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Five dollars

(United States)
Value:	$5
Width:	155.956 mm
Height:	66.294 mm
Weight:	Approx. 1 g
Paper Type:	75% cotton 25% linen
Obverse
Design:	Abraham Lincoln
Design Date:	2006
Reverse
Design:	Lincoln Memorial
Design Date:	2006
v t e

The United States five-dollar bill or fiver ($5) is a denomination of United States currency. The current $5 bill features U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's portrait on the front and the Lincoln Memorial on the back. All $5 bills issued today are Federal Reserve Notes. Five dollar bills are delivered by Federal Reserve Banks in red straps of 100 bills each.

The $5 bill is sometimes nicknamed a "fin". The term has German/Yiddish roots and is remotely related to the English "five", but it is far less common today than it was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing says the average life of a $5 bill in circulation is 16 months before it is replaced due to wear. Approximately 6% of all paper currency produced by the U.S. Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing in 2009 were $5 bills.^[1]

The redesigned $5 bill[link]

Mathew Brady portrait of Lincoln taken on February 9, 1864, used for the old $5 bill.

Daguerreotype of Lincoln taken on the same February day by Mathew Brady, used for the redesigned $5 bill. Note that this image is a mirror of Lincoln as he appears on the bill - this is because the daguerreotype process produced a single positive image (rather than a negative made on film, which is then used to make a true photographic positive), and the daguerreotype was always a mirror image of the subject material. Thus, the way Lincoln appears on the bill is actually how he appeared when seated for the picture.

The redesigned $5 bill was unveiled on September 20, 2007, and was issued on March 13, 2008 during a ceremony at President Lincoln's Cottage. New and enhanced security features make it easier to check the new $5 bill and more difficult for potential counterfeiters to reproduce. The redesigned $5 bill has:

• Watermarks: There are now two watermarks. A large numeral "5" watermark is located in a blank space to the right of the portrait, replacing the watermark portrait of President Lincoln found on previous bills. A second watermark — a new column of three smaller "5"s — has been added and is positioned to the left of the portrait.
• Security thread: The embedded security thread runs vertically and is now located to the right of the portrait. The letters "USA" followed by the number "5" in an alternating pattern are visible along the thread from both sides of the bill. The thread glows blue when held under ultraviolet light (blacklight).^[2]

Design features[link]

The new $5 bills remain the same size and use the same—but enhanced—portraits and historical images. The most noticeable difference is the light-purple coloring of the center of the bill, which blends into gray near the edges.

Similar to the recently redesigned $10, $20 and $50 bills, the new $5 bill features an American symbol of freedom printed in the background: The Great Seal of the United States, featuring an eagle and shield, is printed in purple to the right of the portrait and an arc of purple stars surround both it and the portrait.

Additional design elements[link]

• On the back of the bill, a larger, purple numeral "5" appears in the lower right corner to help those with visual impairments to distinguish the denomination. This large "5" also includes the words "USA FIVE" in tiny white letters.
• The oval borders around President Lincoln's portrait on the front, and the Lincoln Memorial vignette on the back have been removed. Both engravings have been enhanced.
• Small yellow "05"s are printed to the left of the portrait on the front of the bill and to the right of the Lincoln Memorial vignette on the back. The zeros in the "05"s form a "EURion constellation" to prevent photocopying of the bill.

Other features[link]

• Microprinting: The redesigned $5 bill features microprinting, which is the engraving of tiny text, on the front of the bill in three areas: the words “FIVE DOLLARS” can be found repeated inside the left and right borders of the bill; the words “E PLURIBUS UNUM” appear at the top of the shield within the Great Seal; and the word “USA” is repeated in between the columns of the shield. On the back of the bill the words “USA FIVE” appear along one edge of the large purple "5". Because they are so small, these microprinted words are hard to replicate.

