover, in 2007 it was revealed that Fiasco, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams had formed a group known as Child Rebel Soldier. CRS initially released one single, entitled "US Placers" and featuring a Thom Yorke sample. In October 2010, as part of Kanye West's G.O.O.D Friday's, a second song titled "Don't Stop" was released. In an interview with MTV, particularly posted on his blog, Lupe said that a full length CRS album would depend on fan demand. The three appeared on the Glow in the Dark Tour together, though under separate billing. In an interview with ''The Village Voice'', Fiasco revealed that he was writing a novel about a window washer aptly titled ''Reflections of a Window Washer''. In 2008, Fiasco and his band "1500 or Nothin" joined Kanye West's Glow in the Dark Tour which also featured Rihanna and N.E.R.D. The tour stopped in several cities, including his hometown of Chicago. In 2008, MTV named Fiasco the 7th Hottest MC in the Game and announced that he was remixing ''The Cool'' with French electro house act Justice. Fiasco's "Superstar" has been included in the video game ''Lips''.

2009–present: ''Lasers''

Fiasco announced at a Chicago concert late in 2008 that his next and most likely final album will be a three disc album called ''LupE.N.D.'' and that the first disc titled, "Everywhere" would come out in June 2009. On January 30, 2009, Lupe Fiasco originally announced that ''LupE.N.D.'' will be postponed indefinitely. In spite of the bad news that he would not release three albums Fiasco decided to plan a project titled. ''The Great American Rap Album''. In June 2009, Fiasco would released two following albums in December 2009 and June 2010 with rumored ''LupE.N.D.'' following afterward. However, it was announced by Fiasco that his next album would instead be titled, "''We Are Lasers''", yet later his official Rep. from Atlantic Records announced and confirmed that it would instead be titled simply "''Lasers''". On June 26, 2009, Fiasco announced at the Chicago Theater that the album would be released in the 4th Quarter of 2009, particular in December. The album's first single, "Shining Down" features Matthew Santos and is produced by Soundtrakk; this single was released on July 7, 2009. On January 26, 2010, a new song called "I'm Beamin" was released and Fiasco referred to the song as a 'taste' of what is to come... There are a few snippets of songs that have been released as of August 24, 2009, unofficially titled "Army Girl," "Ladies And Gentlemen," and "2 Ways." Besides the forever delays and rhetoric about the release date of his latest album, Fiasco ventured into making songs for movies; he has a bonus track on iTunes for the soundtrack to ''The Twilight Saga: New Moon'' called "Solar Midnight". In a post on his Myspace blog, Fiasco addressed concerns by fans who believed that he had "sold out" by making a song for the soundtrack saying, "I'm not SELLING OUT by doing a song for NEW MOON... People thought I 'SOLD OUT' when I did 'Kick, Push'". On October 7, 2009, Lupe released a song in response to the release of MTV's 2009 "Top 10 Hottest MC's List", he was undoubtedly absent from the list; Lupe stated that the track entitled, "Fire" would prove that he belonged in the number one spot on the list.

In October 2009, Fiasco released two new freestyles, "Turnt Up" and "Say Something". Both freestyles were included on his official mixtape ''Enemy of the State: A Love Story'' released on November 26, 2009. The mixtape also included beats from Diddy's "Angels", Lil Wayne's "Fireman," Slaughterhouse's The One, and Radiohead's "The National Anthem." In the likes of contributing to the hip hop community itself more, Fiasco contributed his vocals to Chris Brown's song "Girlfriend" on his 2009 album ''Graffiti'' and has provided a guest verse on the song "Past My Shades" from Atlanta rapper B.o.B's 2010 album, ''B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray''.

