Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor
shortcut: [Album384403]
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| Artist | Lupe Fiasco |
| Type | Album |
| Released | September 19, 2006 |
| Rating |
3.71 from 933 ratings
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| Ranked | #105 for 2006 | | Genres | |
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| 1 | Intro | | 3:06 | | 2 | Real (feat. Sarah Green) | | 4:02 | | 3 | Just Might Be OK (feat. Gemstones) | | 4:24 | | 4 | Kick, Push | | 4:13 | | 5 | I Gotcha | | 3:58 | | 6 | The Instrumental (feat. Jonah Matranga) | | 3:26 | | 7 | He Say She Say (feat. Gemstones & Sarah Green) | | 4:12 | | 8 | Sunshine | | 3:55 | | 9 | Daydreamin' (feat. Jill Scott) | | 3:55 | | 10 | The Cool | | 3:46 | | 11 | Hurt Me Soul | | 4:22 | | 12 | Pressure (feat. Jay-Z) | | 4:47 | | 13 | American Terrorist (feat. Matthew Santos) | | 4:40 | | 14 | The Emperor's Soundtrack | | 2:56 | | 15 | Kick, Push II | | 4:12 | | 16 | Outro | | 9:01 |
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TheHorbgorbler
 at least you're not a fuckin libertarian
Digital
[Rating26452854]
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I Arthur like DW, brother
the Rita Lee and Mike Love he gives shout outs to in the outro can't be THOSE... can they? D: |
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DavidIs
 OK, yet forgettable
[Rating26385468]
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Not bad at all, all well produced & doen. it's just BANAL as fuck in my taste, & dull too.
Plus- Maybe it's time more Mo-Fo's (mc's\ producers) will listen more to Outkast. with powerful productions, not these Radio Friendly, Repititive & Corny Ass productions, & mostly- lyrics.
show off, shallow & dull music. |
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jerjer
CD
[Rating26154392]
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Because he appeared in Kanye's track "Touch the Sky" which was a hit because of the very visible sampling of Curtis Mayfields "Move on Up", You new that the young Lupe Fiasco would be releasing an album that year whether it be good or not. It was more than good though it was an amazing debut album with a fresh soulful sound. Coming out of Chicago like Common and Kanye West, Lupe fit right in with these above average rappers and this album proved his chops. The album failed to produce a major hit but if you asked anyone they heard of and love the track "Kick, Push" because of the beautiful horns that follow through the whole song. In the middle of this album though is where you get three tracks back to back to back that make it so great. "He Say She Say", "Sunshine" and "Daydreamin" are all wonderfully written songs with a cool mellow beat that Lupe freshly raps over with much swag. Another soul track that stands out is "Hurt me Soul" that once again has a great use of horns in the beat with Lupe keeping his cool which is a good thing and sums up the whole album. |
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G.O.Z.
 Anything Goes Martial Arts
[Rating8617389]
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I've been meaning to revise this looooong outdated review of mine for a long time and now I've finally gotten around to it. Now to approach this review with a new perspective on hip-hop, Lupe Fiasco, and the hype of Food & Liquor...
On Food & Liquor, Lupe Fiasco is a storyteller. He tells a lot of different stories on this album. Let's start with the one everybody knows about: "Kick, Push" is about a dude who loves to skateboard. He also tells stories about TV addiction, a kid without a father figure in his life, love, befriending a robot (?), his conflicted feelings about the subject matter of hip-hop, post 9/11 misconceptions/stereotypes about Islam, etc. For some bizarre reason, the type of lyricist that Lupe Fiasco is has caused polarization about him. Because a rapper about Lupe was thrusted into the mainstream, the Rolling Stone types and other music critics that are willfully ignorant about hip-hop acted like Lupe was the first rapper to not rap about killing people, bitches, or materialistic things (keep in mind that they also thought De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Arrested Development, PM Dawn, Common, Andre 3000, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Kanye West, etc. were each the first rapper to not rap about killing people, bitches, or materialistic things as well) so they acted like he was a Messiah that was sent down to "save" Black music. As a hip-hop fan, the ignorance, snobbery, and patronizing attitude that comes from these music critics pisses me off to no end, but at the same time the exploitation of gangsta rap's popularity after Straight Outta Compton shares some of the blame too. So Ice-T, Too $hort, NWA selling the fuck out with Niggaz4life, Ice Cube, 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Death Row, Biggie, Puffy/Bad Boy, Jay-Z, Master P, Eminem, etc. ain't 100% innocent in all of this. But getting back to the music snobs, a bunch of fellow hip-hop fans (not specifically referring to anyone) decided to direct their anger to Lupe Fiasco himself/rappers in the position he's in. "Oh, well he's just trying to target people that don't like rap, obviously! How DARE he not rap about gangsta shit! Well, I'll take Lil' Jon over this shit! Fuck Lupe Fiasco and these 'conscious' rappers!" If you've ever run into any hip-hop fan like that (and I know you have), keep in mind that they probably enjoy tossing salad, because those motherfuckers have their heads as far up their asses as the music snobs they hate so much. If you haven't noticed, that's a pet peeve of mine. That kind of attitude is moronic, ignorant, and hypocritical on so many levels. Motherfuckers (music snobs in the mainstream, dumb hip-hop fans, or otherwise) just need to approach music (on the basis of each artist, not genres or subgenres) for what is and then choose to take it or leave it. Maybe Lupe's just rapping about what he knows? Maybe he doesn't see himself as the only positive voice in hip-hop? Maybe he's not intending to use his music to suck Rolling Stone dick?
