MGF Reviews Lupe Fiasco – Food & Liquor

Reviews


Lupe Fiasco – Food & Liquor
Atlantic Records (release date: 9/19/2006)
Hip Hop

So, did y’all hear the one about the Chicago MC who turned the rap game on its ear?

Again. For, like, the third straight year.

At this rate, Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco will become bigger Chi-Town icons than Bill Wennington and B.J. Armstrong.

This is usually the part where we get into a little bit of the artist’s background, but if you’re reading this review, you probably know all the hot button discussion points surrounding Lupe Fiasco: practicing Muslim, mixtape fiend and hype, hype, hype. And, with the release of his debut album, Food & Liquor, Lupe looks to follow in the prodigious footsteps left in front of him, while blazing a new trail all his own.

“Kick, Push” just might be the riskiest first single from any genre in years. The fact that fans inside and outside of Hip Hop have embraced this metaphorical skating-as-life’s journey track proves that Lupe knows how to reach those who would otherwise not give him a second look. The lush production is only icing on the cake.

The intense personalization on “Real” lays out a vulnerability that is (sadly) too rarely heard on wax. It takes the simple rags-to-riches formula and builds on top of it with the artist’s own anxiety, which drenches every verse. “Hurt Me Soul” addresses some of the hypocrisy in Hip Hop, but instead of pointing the finger at others, Fiasco looks right at himself in assessing blame and explaining how he resolved his own conflicting ideals.

All of that doesn’t even begin to get into the borderline brilliance of “American Terrorist” and “Daydreamin'”. The latter carries a satirical, sarcastic edge that is softened by a kiss from Jill Scott on the hook.

OK, not convinced yet? There’s even a strong “love” track, which in rap is almost impossible to achieve, but Lupe does it on “Sunshine”. That one is very cleverly placed immediately after “He Say She Say”, which is about as far from love as you can get with a child torn between his warring parents.

On “The Cool”, Lupe comes back from the dead in a tale that seems influenced by Edgar Allen Poe’s more macabre material, while Jay-Z has never sounded more alive than he does in a guest spot on “Pressure”.

Pencils down, kids. This is your album of the year and it’s not even close. Food & Liquor is one of the most challenging, cerebral, complex and risk-taking albums that you’ll ever hear. The production (from Kanye West, The Neptunes and, mostly, Soundtrakk & Prolyfic) never misses and is capable of carrying the occasional weak hook.

Even the ridiculously long, three-hour Outro/Oscar speech is worth at least one listen. Hey, look”¦it’s five machine guns!

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