You already know what it is, sun. Lupe Fiasco is so cold, he handles the third degree without a singe.

By Damien Scott; Illustrations by Reas; Photographs by Matt Doyle; Styling by Anoma Ya Whittaker

I heard you were the one that actually gave the sample for “Us Placers” that was out there.

Lupe Fiasco: Yeah, I produced the record; Pharrell came up with the name and the idea. And “Us Placers” was the first song that’s like, “Yeah, this could work.”

You’re like the rap Rat Pack.

Lupe Fiasco: The Backpack Rap Pack.

When you came in at 18, rappers trying to be fashionable weren’t the mainstream; rappers were still wearing Rocawear and shit.

Lupe Fiasco: There’s cameo videos of me with two Rolexes and Rocawear sweatsuits.

So how does it feel now to be the dude who’s emulated on the street everywhere?

Lupe Fiasco: There’s billions of people on this planet. There’s been lines around the corner for Supreme for years before me and long after me.

Let’s talk about Fall of Rome—to come out with a clothing line yourself, it just has to be flawless.

Lupe Fiasco: Ask my friend, Virgil. We was talking one day and he was like, “Yo, what’s your trunk?” Before the clothes, Louis Vuitton’s claim to fame was the trunk. So it was like, “What’s the thing that you do naturally outside of every other thing that you do?” And I tell stories.

How does that translate into clothing?

Lupe Fiasco: I give my clothing a story. I create a purpose for it, you know? The theme for the season coming in October is the Fall of Rome, it’s the fall of decadence. It’s the absence of gluttony, just simple. So it’s black.

Everything’s black?

Lupe Fiasco: Yeah, everything’s black. And the logo for it is this broken statue that was pushed down when Rome was invaded; it represents the decay of beauty. And that nothing lasts forever. So it starts to get like my raps where everything becomes a metaphor for something else.

Are you going to wear Fall of Rome exclusively once it comes out?

Lupe Fiasco: Yes! [Laughs.] That’s how it’s supposed to be. You don’t see niggas on the Bulls rockin’ a Celtics jersey because the shit matches their shoes. When your game is to sell clothes and for people to believe in your brand and to push your brand, you keep your game face on. And if your game face is Billionaire Boys Club, it’s Billionaire Boys Club. If it’s Bape, it’s Bape. That’s one of the things I love about Nigo. It’s like, “This is me. I’m engulfed in it. I’m every part of it. I am it.”

Are you the kind of dude who buys something and if someone asks you where you got it, you’re like, “I can’t tell you”?

Lupe Fiasco: Nah, I tell them what it is. I like to share with the world. It’s nothing for me—this my girl right here, she’ll tell you. It’s nothing for me to just take it off my back and give it away.

[To friend] He gives shit out?

Friend: Yeah, all the time. Lupe Fiasco: Every day. “Here, you like these? Have them.” I don’t need to have it to own it. I don’t need to own it to have it. It’s not that deep and at the end of the day, it’s not that important.

If it doesn’t mean anything, why not just rock a white tee, some no-name jeans and…

Lupe Fiasco: If you’re informed, you make an informed choice. You know? You understand the quality of certain things and you understand the history of certain things, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You have people in in a lab like, “Yo, I only use test tubes that are handblown in Italy.” Like, why?

“Because they’re the best.”

Lupe Fiasco: “Because they’re the best test tubes in all the business.” So if we going shopping, we going to Paris. Or we going to SoHo.

The Good Life.

Lupe Fiasco: Every life is good, man. This doesn’t make life. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a style of life. Style is what you are, but everybody has life. And everybody’s life should be good. Some of the happiest people in the world have nothing. Nothing. And they find happiness in being in the world. They wear the world with a smile. I feel bad for all the people standing in line with all that shit on and they not smiling. And somebody walks past who knows nothing about it with a smile on his face got the freshest shit on in the world. Home // CELEBRITIES // COVER STORY // Lupe Fiasco