In 1982, Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (popularly known as Lupe Fiasco) was born and raised in Chicago to West African parents. His father was an engineer and was part of the Black Panthers while his mother was a gourmet chef. Raised a Muslim on the west side of Chicago, he even took martial arts. His parents divorced when he was five and by 6th grade (Year 7), he moved in with his dad full-time and his dad taught him how to use guns (luckily, Lupe didn't grow up to make drill music, just all modern Chi-Town rappers do now) to protect himself.
As he grew up, he didn't really liked rap music, due to its major vulgarity and profanity, but because of him not being able to play an instrument, he started doing poetry. He started rapping his poems in the eighth grade (Year 9) and decided to pursue a rap career after listening to It Was Written, Nas' sophomore effort.
He started off in a group called Da Pak, who signed to Epic. They only had one song before splitting up, and what they talked about made Lupe feel like a hypocrite. He started making guest appearances on Tha Rayne and K-Foxx singles while on Arista, before getting dropped, due to LA Reid being fired as CEO. He later met Jay-Z who helped him sign a deal to Atlantic. He remixed Kanye West's song "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" and caught Kanye's attention, wanting to work with him on "Touch The Sky". At first, Lupe disagreed, but when a friend encouraged him, he decided to do it.
When Lupe finally got signed to Atlantic, he started working on his debut. While this happened, he decided to release the mixtape series, Fahrenheit 1/15, which gained him a lot of popularity, especially with the second instalment, Revenge of the Nerds, known for the songs "Switch (The Science Project" and "Conflict Diamonds" (the remix of Diamonds from Sierra Leone). Lupe released "Kick, Push", which was even nominated for a Grammy. "I Gotcha" was the next single, produced by The Neptunes.
The album was finally finished. But unfortunately, the album leaked onto the Internet (this version was known as the Advance). Lupe was angry about it and ranted about it before deciding to make a lot of changes. He changed some of the original titles ("You My" became "Sunshine", "Trials & Tribulations" became "Pressure" etc.), changed his verses and recorded brand new songs. At last, Food & Liquor was released on September 19, 2006. The album featured guests from Sarah Green, Gemini, Jonah Matranga, Jill Scott, Matthew Santos & Jay Z. So now after that introduction, let's review this...
1. Intro
Ayesha, Lupe's sister introduces the album with a captivating poem. It is then followed by Lupe reading from the Quran and welcoming us to the album. Well, this is just an intro, nothing special. So NEXT!
2. Real (feat. Sarah Green)
Another song I'm reviewing called "Real". Here, Lupe says a lot of conscious things while Sarah Green does some ad-libs on the chorus. I like Sarah on the chorus, her catchy "oh-oh's" are worth being there and the instrumental, provided by Soundtrakk, is great. Does it mean that the song is great? Well... yes. But Lupe's lyrical delivery is not anything special, and it just sounds like he's doing something funky. So it's OK.
3. Just Might Be OK (feat. Gemini)
If this was performed live, this song would've sounded epic. No, seriously. This song has the greatest instrumentals to lead a hip-hop orchestra concert. Gemini's R&B hook is actually good and makes this track really great. Lupe does a decent job on this, making this one hell of a song.
4. Kick, Push
AWWWWWW YEAAAAH! Lupe's debut single is up. And you know the concept: skateboarding. The song follows 2 people of the opposite who both like skateboarding and how they have to skateboard without the cops seeing them. I like the concept, of course and the sample used to make a good skateboarding song. This song bangs and I love it.
5. I Gotcha
The Neptunes provide Lupe a funky piano beat. I always loved this song. The piano sample used is very memorable and lovely. Lupe's lyrics are hot. The chorus is catchy and unforgettable, altogether making a very hot song.
6. The Instrumental (feat. Jonah Matranga)
When I first saw this song on the album tracklist, I actually thought it was an instrumental interlude from either Jonah Matranga or Mike Shinoda. But, I was wrong, this is just a normal song. It's a little funky but sounds like a leftover from either Fort Minor's We Major or The Rising Tied. Here, Lupe talks about the youth obsession with electronic media especially TV & Computer. It's weird how he talked about it in the year of 2006. I mean, the youth obsession would get worse by the time iPhones & Android phones came out. I gotta admit, I got a little obsession with electronics, but I'm working on it. Jonah's input is horrible and is the type of guy to whisper-sing on some good songs. Lupe's lyrics are nice and I like the concept of the song. The Instrumental... I mean the beat, is good and suits in with the overall song. But, still an decent song. Just take away the hook and we got a great one.