Later in 2010, Fiasco announced on Twitter that his new album is complete and is waiting for the release from Atlantic Records; the delay of the release for the album remains to be unclear thus resulted in fans later putting together an online petition demanding that Atlantic Records release ''Lasers''. Around the 3rd or 4th Quarter of 2010, the petition garnered considerable attention on hip hop blog sites as well as attaining over five thousands signatures since its creation, it has since reached over twenty-eight thousand signatures. In response to the petition, Fiasco released a song titled "B.M.F-Building Minds Faster" as a gift for his fans; the story was featured on many sites including Cable New Networks (CNN) and MTV

In April 2010, in association with Pharrell, Fiasco formed the hip-hop group All City Chess Club which included himself as well as Asher Roth, B.o.B., The Cool Kids, Charles Hamilton, Blu, Diggy Simmons, Wale, J. Cole, & Dosage. They have so far made one song, a remix of Lupe's "I'm Beamin" which features Asher Roth, Charles Hamilton, The Cool Kids, Blu, Diggy Simmons, B.o.B & Dosage.

On July 16, 2010, Fiasco under his real name Wasalu Jaco released his post-punk band Japanese Cartoon's debut album ''In The Jaws Of The Lords Of Death''. He created the album while waiting for Atlantic Records to release his upcoming album and stated that Japanese Cartoon was influenced by a variety of musical genres, saying, "I’ve always been a fan of all music. My favorite songs aren’t hip-hop songs, they’re songs from Queen like Somebody to Love. Hip-hop is just something I actually know how to do but I always had aspirations to participate in other forms of music. Once I got to create some hip-hop, it was like, 'Okay, what am I going to do now?' So my artistic side was like, 'Yo, let’s do some rock music.'"

In August 10, 2010, Fiasco released a snippet of a song "Go to Sleep," on his official Twitter page. That snippet/song had the album titled ''Food & Liquor II (TGARA)''. This led to speculation that "Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album" would be Lupe's follow-up to ''Lasers''. Near the End of August, Fiasco released "Go to Sleep" in its entirety while eventually performing at Wake Forest University's Alumni Weekend Concert in Winston-Salem, NC in October 2010; Fiasco revealed to the crowd that the album would be finally released in March of 2011 (confirmed). As what you've read before about the protests above it wasn't until the 4th Quarter of 2010 that Fiasco's dedicated fan base protested outside the Atlantic Records Headquarters in New York City for the release of his third studio album, ''Lasers''. After the long haul, a Representative officially confirmed an announcement of a release date while would be on March 8, 2011; the first single off of ''Lasers'' was "The Show Goes On" was played at the protest then later released to the public via Fiasco's Official Webpage. The song samples the song "Float On" by Modest Mouse. On a National Level, it was released to iTunes on November 9, 2010 and later debuted at No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100. The entire album was released on March 8, 2011 which coincidentally was the day it was the No. 1 album on iTunes; the producers involved on the album include Alex Da Kidd, King David "The Future" and Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis. Featured artists include Skylar Grey; Trey Songz; and John Legend.

Philanthropy and business ventures

In 2001, Fiasco co-founded with Charles "Chilly" Patton 1st & 15th Entertainment (or "FNF", named after the traditional twice-monthly paycheck dates), Although Fiasco was initially to serve as vice-president, he became CEO after Patton was convicted on drug charges. Fiasco and singer Matthew Santos were two of the most recognizable signed artists. In November 2009, Fiasco announced he would get "rid of the entire First and Fifteenth Record Label. Me and Sarah Green are the only artists on the label, like I got rid of the whole label. It was just such a ‘this isn’t right for you right now. This isn’t gonna work for you right now. You need to be focused on you. Do you really want that, do you really have the capacity to do it?’

In 2005, he founded "Righteous Kung-Fu", a company that designs fashions, sneakers, toys, video games, comic books, and graphics for album covers and skateboard decks. He has also sponsored a skateboard team and has endorsements from DGK Skateboards.

In January 2006, Fiasco signed with major footwear and apparel corporation Reebok becoming part of the "O.G" marketing campaign where rap artists such as Lil Wayne and Mike Jones designed their own personal colorway of the Reebok "O.G" model. Fiasco also runs his own fashion label under the name "Trilly & Truly". Together with Le Messie of FALSE from Singapore he also runs a collaborative clothing line called "Fallacy Of Rome".

