Lupe Fiasco has been threatening to throw in the towel and say goodbye to the game since he entered the business, but this time the rapper explains that retirement could be just one album away.

"When I came in, I was like, 'Yeah, I want to be a rapper, and I want to make three albums,' " the rapper told MTV. "But we'll see. It's amazing. I'm going to go away with a bang. ... I'm treating it like I'm filming 'Lord of the Rings.' ... They had to film [that trilogy] over four to five years. It's going to take me about two years to put [my last album] together right. I'm 85 percent sure that my next album, 'LUPN,' will be the end-all."

While Lupe seems to have his departure all mapped out, the rapper admits that there's an extra component that could hold him to the microphone after his third project. "I don't want to say I'm 100 percent sure, like, 'Yeah, this is it.' But 85 percent," he explained. "That 15 percent is the X factor. That could be bills. Like, 'Lupe, you got to pay the bills.' 'Oh, man, I got to put out another album.' "

Well, it's nice to know Lupe's got his head in the right place. There's no pension plan for former rap stars.

#pmodule_center .dy_container{width:475px;overflow:hidden;border: solid 1px #cccccc;font-family:arial;font-size:12px;color:#000000;background-color:#ffffff;line-height:0px;} #pmodule_center .content_container_header{padding:0px;line-height:18px;margin:15px 0px 0px 10px; width:455px} #pmodule_center .pd_features{color:#000000;font-family:Arial;font-size:14px;padding:1pt 16pt 2pt 1pt;font-weight:bold;display:block;border-bottom:5px solid #cccccc; height:20px;} #pmodule_center .content_container_footer{padding:0px;line-height:25px;margin:0px 0px 5px 2px} #pmodule_center .content_container {height:81px;margin:15px 10px 0px 10px;padding:0px;} #pmodule_center .c_emptydiv{height:4px;color:#ffffff} #pmodule_center .c_contdiv{height:64px;_height:65px;float:left;padding:0px;margin:0px 0px 0px 19.5pt; border:solid 1px #cccccc; width:68px;} #pmodule_center .c_contdiv_left{ height:64px;_height:65px;float:left;padding:0px;margin:0px 0.6pt 0px 0px; border:solid 1px #cccccc; width:68px;} #pmodule_center .imgDes{float:left;margin:0px;padding:0px;height:60px;_height:61px;overflow:hidden;} #pmodule_center a.c_zlink:link{text-decoration:none; border:0px;} #pmodule_center a.c_zlink:visited{text-decoration:none;border:0px;} #pmodule_center a.c_zlink:hover{text-decoration:underline;border:0px;} #pmodule_center .c_imgthumb{margin:4px;border:0px;padding:0px;} #pmodule_center a.alink:link{text-decoration:none; color:#000000;background:url('http://www.aolcdn.com/photomodule/viewimage.gif') no-repeat transparent 0 50%; padding:0 0 0 10px;} #pmodule_center a.alink:visited{text-decoration:none;color:#000000;background:url('http://www.aolcdn.com/photomodule/viewimage.gif') no-repeat transparent 0 50%; padding:0 0 0 10px;} #pmodule_center a.alink:hover{text-decoration:underline;color:#000000;background:url('http://www.aolcdn.com/photomodule/viewimage.gif') no-repeat transparent 0 50%; padding:0 0 0 10px;} #pmodule_center .viewimage{margin:3px 0px 0px 8px;border-top:1px solid #cccccc;width:455px;} /*---------------------------------------*/ #pmodule_right .dy_container{width:314px;overflow:hidden;border: solid 1px #cccccc;font-family:arial;font-size:12px;color:#000000;background-color:#ffffff;height: expression( document.body.clientHeight 351 ? "350px" : "auto" );max-height: 350px;line-height:0px; } #pmodule_right .content_container_header{padding:0px;line-height:18px;width:300px;margin:15px 0px 0px 7px;} #pmodule_right .pd_features{color:#000000;font-family:Arial;font-size:14px;padding:1pt 16pt 2pt 1pt;font-weight:bold;display:block;border-bottom:5px solid #cccccc;} #pmodule_right .content_container_footer{padding:0px;width:308px;line-height:25px;margin:15px 0px 5px 0px} #pmodule_right .content_container {overflow:hidden;padding:0px;margin:15px 0px 0px 8px;_margin:15px 0px 0px 9px;width: expression( document.body.clientWidth 300 ? "300px" : "auto" ); /* sets max-height for IE */ max-height: 245px; min-height: 80px;/* sets max-height value for all standards-compliant browsers */width:308px;} #pmodule_right .c_emptydiv{height:4px;color:#ffffff} #pmodule_right .c_contdiv,.c_contdiv_left{height:66px;float:left;padding:0px;margin:4px 8.4px 0px 0px;_margin:4px 6.3pt 0px 0px;border:solid 1px #cccccc;width:66px;} #pmodule_right .imgDes{float:left;margin:0px;padding:0px;_height:63px;height:63px;overflow:hidden;} #pmodule_right a.c_zlink:link{text-decoration:none; border:0px;} #pmodule_right a.c_zlink:visited{text-decoration:none;border:0px;} #pmodule_right a.c_zlink:hover{text-decoration:underline;border:0px;} #pmodule_right .c_imgthumb{margin:3px;border:0px;padding:0px;} #pmodule_right a.alink:link{text-decoration:none; color:#000000;background:url('http://www.aolcdn.com/photomodule/viewimage.gif') no-repeat transparent 0 50%; padding:0 0 0 10px;} #pmodule_right a.alink:visited{text-decoration:none;color:#000000;background:url('http://www.aolcdn.com/photomodule/viewimage.gif') no-repeat transparent 0 50%; padding:0 0 0 10px;} #pmodule_right a.alink:hover{text-decoration:underline;color:#000000;background:url('http://www.aolcdn.com/photomodule/viewimage.gif') no-repeat transparent 0 50%; padding:0 0 0 10px;} #pmodule_right .viewimage{margin:3px 0px 0px 8px;border-top:1px solid #cccccc;} #pd_error{ text-align:center; border:1px solid #ccc; height:158px; } #pd_error .pd_error_inner{ padding:5px; height:98px; margin:5px; padding:25px; background: #ebf1f5; } #pd_error .pd_error_inner p{ margin:0px; padding:0px; font-family:arial; font-size:12px; }

Lupe Fiasco Pictures

More From TheBoombox