7. He Say, She Say (feat. Gemini & Sarah Green)
Here, Lupe speaks from the Mother and Son's point of view on how the father is abandoning his family. Of course, the black deadbeat dad stereotype. This can be known for the starting point of Lupe's character, The Cool. On this song, Lupe repeating the verse twice to get to someone's POV can get annoying for listeners, but to be honest, I don't mind. It's actually good this way, or it'd probably be an interlude. One of my favourites on the album.
8. Sunshine
On this song, Lupe expresses his love for both a girl and hip-hop in general. I can tell the inspiration of "I Used to Love H.E.R." is here, especially when Common personified Hip-Hop as a girl. I always liked the lighthearted atmosphere on this track, probably the lightest track on the album. The Diana Ross sample makes the song very good. And the metaphors are really outstanding on this song. As a whole, this song is excellent.
9. Daydreamin' (feat. Jill Scott)
Lupe and Jill Scott are on the biggest standout on this album. Here, Craig Kallman produces this. Ok, this is weird. I mean, this guy is the CEO of Atlantic who produced this. Anyway, forget that, this song is sooooooooo good. The sample of I Monster's "Daydream in Blue" fits in and is a reason why the song bangs. Lupe's lyrics are hot. Jill's input makes this very great. And the beat is just excellent. I still can't believe Craig Kallman produce this though. It even won a Grammy. Oh lord!
10. The Cool
The second part of "The Cool" instalments is here, and we dig deep into the story of Michael Young History. While several songs from "The Cool" album follows on the beginning, this focuses on the end. I found this song very good. Kanye... yes, Kanye's beat is very dark and gets in with the horrorcore type of song. Lupe's story of how Michael was back from the Dead makes the song interesting to listen to (haven't said that in a while, huh?). Generally, it's a banging track, and one of the best tracks off the album.
11. Hurt Me Soul
Needlz produces a light sampled track which talks about how he used to hate rap music, because of how they used to talk about women (the way they now do it is worse). He also talks about hip-hop as a whole and how it can be criticized for the topics they talk about. This song always stood out to me, mainly because of the hook and the message behind it. Needlz' beat is excellent and is a good beat for Lupe to have. An enjoyable cut from Lu.
12. Pressure (feat. Jay Z)
I feel like Prolyfic wanted this to sound very epic. I mean, this feels like something from Just Blaze. It's not a bad thing. Of course, Blaze is a big influence. But it sounds like something off The Black Album or The Blueprint. Anyway, forget about that, and this song is another enjoyable cut from Lu. A lot of people think that Jay had the best verse on this album, but his verse was actually very weak, compared to many of his tracks. This is a reason why I think he is a bit too overrated in the industry. Anyway, Prolyfic's instrumental is very hardcore. I heard the original version (Trials & Tribulations) and I have to say that version was even better than this one. Nevertheless, The instrumental, hook, and lyrics make this track generally one of the best tracks.
13. American Terrorist (feat. Matthew Santos)
Matthew gets on a "just decent" track. It isn't a best track or a standout. Just decent. Anyway, here Lu talks about how the US has a humanitarian record history (with George Washington being the American Osama bin Laden). I find this to be a little deep especially with the message. Matthew just messes up with the hook, as it feels like it was originally recorded for a different song. The beat is alright and the overall message is appealing. In general, this song is just decent.
14. The Emperor's Soundtrack
This song bangs. The hardcore instrumental from Soundtrakk just rocks on my phone so hard. Lupe's metaphors and verses are fire, and he even references "Children's Story" The song overall just makes a hardcore song from Lupe.
15. Kick, Push II
The sequel to Lupe's debut single comes on the album, and a lot of people find it better than the first part. For me, it's weak. Yeah, I said it. WEAK! But the story continues and it's a little more interesting than the first. The beat is boring. The chorus is nice, but as for the song in general, it's just decent.
16. Outro
12 minutes! 12 MINUTES of him shouting out people involved in the album and his friends etc. This wasn't needed. In these 12 minutes, he could've done another rap or a double track for us. But no, he gives us a 12 minute outro of him giving shoutouts. Hey, isn't there something called liner notes?!