In 2009, Fiasco performed in ''The People Speak'', a documentary feature film that employs musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's ''A People's History of the United States''.

On January 7, 2010, Fiasco joined musician Kenna, actress Jessica Biel, and other celebrities and activists for an expedition to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro called Summit on the Summit to raise awareness of the billions of people worldwide who lack access to sanitary drinking water.

On January 20, 2010, Fiasco released a track called "Resurrection" with Kenna in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The song, part of a compilation released through the charity Music for Relief, aimed to encourage donations for immediate relief and long-term recovery following the devastating disaster.

Political views

Fiasco is known for his anti-establishment views. In an interview with Stephen Colbert on the satirical news show ''The Colbert Report'', Fiasco stated his credo on political philosophy: "You should criticize power even if you agree with it." In another interview in June 2011 on the CBS program "What's Trending," Fiasco discussed the political content of his music while stating, "My fight against terrorism, to me, the biggest terrorist is Obama and the United States of America. I'm trying to fight the terrorism that's actually causing the other forms of terrorism. You know, the root cause of terrorism is the stuff the U.S. government allows to happen. The foreign policies that we have in place in different countries that inspire people to become terrorists." Despite his strong political opinions, Fiasco clearly states he does not vote in U.S. elections nor gets involves himself in U.S. politics which he clearly stated that it was "meaningless." For his strong political views, Fiasco has been getting lots of heat in the media like, the Young Turks for sharing his "liberal" politics but yet stating that voting is "meaningless"; this sparked the anchors of the Young Turks to conclude his statements to be "stupid". Fiasco has also appeared on Fox News' Network's The O'Reilly Factor in Late June 2011 where he continues to states that the "biggest terrorist in America is Obama" and he expresses in detail on what he believes; Bill O' Reilly caught him on his views and questioned how young adults envy his music and his character. The interview was a heavy debate on foreign policy after the statements on Obama being a terrorist which Fiasco makes it clear that he believes the United States Leadership is abusing their power.

Discography

''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor'' (2006)

''Lupe Fiasco's The Cool'' (2007)

''Lasers'' (2011)

''Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album'' (Rumored)

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Lupe Fiasco

References

External links

Lupe Fiasco at Allmusic

Lupe Fiasco at ''Rolling Stone''

Lupe Fiasco at Metacritic

Lupe Fiasco on Twitter

''Lupe Fiasco, Word Star'' – Lupe Fiasco interview with ''Chicago''

Category:1982 births Category:African American Muslims Category:African American rappers Category:American hip hop record producers Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Rappers from Chicago, Illinois Category:Living people Category:Rappers

ar:لوبي فياسكو cs:Lupe Fiasco da:Lupe Fiasco de:Lupe Fiasco es:Lupe Fiasco fr:Lupe Fiasco ko:루페 피에스코 it:Lupe Fiasco lt:Lupe Fiasco mk:Лупе Фиаско nl:Lupe Fiasco ja:ルーペ・フィアスコ no:Lupe Fiasco pl:Lupe Fiasco pt:Lupe Fiasco ro:Lupe Fiasco ru:Lupe Fiasco simple:Lupe Fiasco sr:Лупе Фијаско fi:Lupe Fiasco sv:Lupe Fiasco tr:Lupe Fiasco zh:卢普·菲亚斯科

Name	Bei Maejor
Background	solo_singer
born	July 23, 1986
Genre	Hip-Hop, R&B;
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, producer, record producer, Rapper
Years active	2003–present
Label	Jive, TM3 Records
associated acts	Trey Songz, Ne-Yo, J. Cole, Chrishan, Travis Porter, Lloyd, Bun B
Website	www.beimaejor.com }}

Brandon Green (born July 23, 1986), better known by his stage name Bei Maejor, is a grammy nominated American pop/R&B; singer, rapper, record producer and songwriter. After having already produced for numerous high-profile artists, Maejor released his debut mixtape ''Upside Down'', featuring Keri Hilson, Drake, T-Pain, Trey Songz and more. His follow-up mixtape ''Upside Down 2'' was released on Black Friday 2010.