More Information[link]

• Interactive graphic from Portfolio.com Shows the design features and history of the $5 bill. Also, compares security features to that of the Euro.
• Bureau of Engraving and Printing Web site
• Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Web site
• U.S. Secret Service Web site

Large size note history[link]

(approximately 7.4218 × 3.125 in ≅ 189 × 79 mm)

Series 1886 $5 bill

Series 1907 $5 bill

Famous 1896 $5 "Educational Series" Silver Certificate

• 1861: The first $5 bill was issued as a Demand Note with a small portrait of Alexander Hamilton on the right and an allegorical statue representing freedom on the left side of the obverse.
• 1862: The first $5 United States Note was issued with a face design similar to the previous Demand Note and a completely revised reverse.
• 1869: A new $5 United States Note was issued with a small portrait of Andrew Jackson on the left and a vignette of a pioneer family in the middle.
• 1870: National Gold Bank Notes were issued specifically for payment in gold coin by participating banks. The obverse featured vignettes of Christopher Columbus sighting land and Columbus with an Indian Princess; the reverse featured US gold coins.
• 1875: The series 1869 United States Note was revised. The green tinting that was present on the obverse was removed and the design on the reverse was completely changed.
• 1886: The first $5 Silver Certificate was issued with a portrait of Ulysses S. Grant on the obverse and five Morgan silver dollars on the reverse.
• 1890: Five-dollar Treasury or "Coin Notes" were issued and given for government purchases of silver bullion from the silver mining industry. The reverse featured an ornate design that occupied almost the entire note.
• 1891: The reverse of the 1890 Treasury Note was redesigned because the treasury felt that it was too "busy" which would make it too easy to counterfeit.
• 1891: The reverse of the 1886 Silver Certificate was revised; the 5 Morgan silver dollars were removed.
• 1896: The famous "Educational Series" Silver Certificate was issued. The entire obverse was covered with artwork representing electricity and the reverse featured portraits of Ulysses Grant and Phillip Sheridan.
• 1899: A new $5 silver certificate with a portrait of Running Antelope on the face was issued.
  

  

  1923 $5 "porthole" silver certificate
• 1914: The first $5 Federal Reserve Note was issued with a portrait of Lincoln on the obverse and vignettes of Columbus sighting land and the Pilgrims' landing on the reverse. The note initially had a red treasury seal and serial numbers; however, they were changed to blue.
• 1915: Federal Reserve Bank Notes (not to be confused with Federal Reserve Notes) were issued by 5 Federal Reserve Banks. The obverse was similar to the 1914 Federal Reserve Notes, except for large wording in the middle of the bill and a portrait with no border on the left side of the bill. Each note was an obligation of the issuing bank and could only be redeemed at the corresponding bank.
• 1918: The 1915 Federal Reserve Bank Note was re-issued under series 1918 by 11 Federal Reserve banks.
• 1923: The $5 silver certificate was redesigned; it was nicknamed a "porthole" note due to the circular wording of THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around Lincoln's portrait. The reverse featured the Great Seal of the United States.

Small size note history[link]

(6.14 × 2.61 in ≅ 156 × 66 mm)

• 1929: Under Series of 1928, all small-sized notes carried a standardized design. All $5 bills would feature a portrait of Lincoln, the same border design on the obverse, and the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse. The $5 bill was issued as a United States Note with a red seal and serial numbers and as a Federal Reserve Note with a green seal and serial numbers.

The front side of a US $5 Series 1928F

• 1933: As an emergency response to the Great Depression, additional money was pumped into the American economy through Federal Reserve Bank Notes. This was the only small-sized $5 bill that had a different border design. The serial numbers and seal on it were brown
• 1934: The redeemable in gold clause was removed from Federal Reserve Notes due to the U.S. withdrawing from the gold standard.
• 1934: The first $5 Silver Certificates were issued with a blue seal and serial numbers along with a blue numeral 5 on the left side of the obverse.

The front side of a US $5 Hawaii Emergency Note

• 1942: Special World War II currency was issued. HAWAII was overprinted on the front and back of the $5 Federal Reserve Note; the serial numbers, and seal, were changed to brown from green. This was done so that the currency could be declared worthless if there was a Japanese invasion. A $5 silver certificate was printed with a yellow instead of blue treasury seal; these notes were for U.S. troops in North Africa. These notes, too, could be declared worthless if seized by the enemy.
• 1950: Many minor aspects on the obverse of the $5 Federal Reserve Note were changed. Most noticeably, the treasury seal, gray word FIVE, and the Federal Reserve Seal were made smaller; also, the Federal Reserve seal had spikes added around it.

