Wasalu Jaco/Lupe Fiasco, MLK Visiting Professorship at MIT, is a Chicago-born Grammy award-winning American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and community advocate. Rising to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, Food & Liquor, Fiasco has released more than four acclaimed studio albums; his latest, Drogas Wave, was released in fall 2018. His efforts to propagate conscious material helped solidify him as GQ’s Man of the Year in 2006, and garnered him recognition as a Henry Crown Fellow. While musical genius and ingenuity are at the forefront of Fiasco’s achievements, the artist extends his innovation to projects that aim to foster creative discourse and opportunities in underprivileged and impoverished communities.
As the co-founder and co-owner of community initiatives such as We Are M.U.R.A.L, The Neighborhood Start-Up Fund, Society of Spoken Art (SOSA), and Studio SV with Bonnie Chan Woo, Lupe Fiasco proves that he is more than just a mouthpiece for change, but a committed facilitator of intellectual community discourse and outreach.
Lupe Fiasco’s conscious efforts to propagate social and artistic change continue to inspire his musical and community efforts, serving as a distinguished example of giving back and paying it forward.
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