*all of that falls on deaf ears, I shake my head in disgust and step off my soapbox*
Well anyway, I like Lupe's diverse lyricism. As a technical rapper however, he's pretty good but needs serious work on his breath control. At times, he's gasping for air like he's Big Pun.
Food & Liquor (what a weird name for this album) is mostly produced by Soundtrakk with help from Prolyfic, the Neptunes, Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, Craig Kallman, Kanye West, Needlz, Brandon Howard, and Chris & Drop. Obviously, the sound of this album has the usual mainstream sound that's knocking at the door of being overproduced. Even more obvious, since Lupe is a "different" type of rapper, they go with more "feel-good" and "dramatic" soundscapes. I know I'm being snarky (because Asher Roth's album three years later attempted the same thing and failed miserably), but the production is really good. The beats to "The Instrumental" and "The Cool" might sound a little out of place and weird, but I don't mind them. One criticism I do have is that the production (and the hooks) attempt to swallow up Lupe's rapping, but they don't. And if they did, at least the beats are good.
When this album came out, it was hyped as a "breath of fresh air"-type rap album. And like a sucker, I bought into that shit. I'm not saying that Food & Liquor sucks, but it has lost some replay value since '06. It's hard for me to call this a classic because Lupe's technical rapping has improved so much since this and the lack of subtlety in the production. But that's just me nitpicking.
I recommend this to fans of conscious rap.
I'm done ranting about Lupe Fiasco......for now...
Song Quality: 8.5/10 (overhyped, but still damn good)
Lyrics: 8.5/10 (9 minus .5 for his technical issues)
Beats: 8/10 (a little overbearing, but nice nonetheless)
Favorites:
Real
Kick, Push
I Gotcha
He Say She Say
Sunshine
Daydreamin'
The Cool
Hurt Me Soul
Pressure
American Terrorist
The Emperor's Soundtrack
Kick, Push II
Least favorites:
none |
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SirLozo
Few Flaws Away From Perfection
[Rating25496721]
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This is really really good. |
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HipHopLinguistics
[Rating25276115]
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Lupe Fiasco taught me something about myself this week … something I wasn’t ready to admit: I’m a hater, dogg. An old fashioned, cockblocking player hater. I commonly yet often unknowingly participate in haterism. And yes, you can occasionally find me sitting on the couch, bumping underground hip-hop and drinking a tall, cold glass of hater-aide.
Hip-Hop Haterism
The concept of a hater is something that could have only originated in hip-hop culture, and is thus something I have always found very intriguing. On the most basic level, a hater is a person who is incapable of being happy for another person’s success, mostly because the hater does not believe that person is deserving of such success. This often causes the hater to lash out at the successful person, pointing out flaws or unfavorable traits about that person.
I guess haterism started with the commercialization of hip-hop. As corporations and marketing gurus took control of the rise of mainstream hip-hop and decided to recycle the same tired gangster-thug-bling rap marketing schemes to the American public, followers of underground hip-hop started to lash out at the wack rap artists that were willing to play the role determined by their bosses. In response, the mainstream started referring to these people as “haters” who were simply upset by the success the so-called sellouts were experiencing. Nowadays, most fans of real hip-hop won’t even give a mainstream artist the time of day.
And that’s how I felt about Lupe Fiasco. To me, Lupe was Kanye’s boy, or Jay-Z’s boy . somebody handpicked to be the next rap superstar based on his good looks, charm, marketable image and relationship to the mainstream’s favorite MCs. When his album dropped, I didn’t even think twice about not buying it. I just assumed that it was another replication of the popular sound, and many underground hip-hop portals reinforced this opinion by clowning on Lupe and his debut album.
However, over the past month I have consistently come across a number of reviews claiming that Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor was a classic hip-hop album … the best release of this year. Therefore, I decided to pick up and copy and give it a chance. After just one listen, I realized how wrong I was about Lupe Fiasco. His debut album is dope, even to someone like me who is loyal only to the underground.
