"When I was 17, I worked at this restaurant that was behind my house," Lupe said during one of MTV's "When I Was 17" episode. "It was literally my house, the alley, work. I used to jump over my back fence, and I was in the parking lot of my job. I was the short-order cook. It was fast food. It was really crappy. I would work 40 hours a week, and it was 60 bucks. I remember trying to get my homeys jobs there, and they would be like, 'Are you stupid? I'm not working for 60.' "

Since then, the young MC has already released three albums - Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor in 2006, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, in 2007 and Lasers in spring 2011 - and has received seven Grammy nominations and gold sales certification and four BET Hip Hop Award nominations. The Chicago born rapper has been critically acclaimed for his music but his instinct told him that music shouldn't be the only industry for him to explore, so Lupe spread his wings to other business areas. He designed sneakers for Reebok and he runs two clothing lines, "Righteous Kung-Fu" and "Trilly & Truly" and he is also deeply involved with charitable activities. For instance, he was involved in the Summit on the Summit expedition, and last year he recorded a benefit single for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Some say that he felt attracted to other business areas because he had encountered many difficulties in releasing his third album. To finally release the Lasers after almost two years of repeated delays, Lupe needed a petition signed by over 30,000 followers who demanded that Atlantic release the long-delayed album, which was followed by a fan protest outside the label's New York City offices. The album was finally issued by Atlantic in March 2011.
Nevertheless, despite his childhood spent on the streets, despite all the small and bigger stones that sometimes stopped him on his way, Lupe Fiasco is a multi-task celebrity, a man about the world now.