Normally, it would be rude to call someone weird, but that may not hold true for [artist id="2017563"]Lupe Fiasco[/artist]. The Chicago MC broke onto the scene rapping about robots, skateboarding and his unique view of the world.

While it may have been weird to hear a rapper talking about kick-flips, he made it work. He secured a spot on [article id="1580653"]Kanye West's Glow in the Dark Tour[/article]; garnered critical acclaim for his sophomore album, [article id="1570625"]The Cool[/article]; performed at the VMAs; and landed at #7 on our Hottest MCs in the Game list.

But here's where it gets weird again: News broke over the weekend of a new "British" indie-rock band called Japanese Cartoon, and the band's frontman sounded a lot like Lupe with a faux-British accent. Some music sites, including NME.com, are suggesting that the rapper has gone in a new musical direction. But according to Japanese Cartoon's MySpace page, the lead singer is actually a bloke named Percival Fats.

"Percival Fats (Born Percival Hindenburg-Fats) Is NOT Lupe Fiasco (Born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco)," a MySpace blog post reads. "Although he is a dear friend."

While the post is about the band's MySpace being hacked, it does go on to elaborate about Lupe's relationship with the group. "Lupe does finance the band but is NOT I REPEAT NOT THE SINGER IN JAPANESE CARTOON. He is however the producer and we value his participation very much."

The band reiterated the point in another blog post early Monday, signing off with the line "Lupe Does Not Post On This Site. So please don't message him here. Thanks."

While Fats denied that he is Lupe Fiasco, Japanese Cartoon still could be a new creative outlet for the rapper. Fiasco told MTV Base in April that [article id="1585310"]he was planning to retire[/article]. "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, LupE.N.D., will be the end-all."