The production is refreshingly unique, and combines complex futuristic-style hip-hop beats with instrumental interludes featuring keys, horns, strings and a variety of other hypnotic jazzy sounds. Lupe’s flow is also refreshing, and he demonstrates myriad ways to approach and attack his music, once even successfully flowing over a 5/4 beat . a complex musical time signature that is not at all common in hip-hop production. And lyrically, Lupe came correct, using mostly storytelling approaches to progressively discuss topics such as fatherhood, religion, skater culture, hip-hop and TV obsession, among others. Next to my top two picks of the year, KRS-One’s Life and Jedi Mind Tricks’ Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell, Lupe Fiasco may just have the year’s best hip-hop album, mainstream or underground.
Can You Blame Us?
I don’t know, man … the last thing in this world I’d ever want to be is a hater. But I’m not going to give a wack album props just out of fear of being called one, because that’s what they want. Instead, I wish I had the open-mindedness to give everyone’s album a chance, regardless of who they are or with whom they’re affiliated.
Still, it’s hard sometimes. I mean, look at all the crap they play on the radio, MTV and BET. For years now, we have been promised brilliance in the mainstream and been disappointed the majority of the time. Everything tends to sound the same and almost nothing played in the mainstream is representative of true hip-hop. Can you really blame the underground for jumping to conclusions about the mainstream?
Regardless of what the rest of the mainstream is putting out, take the word of a true follower of real hip-hop: Whether considered underground or mainstream, Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor is off the hook. Give it a try. At the least, it will make you realize that not everything they play on the radio is garbage, and that maybe everyone deserves a fair listen before jumping to conclusions. After all, not doing so would just make us all haters. Peace. |
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csbball312
CD
[Rating25114451]
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Scoring System:
1/5= Bad (Avoid Listening)
2/5= Average/Below Average (Skippable, die-hard fans might enjoy)
3/5= Above Average/Good (Good song, repeated listens)
4/5= Good/Great (Very good/great song, warrants many listens)
5/5= Amazing (Incredible song, very high replay value)
1 Intro
2 Real (feat. Sarah Green) 4/5
3 Just Might Be OK (feat. Gemstones) 5/5
4 Kick, Push 3/5
5 I Gotcha 4/5
6 The Instrumental (feat. Jonah Matranga) 5/5
7 He Say She Say 5/5
8 Sunshine 3/5
9 Daydreamin' (feat. Jill Scott) 5/5
10 The Cool 5/5
11 Hurt Me Soul 5/5
12 Pressure (feat. Jay-Z) 5/5
13 American Terrorist (feat. Matthew Santos) 5/5
14 The Emperor's Soundtrack 4/5
15 Kick, Push II 3/5
16 Outro |
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RandomThought
CD
[Rating24799855]
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Great debut album. I do like his sophomore album better(probably in the minority as most like this album better) but I love both.
Fav tracks:
Kick, Push
He Say She Say
Sunshine
Daydreamin'
American Terrorist |
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J_Kwon
Great
[Rating24043658]
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4/5
Great
Best Tracks:
Daydreamin'
Hurt Me Soul
Kick, Push
The Instrumental
I Gotcha
He Say She Say
Sunshine
Kick, Push II |
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xxiversoni3
Classic/Great
CD-R
[Rating23176653]
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2.Real (feat. Sarah Green) 4.5/4 4.25
3.Just Might Be OK (feat. Gemstones) 3.5/3.5 3.5
4.Kick, Push 5/5 5
5.I Gotcha 4.5/4 4.25
6.The Instrumental (feat. Jonah Matranga) 5/5 5
7.He Say She Say (feat. Gemstones & Sarah Green) 5/5 5
8.Sunshine 4.5/4.5 4.5
9.Daydreamin' (feat. Jill Scott) 5/5 5
10.The Cool 5/5 5
11.Hurt Me Soul 5/5 5
12.Pressure (feat. Jay-Z) 5/5 4.75
13.American Terrorist (feat. Matthew Santos) 4.5/4.5 4.5
14.The Emperor's Soundtrack 5/5 5
15.Kick, Push II 5/5 5
Album Flow:5
Overall:4.71
Best Track:Hurt Me Soul
Great Tracks:Kick Push, The Instrumental,The Cool, The Emperor's Soundtrack, Kick Push II, He Say She Say
Worst Track:Just Might Be OK |
distribution | 0.5 | | 4 | | 1.0 | | 6 | | 1.5 | | 9 | | 2.0 | | 18 | | 2.5 | | 28 | | 3.0 | | 95 | | 3.5 | | 191 | | 4.0 | | 316 | | 4.5 | | 168 | | 5.0 | | 98 |
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Unbelievable crap/Overrated | | |
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at least you're not a fuckin libertarian | | Digital |
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Irritating | | |
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Members who contributed to this entry: Muru, regal1382, jkra3168, bakinakwa, kenyon330, Jafs, Nodima, bald_head_slick, coolfun, corygibbonsYou can edit this page to correct data or upload images, but you must log in first. View: Correction history [9] Image upload history [1]
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rym