Series 1963 $5 United States Note. Urban legend erroneously holds that the red seal from that year onward was done in mourning of the Kennedy assassination

• 1953: New $5 United States Notes and Silver Certificates were issued with a gray numeral 5 on the left side of the bill and the gray word FIVE with a blue seal imprinted over it on the right and blue serial numbers.
• 1963: Both the $5 United States Note and Federal Reserve Note were revised with the motto IN GOD WE TRUST added to the reverse and WILL PAY TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND removed from the obverse. Also, the obligation on the Federal Reserve Note was shortened to its current wording, THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.
• 1967: Production of the $5 United States Note ends.
• 1969: The $5 bill began using the new treasury seal with wording in English instead of Latin.
• 1993: The first new-age anti-counterfeiting measures were introduced with microscopic printing around Lincoln's portrait and a plastic security strip on the left side of the bill.
• May 24, 2000: To combat evolving counterfeiting, a new $5 bill was issued under series 1999 whose design was similar in style to the $100, $50, $20, and $10 bills that had all undergone previous design changes. The $5 bill, however, does not feature color-shifting ink like all the other denominations.
• June 28, 2006: The BEP announced plans to redesign the $5 note, likely with similar features as newer $10, $20, and $50 notes.
• September 20, 2007: The BEP revealed the redesigned $5 note to the public.
• March 13, 2008: The redesigned $5 note enters circulation.
• May 2011: The 2009 Series Rios/Geithner Next Printing $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 All Dollar Bill.

Reverse side[link]

The reverse of the five-dollar bill has two rectangular strips that are blanked out when viewed in the infrared spectrum, as seen in this image taken by an infrared camera

The back of the five-dollar bill features sections of the bill that are blanked out when viewed in the infrared spectrum.

References[link]

Lupe Fiasco
Lupe Fiasco at WGCI Radio, Chicago, Illinois.
Background information
Birth name	Wasalu Muhammad Jaco
Born	(1982-02-16) February 16, 1982 (age 30) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Origin	Chicago, Illinois
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, producer, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, keyboard
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Atlantic
Associated acts	Child Rebel Soldier, Japanese Cartoon, Matthew Santos, B.o.B, Kanye West, All City Chess Club, Sway DaSafo, Pharrell
Website	www.lupefiasco.com

Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( /ˈluːpeɪ/ LOO-pay), is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. He also performs as the frontman of rock band Japanese Cartoon under his real name. As an entrepreneur, Fiasco is the chief executive officer of 1st and 15th Entertainment.

Raised in Chicago, Fiasco developed an interest in hip hop after initially disliking the genre for its use of vulgarity. After adopting the name Lupe Fiasco and recording songs in his father's basement, 19-year-old Fiasco joined a group called Da Pak. The group disbanded shortly after its inception, and Fiasco soon met rapper Jay-Z who helped him sign a record deal with Atlantic Records. In 2006, Fiasco released his debut album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor on the label, which received three Grammy nominations. He released his second album, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, in December 2007. The lead single "Superstar" peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. He released Lasers on March 8, 2011 after a two-year delay. The album's lead single "The Show Goes On" peaked at number 9 on the chart, thus becoming his most successful single since "Superstar".

In addition to music, Fiasco has pursued other business ventures, including fashion. He runs two clothing lines, Righteous Kung-Fu and Trilly & Truly; he has designed sneakers for Reebok. He has been involved with charitable activities, including the Summit on the Summit expedition, and in 2010 he recorded a benefit single for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Fiasco is also noted for his anti-establishment views, which he has expressed in both interviews and his music.

Life and career[link]

1982–98: Early life[link]

Fiasco was born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco on February 16, 1982 in Chicago, Illinois.^[2][3] Born of West African descent,^[4] he was one of nine children of Shirley, a gourmet chef, and Gregory, an engineer.^[1][3] His father, 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.^[5][6][7] Fiasco was raised Muslim on the West Side of Chicago on Madison Terrace housing project.^[6][8] At the age of three, Fiasco began taking martial arts classes.^[1] His parents divorced when he was five, and he went on to live with his mother, but his father still remained an important part of his life. He described his father's influence over the family by saying, "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...".^[6]

