Songwriter: Lupe Fiasco

[Verse: Spoken]
Woo!
Whoever is listening
Wherever you at
Whatever city this is playing in right now
You 'bout to witness something very special, man
F-N-F
First and Fifteenth
Mixtape volume one, man
It's the beginning, man
You know what I'm talking 'bout
Chi-Town, Harlem, Michigan City, man
Worldwide
I'm the vice president, man, First and Fifteenth
Executive, that's right
Slash artists
Lupe Fiasco, man
AKA Was
What up Chili
You know I brought my crew with me
You know what I'm saying
Gemini
South-Side Chi Town
We definitely in the building, man
One-fourth-fifth, man, blam
Taliban where you at, man
New York is in here, NYC
Matt Wicked, B12, Mag, Indiana
What's up gangstas
And that's just the Hip-Hop, man
R&B, R&B?
Staples, man
Makada
It's not a game
Kendall, what up baby
Mia Lansky, enough said on that
Bryce, what up
What up gangsta
Pro, Producer extraordinaire
Boss, Wonderboss
Damn right, it's nothing nice
Mixtape volume one, niggas
F-N-F, Chi Town
Harlem, Michigan City, Indiana
If you didn't know before
You damn sure 'gon know now, man
That's what's up
So, with all that said, man
All the minor introductions and acquaintances made
Let's get into it, man
Let's step off into it, man
Yeah!

Lupe Fiasco

The Chicago born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco first tasted success when he featured on Kanye West’s hit “Touch the Sky”, a track that shortly preceded his real breakout, his 2006 debut album Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor, and he never looked back. He has established himself as one of the greatest urban wordsmiths of all time, with Genius even dubbing him the ‘Proust of Rap’.

While he’s now regarded of one of the 21st Century’s Hip-Hop greats, he wasn’t always a fan of the genre, initially disliking it due to the prominence of vulgarity and misogyny within it. In his late teens, he aspired to make it as a lyricist. In his early twenty’s, he met Jay-Z, who helped him sign with Atlantic Records in 2005. The following year, he released his debut album (Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor), which was met with acclaim from fans and critics alike, as did his sophomore effort, Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool.

The following eight years of his career saw far less output than many would’ve anticipated. This can be partly attributed to his struggles with Atlantic Records. The executives wanted him to sign a 360 deal; however, as he refused to do so they instead shelved his already completed 3rd album, Lasers, and wouldn’t promote him as they had previously. The overseers at the label also interfered with his music (as they had tried to do with his fan-favorite track “Dumb it Down”); subsequently effecting the quality and sound of his third and fourth albums.