Life and career

Bei Maejor has produced and written for many artists including Trey Songz, Rock City, Travis Porter, Sam Salter, Cody Simpson, Lloyd, New Boyz, Wiz Khalifa, Sean Kingston, Chrisette Michelle, Bun B, LeToya, Ne-Yo, Monica, Ginuwine, Plies, Diggy Simmons, Soulja Boy, Tinie Tempah and Ciara. He has produced soundtracks for ''Bratz: The Movie'' in 2007 and ''The Princess and the Frog'' in 2009. He received his first Gold Plaque for production on Bun B Trill in 2005 while still in college at the University of Michigan and was nominated for a Grammy for his work on Trey Songz album in 2010, and the Monica album in 2011.

He graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2008. After graduation he moved to Atlanta and joined the Compound Entertainment team working with Ne-Yo. Maejor was signed by Jive Records in January 2010 as a recording artist. Maejor released his first album/mixtape, ''Upside Down'' on August 4, 2010 which featured Keri Hilson, Trey Songz, Drake, T-Pain and Clinton Sparks.

He produced and is featured on the official remix for Ciara's "Ride" with Andre 3000 & Ludacris. He was also featured on Plies' "She Got It Made". His first single off his debut album, titled "Trouble" featuring J. Cole was released August 12, 2011. A visual still has been unrelease for his first single.

Discography

Mixtapes

2010: ''Upside Down''

2010: ''Upside Down 2''

2011: ''Throwback''

2011: ''maejorMaejor''

Singles

As lead artist

+ List of singles by title, year and peak chart positions, and album	scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:16em;"	Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Album
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"	! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"
"Trouble" (featuring J. Cole)		—	97

Production discography

Movie Credits

;''The Princess and the Frog'' (2009) "Never Knew I Needed"

TV Credits

;''Jersey Shore (TV series)'' (2011)

"The Tequila Song" aired in the season finale on March 24, 2011. Written and sung by Janine the Machine.

Producer

+ List of songs and singles produced by Bei Maejor	Title	Year	Artist(s)	Album
"Hold You Down"		Bun B
"Ur Behind"	Trey Songz	''I Gotta Make It''
"Spend Some $"		Chingy	''Hate It or Love It''
"Intro: Trey Day"
"Long Gone Missin'"
"Not Anymore"
"On My Own"		Chrisette Michele
"Show Me the Way"	Ginuwine	''A Man's Thoughts''
"Black Roses"	Trey Songz
"Stay or Go"
! scope="row"	Ciara
"Great Expectations"	Diggy Simmons
"Passion (Interlude)"
"Blind"
"Speakers Going Hammer"
"Blowing Me Kisses"
"Buyou"
"Gimme What I Want"
"Fearless"
"Hustler"
"Start Me Up" (featuring Bei Maejor)		New Boyz	''Too Cool To Care''

Songwriting credits

;''Epiphany by Chrisette Michele'' (2009)

"On My Own"

;''Ready by Trey Songz'' (2009)

"Black Roses"

;''Laws of Power by Tiesto, Sean Kingston, Three 6 Mafia'' (2010)

"Feel It"

;''4 U by Cody Simpson'' (2010)

"Iyiyi"

;''Goon Affiliated by Plies'' (2010)

"She Got It Made"

;''Airborne by Diggy Simmons'' (2010)

"Great Expectations"

;''The DeAndre Way by Soulja Boy'' (2010)

"Speakers Going Hammer"

"Blowing Me Kisses"

;''King of Hearts by Lloyd'' (2011)

"Cupid"

References

External links

"Beat Maejor" - The Michigan Daily

"A Maejor Star is Born" - The Michigan Daily

Category:Living people Category:Jive Records artists Category:Songwriters from Michigan Category:American record producers Category:1987 births