In sixth grade, he went to live with his father full-time in Harvey, Illinois.^[9] His father lived next door to a crack house and taught Fiasco to use guns to defend himself from drug dealers.^[1] Despite his unstable upbringing, Fiasco states that he was well-educated as a child, asserting that his parents exposed him to a diverse array of subjects and that reading was highly encouraged in his household.^[1] As a teenager, Fiasco participated in Academic Decathlon competitions.^[3] His mother described him by saying, "He was a great spirited child. Smart, a bit complex; he kind of was a loner; he didn't hang with a lot of people...He always had the glasses. Always had a book bag over his shoulder and some type of a writing tablet."^[3] Fiasco initially disliked hip hop music for its use of vulgarity, and preferred to listen to jazz; he idolized clarinet player Benny Goodman.^[1][8] His struggle to learn to play an instrument led him to create poetry instead, which led to his interest in the lyrical aspects of music.^[10]

He began rapping his poems in the eighth grade, and upon hearing Nas' 1996 album, It Was Written, began to pursue hip hop.^[7] While attending Thornton Township High School, Fiasco met gang member Bishop G. The two became friends due to their shared interest in music.^[3] Fiasco's father allowed him and Bishop to make mixtapes in his basement, and the two gained notoriety at the school for their music. However, they were kicked off stage during their first performance because their eclectic musical style was not embraced by the hip hop community.^[3] Early in his career, he went by stage names Little Lu and Lu tha Underdog.^[11] Growing up, Fiasco was given the nickname "Lu", the last part of his first name, by his mother. "Lupe" is an extension of this nickname, which he borrowed from a friend from high school. "Fiasco" is a reference to The Firm song "Firm Fiasco"; the rapper "liked the way it looked on paper."^[12] He also said of his name, "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...it kind of humbled me in a sense. It taught me like, 'Yo, stop rushing, or you're going to have some fiascos.'"^[11]

1999–2005: Career beginnings[link]

Lupe Fiasco performing at the Intonation Music Festival, 2006.

When Fiasco was 17, he began creating music as a solo artist in his father's basement, even though his parents were not keen on having their son be a rapper. He scoured flea markets and secondhand stores, where he was able to find an old mixing board and a record player, stacks of vinyl records, and mic stands.^[11] At age 19, Fiasco joined a group called Da Pak, which was influenced by other California gangsta rappers such as Spice 1 and Ice Cube. Da Pak signed to Epic Records and released one single before splitting up.^[2] 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. When the music cuts off, you have to go home and live with what you say."^[13]

After turning away from gangsta rap, he developed a greater appreciation of the lyricism of Jay-Z and Nas. His mother also gave him a record of the influential group The Watts Prophets, one of the first bands to use spoken words with music.^[14] Although he was without a group for the first time, Fiasco continued to record music. One of these first self-recorded tracks was "Could Have Been", which described the career options he could have pursued had he not begun rapping.^[15] He viewed the song as a turning point in his career that marked a drastic change in the subject matter of his music.^[15] "Could Have Been" was released as a demo tape and discovered by MTV despite the fact that no video was created for the song.^[15]

Fiasco later signed a solo deal with Arista Records, but was dropped when president and CEO L.A. Reid was fired.^[2] During his short tenure at Arista, he met Jay-Z, who was the president of Def Jam Recordings at the time. Jay-Z referred to him as a "breath of fresh air", saying that he reminded him of a younger version of himself.^[14] Jay-Z later helped him get a record deal at Atlantic Records.^[14] While Fiasco was working on his debut solo album, he released his mixtape series Fahrenheit 1/15 over the internet, which gained notoriety by word-of-mouth. At this time, Fiasco's remix of Kanye West's "Jesus Walks" entitled "Muhammad Walks", became very popular in the Muslim community.^[16]

He remixed another one of West's songs, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", and renamed it as "Conflict Diamonds". With this remix, Fiasco wished to raise awareness of the conflict diamond business.^[17] This caught West's attention, and he asked Fiasco to perform on his song "Touch the Sky" off his album Late Registration. The song, which sampled Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up", became a hit in the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number forty-two.^[18] After this success his first single "Kick, Push" was released earlier than expected. The song was a love story about two people sharing a passion for skateboarding, a topic generally not discussed in hip hop.^[19] Fiasco explained, "[Skateboarding culture is] just as deep as hip-hop. I'm not the greatest skateboarder, but I'm a damn good rapper, so I made a damn good skateboarding song."^[19] The single, and its accompanying music video, helped Fiasco get attention in the hip-hop community and was later nominated for two 2007 Grammy Awards.^[10][20] 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".

