WHEELING THEM IN BUZZ IS STRONG FOR SKATEBOARDING, MUSLIM RAPPER FIASCO.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer

The most talked-about young talent in hip-hop is a 25-year-old Muslim rapper who skateboards, refuses to degrade women in his lyrics, listens to jazz, rolls without a posse and won't set foot in a nightclub where alcohol or groupies are served.

A recipe for disaster in an era when the worst thoughts and deeds are the currency of the music business? Not this time. Wasalu Muhammad Jaco -- better-known as Lupe Fiasco -- is off to an unusually good start.

The most talked-about young talent in hip-hop is a 25-year-old Muslim rapper who skateboards, refuses to degrade women in his lyrics, listens to jazz, rolls without a posse and won't set foot in a nightclub where alcohol or groupies are served.

Vibe magazine called the self-proclaimed nerd who wears thin-rimmed glasses and digs limited-edition sneakers a next big thing and ``hipster's delight.''

The Chicago-raised son of a karate-master dad and gourmet-chef mom has already appeared on the cover of Billboard (``A Self-Made Career About to Go Boom''), been named by Rolling Stone as one of the hottest acts of the summer and been profiled glowingly in every contemporary music mag that counts.

Fiasco's mating of skateboarding and hip-hop on ``Kick Push,'' the first track from the forthcoming album, is a breakthrough that's been five years in the making.

``Skate culture is just as deep as hip-hop,'' said Fiasco, who appears Saturday at the Key Club in West Hollywood. ``I'm not the greatest skateboarder in the world, but I'm a good rapper, and I made a pretty good skate song. But I've been thinking about this for years.''

Like West and John Legend, Fiasco grew up in a culturally aware home surrounded by strong adult role models. Though raised in a West Side Chicago housing project, the youngest boy of nine brothers, Fiasco focused on school, joined the chess club and fell in love with rhyme.

``It was a real hoody 'hood, but my parents and my beliefs kept me on the right track,'' he said. ``Maybe it's because of the way the city is built and segregated, the music that comes from here has real laid-back grooves but the rapping style is known as incredibly fast. Chicago has its own style, but you can spot the influences. Almost everybody who lives here has an older relative from Mississippi or somewhere like that. It has an effect.

``My music tells of a kid who grew up in the 'hood but didn't let the 'hood trap him.''

< Also like West, Common and Rhymefest, Fiasco has a more varied musical palette than many of his hip-hop competitors on the East and West coasts. ``Food & Liquor'' (Atlantic) is already drawing advance praise for shunning synthesized sounds, gunplay and the cliche-ridden bragging that mars many of today's rap efforts.

``I don't put being Muslim in the forefront (of my public persona) because I don't want to become the poster child for Islam,'' said Fiasco, who first came to mainstream attention with a spot on West's ``Touch the Sky'' single in '05 (the video saw Fiasco in a vintage tuxedo).

``I don't want it to be the focus, because I have flaws, and I don't want my flaws to be seen as the flaws of every Muslim on the planet.''

< His faith, though, has clearly colored his flow.

``I aim for a more positive tone,'' he said. ``I'm trying to reach toward some kind of solution. What you put into the world comes back to you. I want to put some good into the world.''

Fred Shuster, [phone]

fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com

LUPE FIASCO

Where: Key Club, 9039 Sunset Blvd., West

Hollywood.

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Tickets: $25. [phone];

keyclub.com.

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Lupe Fiasco -- real name Wasalu Muhammad Jaco -- doesn't want his upbringing as a Muslim to become the focus of his raps. Raised on Chicago's West Side, he's bringing skatboarding culture to the world of hip-hop.