By Liz Puranam
Chicago hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco's first two albums both debuted at number one on the rap Billboard charts.
Not surprisingly, fans are eager to know when the third will be released - but music isn't his only creative outlet.
On his fourth visit to our shores, Fiasco says he loves New Zealand, and looking around, it's not hard to see why.
"It's a very special place. There's always something special spiritually, mentally, what have you… It keeps pulling me back."
The hip hop star kicked off his worldwide Steppin' Lasers tour headlining at the Splore music festival.
"This will be the first time that we actually perform a lot of the new songs off the new record, so it's exciting," he says.
But where is the accompanying and much-anticipated third album?
"Soon. It's on my record label. It's on Atlantic Records, so they have it. It's finished. I'm just waiting for them to give me a release date and put it out."
It's that reliance on record companies Lupe Fiasco says he is done with - and just four years after topping worldwide charts with hits like 'Superstar', the superstar is also done with the 'Lupe Fiasco' moniker.
"I think the 'Lupe Fiasco' show is almost coming to… we're like in the middle, so everything from here on out is going to be the grand closing."
But don't fret, Fiasco fans. The 28-eight year old has teamed up with fellow hip hop stars Kanye West and Pharrell to form Child Rebel Soldiers, and he's working on his first novel, which he says is a natural progression.
"I started off as a writer. You know, since I was a little kid, I've been telling stories and actually hip hop has just been an extension of me telling stories. So putting it in a more traditional form as far as a book has always been a part of the plan."
And for those interested, the book will be published under his real name - Waasalu Muhammad Jaco - but hopefully not before third album Lasers is finally released.
3 News
source: newshub archive