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

Jay-Z assisted him in the production of what would become his debut album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor.^[21] 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...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."^[22] Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor was officially released on September 19, 2006. The album featured production from Jay-Z, Kanye West, Mike Shinoda, The Neptunes, Prolyfic, among others. The record spawned the singles "Kick, Push," "I Gotcha" and "Daydreamin'" featuring Jill Scott. The critically lauded album was later nominated for three Grammy Awards including Best Rap Album.^[3] Fiasco won "Best Urban/Alternative Performance" for "Daydreamin'".^[23] In the same year, he was voted by GQ magazine as the "Breakout Man of the Year."^[15] He also received four BET Hip Hop Award nominations, and it made it to number eight on Billboard 200 and number two on Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.^[24]

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 to a drug ring and was eventually sentenced to 44 years in a correctional facility.^[5][26] These events greatly affected Fiasco and the subsequent themes discussed on the record.^[25] The disc 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. Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, a concept album that expanded upon recurring themes in Food & Liquor, is about "a hustler who dies and comes back to life, only to get robbed by two little kids with the same gun that killed him."^[27] For the record, Fiasco decided not to work with well-known producers as he considered it to be "too expensive", noting the commercial failure of his Pharrell collaboration, "I Gotcha".^[27]

Fiasco performing in Commerce City, Colorado on July 19, 2008.

Lupe Fiasco's The Cool was very well received by critics and was referred to as "one of the year’s best hip-hop albums" by The New York Times.^[28] "Superstar", a semi-autobiographical account of his rise to fame, was released as the first single from the album, and peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[15][29] Baseball's Hanley Ramirez, Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Zimmerman, Gerald Laird and Ryan Braun have used "Superstar" as their at-bat song.^[30] 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.^[15] Moreover, in 2007 it was revealed that Fiasco, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams had formed a group called Child Rebel Soldier.^[31][32] CRS initially released one single, entitled "US Placers" and featuring a Thom Yorke sample. 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.^[33] 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^[34] and announced that he was remixing The Cool with French electro house act Justice.^[35]

[edit] 2009–present: Lasers and Food & Liquor 2

Lupe Fiasco performing at the Ottawa Bluesfest on July 17, 2011.

At a performance in New Zealand in February 2010, Fiasco performed new material from the then-titled We Are Lasers for the first time.^[36] He claimed that the album was complete and waiting for a release date from his label, Atlantic Records.^[36] However, Atlantic feared that the record lacked commercial singles, and presented Fiasco with songs the label wanted him to record.^[37] Fiasco declined, as he was told he would not have any ownership of the songs.^[37] He explained, "I don't think the label cares about an album...People just want their number-one record."^[37] For six months, the cause of the album's delay remained unclear to the public. In response, Fiasco's fans created an online petition demanding that Atlantic Records release Lasers. The petition garnered considerable attention on hip hop blog sites as well as over 16,000 signatures.^[37] Fiasco stated that the petition "brought [him] to tears", and in response to the petition, Fiasco released a song titled "B.M.F-Building Minds Faster" to thank his fans.^[37]

While waiting for Lasers to be released, Fiasco completed another album, titled Food and Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album.^[38] He is unsure if the Food and Liquor II will ever be released, though he released the song "Go To Sleep" from the record "out of desperation" to put out new music.^[38] He also pursued numerous side projects in the midst of the delay. In April 2010, Fiasco formed the hip hop collective All City Chess Club along with Pharrell, Asher Roth, B.o.B., The Cool Kids, Charles Hamilton, Blu, Diggy Simmons, Wale, J. Cole, & Dosage.^[39] The group has so far made one song, a remix of Fiasco's "I'm Beamin".^[40] Additionally, On July 16, 2010, Fiasco released his rock side-project Japanese Cartoon's debut EP In The Jaws Of The Lords Of Death. Japanese Cartoon was influenced by a variety of musical genres, with Fiasco saying, "I’ve always been a fan of all music...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.'"^[38]

