'Lupe Fiasco's Food And Liquor'

There's a lot I don't understand about hip-hop. To say the least.

I think the biggest aspect of the genre is how people are "discovered."

All the history of Lupe Fiasco that I've been able to find is that he was signed to Arista Records after starting to rap and produce songs at 17 and then forming a group (and having that group dissolve) at 19 which was signed to Epic Records and released a single.. How does this kid from Chicago get signed to a major record label from Los Angeles? Was he sending tapes out? Was her performing somewhere?

While at Arista, Fiasco met Jay Z, who helped him get a deal with Atlantic Records and two records in Fiasco is a rapper that's somehow avoided worldwide exposure despite releasing two highly-acclaimed records.

He's a skateboarding black kid that didn't like rap and hip-hop because of the way they treated and talked about women and used vulgarity. He's a kid who doesn't rhyme like the others or produce radio singles.

Still, I'm talking about him. There's no context or timeframe for Fiasco's quick rise to hip-hop royalty, as something that can march to the beat of his own drummer. He just does it.

Makes zero sense.