Lupe Fiasco'S Food & Liquor [CD]

I think this album is truly amazing. Food & Liquor has been on heavy rotation on my CD player, computer media, and in my car ever since it came out. He may have never had an album before but he surly has experience in the world of Hip-Hop. Lupe Fiasco, who has performed alongside Common and Rakim, created a huge stir in the Hip-Hop underground with the release of his three Farenheit 1/15 mix-tapes. Although there are several artists pushing the envelope of creativity, Lupe is just in his own category, creating his own path while encouraging others to do so as well.

Lupe is a Hip Hop artist that can successful put together good melodies and socially conscious themes without perpetuating harmful stereotypes. He is showing the hip-hop community that it can be cool to be smart and that not everyone has to buy into the trends set in the music industry. As many other's has stated in here this album is full of relevant issues about current events, an intelligent perception of life in poverty-stricken areas, and a young man growing up.

It's sort of hard to pick out a favorite track from this album but if I was force to choose it would be Real, Just might be Okay, Kick Push I & II, I Gotcha, The Cool DayDreamin, Pressure, Sunshine, and Tilted but as I stated on the title of my review the rest are just as nice.

Food & Liquor is not meant to be played in the background (unless you already know the lyrics by heart) it's clearly meant to be listen to, otherwise you will miss out on his intentions. Lupe maintains his integrity as a smart and skillful lyricist throughout the entire album. Highly recommend to all starving hip-hop fans.

I waited to listen to this album a few times before makin up my mind on it. When I listen to albums it usually takes me a while to decide if it's a classic or not. I took the same formula with this and can say in total confidence that this is THAT modern album. I find myself listenin to this every day (at least once).

Lupe started his mainstream career on Kanye's "Touch The Sky" (allowed to appear because Kanye STOLE Lupe's topic on the diamond trade in Sierra Leone), and from there it just exploded. His album leaked three times before being released, but the quality didn't suffer from this. The album is packed with intelligent, insightful lyricism as well as first class production, some even by new names. Lupe explores waters that no emcee has ever even attempted to tread through.

The first song on the album is "Real", produced by Soundtrakk (5 tracks). It basically underlines Lupe's intentions of creating music people can feel. A good introduction because it sums up what's about to come. "Just Might Be OK" explodes with a powerful trumpets as Lupe shows us his more lyrical side. His flow and rhymes are top class, and shows that he can high-box with the Heavyweights, as does the Jay-Z assisted "Pressure", where Lupe makes it difficult distinguish between the experienced and the newcomer.

Lupe really shines on his story telling ability. We've all heard his debut track "Kick, Push" which tells the story of a young man who got his first skateboard. The same on "The Instrumental" (prod. Mike Shinoda) where he tells the story of a man addicted to 'the box' and does everything it tells him, and listens to it religiously. Lupe places this man in a mental institution: 'they jot it all down with they pens and pencils'. And also the Kanye West produced "The Cool", where Lupe tells the story of a man who is coming back from the dead. To me, this story told the resurrection of Hip-Hop music, and that's what I love about this emcee. He tells stories that have very deep meanings when you really listen. Other stories are "American Terrorist" where Lupe tells of an American Christian doing the same things that the media say Asian Muslims do, and "Kick, Push II" that takes a more detailed look into 'the skater'.

A strange track is "He Say, She Say" where Lupe tells a story where the two verses are identical except for the fact that he changes it from third to first person view. A very easy track to listen to. "Hurt Me Soul" is another track that explores Lupe's own personal journey through Hip-Hop. "Emperor's Soundtrack" basically is Lupe showing his lyrical abilities again, using his voice to make music, the way Hip-Hop was meant to be done. "Sunshine" is similar to Jay-Z's (not beat-wise though), it's a love song, very laid back, but my least favourite track (still better than all of Doctor's Advocate though :O).

I know I've written a lot, but there's just so much to say about this album. It is consistently beautiful, from his language to his beats. His storytelling ability is on-par with that of Slick Rick, as you find yourself immersed in the world Lupe is describing to you. Using so few words he creates situations and characters with master-craft. His flow is mid-tempo, so it's relatively easy to hear everything he has to say, and he flows so easily over every beat of the drum. This may be a mainstream album, but don't let it turn you hard Hip-Hop heads away. It is the most beautiful, original masterpiece to hit Hip-Hop since Illmatic. In fact (going out on a limb) I would call this the New-School version of Illmatic. Buy this, it's definitive, I really can't praise it enough.

If anything can be said for Lupe, it's that he's a breath of fresh air for the hip-hop world.
I loved this album from beginning to end, there wasn't a single song I didn't like. He's different, he has morals and he's interesting.

This was one of the few albums I was seriously anticipating and then when it was released I wasn't disapointed in the slightest.