More than two and a half years after the album's completion, Lasers was released on March 8, 2011. The first single off of the record was "The Show Goes On", which samples "Float On" by Modest Mouse. "The Show Goes On" debuted at number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[41] The lead single peaked at number 9 since then. The producers involved on the album include Alex Da Kidd, King David "The Future" and Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis, while featured artists include Skylar Grey, Trey Songz, and John Legend.^[15] Upon the album's release, Lasers debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 204,000 copies.^[42][43] Despite the album's commercial success, Lasers received mixed reviews from most music critics.^[44] Writing for Allmusic, editor Andy Kellman gave the record three out of five stars and criticized its "lumbering, overwrought choruses", writing that "If there is one MC whose rhymes should not be dulled for the sake of chasing pop trends, it’s Lupe Fiasco".^[45] Lasers, however, was nominated Best Rap Album, with "The Show Goes On" nominated for Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Song at the 54th Grammy Awards. Lupe Fiasco later involved himself at the Occupy Wall Street movement where he donated tents and released a poem in support of the protesters. He also released his "Friend of the People" mixtape on Thanksgiving Day. Fiasco has since announced the completion of his Food & Liquor 2 album, as well as work being put into a joint album with fellow Child Rebel Soldier & All City Chess Club member Pharrell.^[46]

Lyrical style[link]

Fiasco, along with rappers Common, Rhymefest, and Talib Kweli, has been credited as a pioneer of the conscious hip hop movement, which focuses on social issues.^[47] Subjects touched upon on Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor include absent parents, terrorism, Islam and religion, war, and prostitution.^[47] Fiasco attributes his interest in social issues to his highly cultured upbringing, as he describes his mother as "very intellectual" and his father as a "Renaissance man".^[47] He rejects the misogyny common in hip hop, which he discusses in the song "Hurt Me Soul".^[48] Despite this, Fiasco is strongly opposed to censorship in music: "If we're going to [censor things] that are offensive, then we are going to have to blind and deafen everyone. Come on, man. Let's focus on education and literacy and poverty."^[49]

Fiasco employs various lyrical techniques in his songwriting. The rapper views hip-hop as a medium conducive to storytelling, a primary element of his lyrics due to his background in theater.^[47] He wrote plays as a child, which had a strong effect on his songwriting approaches.^[47] Fiasco utilizes both metaphors and literal statements in his work, which he describes as "getting from point A to point B in as few words as possible".^[47] His use of metaphors is exemplified by the song "Gotta Eat" from Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, which is told from the perspective of a cheeseburger and addresses the poor nutrition in black communities in the United States.^[26]

Philanthropy and business ventures[link]

In 2001, Fiasco co-founded 1st & 15th Entertainment with Charles "Chilly" Patton. 1st & 15th is a vanity record label under Atlantic named after the traditional twice-monthly paycheck dates.^[14] Although Fiasco was initially to serve as vice-president, he became CEO after Patton was convicted on drug charges.^[50][51] Fiasco and singer Matthew Santos were two of the most recognizable signed artists. In November 2009, Fiasco announced he would discontinue the 1st & 15th 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?'"^[52]

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. Fiasco also runs a fashion line out of Righteous Kung-Fu called Trilly & Truly.^[53] He has sponsored a skateboard team and has endorsements from DGK Skateboards.^[54] 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.^[53]

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.^[55] On January 7, 2010, Fiasco joined musician Kenna, actress Jessica Biel, and other celebrities and activists for an expedition to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro called Summit on the Summit to raise awareness of the billions of people worldwide who lack access to sanitary drinking water.^[56] 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 disaster.^[57]

Political views[link]

Fiasco is noted 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."^[58] In another interview in June 2011 on the CBS program What's Trending, Fiasco discussed the political content of his music, 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."^[59] He additionally criticized Obama for his stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.^[60] Despite his strong political opinions, Fiasco does not vote in U.S. elections nor does he involve himself in U.S. politics as he believes they are "meaningless."^[58]

Discography[link]

• Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor (2006)
• Lupe Fiasco's The Cool (2007)
• Lasers (2011)
• Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Part 1 (2012)^[38][61]
• Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Part 2 (TBA)^[61]
• TBA (with Pharrell Williams) (2012)

See also[link]

• List of awards and nominations received by Lupe Fiasco

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Biography Today - Lupe Fiasco (2009). Omnigraphics. Detroit, Michigan. ISBN-978-0-7808-1052-5.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lupe Fiasco

• Official website
• Lupe Fiasco on Twitter
• Lupe Fiasco at the Internet Movie Database
• The People Speak at the Internet Movie Database