5 years later, Atlantic re-released the album, as the 5th Anniversary Edition. The following features the 4 bonus tracks on this edition:
Theme Music To A Drive By
The 5th anniversary edition bonuses start with this, a Prolyfic beat and 2 verses from Lu. This song was originally supposed to be the intro to the album, but due to the bootlegging and leaking, it ended up not being on the standard version at all. I like Prolyfic's beat as he uses a sample of The Spinners, which creates a really smooth laidback beat. Lupe's lyrics are really nice and his wordplay is awesome here. The message behind it is good to listen to. This track rocks.
Tilted
Originally taken from the Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2005 soundtrack, Needlz produces a club banger, which has Lu talk about cars and his awesome wordplay. I like how this song turned out to be, especially suiting the Most Wanted game itself. Lupe's references to cars are nice. And of course, the chorus is catchy and really memorable, overall being a great song.
Carrera Lu
Prolyfic is back and he produces some funky beat. Carrera Lu sounds like it was taken from a 70s film and all Prolyfic did was just get Lupe to rap over it. But, still, Lu's intro with that "Carrera's a predator" stuff is good to listen to and may want to make you rap the section the way he did. Under the alter ego, Carrera Lu, Lupe has himself care about the money and paper, but at the same time uses his usual lyrical wordplay and metaphors. The beat is funky and nice, and his lyrics are hot, generally being an awesome track.
What It Do
As soon as I saw the title, I knew that the song would sound like this. To be honest, this was a little weak. The track sounds like it's from a Southern dance track. But, the thing is, Lupe flips it and makes it hot, but the wordplay and lyrics feel like a hit-and-miss thing. Lupe talking about CDs telling you to buy a TV, telling you to buy a DVD, telling you to buy a... you get the point. But, all things aside, it's an OK song. It's a bit of a banger and it's interesting to see Lu get on something like this.
Hearing Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor is a very nice listen for me. From skateboarding stories ("Kick Push" I & II) to interesting gritty stories ("The Cool"), Lupe shows his very lyrical wordplay, appealing topics, and his Chi-Town repping, especially on tracks like "The Emperor's Soundtrack", "I Gotcha", "Hurt Me Soul" and "Sunshine". The production is great. Soundtrakk does his thing as he creates some outstanding work on songs like "Real", "Kick, Push", "He Say, She Say" and "Sunshine". Prolyfic has a lot of interesting work on "Just Might Be OK", and "Pressure". And many more producers doing a very good job.
The features... well, although not many, it was just fine. Jay-Z was a little weak on "Pressure", yet people thought his verse was the best out of the two. Matthew Santos, however, sounded like he was originally on a different song on "American Terrorist". Gemini's singing is nice on "Just Might Be OK", while Sarah Green does some catchy ad-libs on "Real", with the two both coming together on "He Say, She Say".
Lupe does well on the album. His wordplay, lyrics and flow are on point and interests the listener especially being inspired by a lot of people. The hooks on "Hurt Me Soul" and "The Cool" are really catchy. Judging from the album, I can see how Lupe felt when the album was leaked, and the album ended up like this. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but the "Advance" version was a lot better than the original. The final product was just averagely decent.
Overall, Food & Liquor is a solid project. The only problem is how the people had the chance to leak it, with the finalized product coming out not that OK. It's similar to what happened with Nas when he was to release "I Am... The Autobiography" as a double-disc, but then the heavy bootlegging came and I Am... (the first part) ended up OK while Nastramadus (the second part) ended up being the worst album he ever put out. Notice the similarities of Food & Liquor and I Am... They had a struggle due to the bootlegging, but the albums both came out OK. Anyway, I do recommend this a purchase, but for anyone who heard the Advance version and liked it a lot (like 100%) more than this, just get your blank CDs out. This is a good album, Lupe done good, but the finalized version just came out just decent, and not that good for some people, compared to the leak. It's your choice...
The Furious 5ive
Hurt Me Soul
Pressure
Kick, Push
He Say, She Say
Daydreamin'
(The following embed Spotify link unfortunately doesn't have the other 2 5th Anniversary tracks, only Tilted and Carrera Lu. However, if you want to check the other 2, look them up on YouTube)
Here's the Advance version:
http://grooveshark.com/album/Food+and+Liquor+Advance/1919123
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