A Review of Lupe Fiasco's "Food and Liquor"

Review of Lupe Fiasco’s Food And Liquor
Let me begin by saying I am an adamant Lupe Fiasco Fan. He is easily My favorite rapper and while I and many of my friends often claim he is the greatest, I wanted to review each individual track and ultimately the entire Cd. I am gonna try to stay as biased as I can and follow the same method I used on Lil Wayne’s “ Tha Carter III”

1) Intro-well this is exactly what it says it is, an Intro. I do not believe I can adequately rate this as a song because it is closer to a skit than it is anything else. This gets a solid N/A

2)Real-Solid beat, not a typical bass, drums, bass, incoherent chatter pattern. The song’s major draw back is that it starts out a little slow. While the beat explodes in your head phones from second one, the opening verse and chorus are average for Lupe. Good thing average for Lupe is still better than most. 7/10

3) Just Might Be Ok- Fantastic track to pick the action up. Lupe does a masterful job of jumping through lyrical hoops on his verses. He also keeps a rather solid beat behind him. After this track I think you starts to get an pretty good idea on what kind of music you can be expecting from the rest of the CD. 8/10

4)Kick, Push- I call this a tricky track. It’s tricky because the first time you hear it, you don’t really listen to it. I think it’s the concept that distracts you, but before long you find yourself bobbin your head to the beat almost completely void of bass and relying more on drums and horns. Lupe’s lyrics aren’t his greatest but they are still thoughtful and intelligent. He actually tells a story as opposed to just talking about a subject. Bonus points for creativity. 8/10

5) I Gothca-This is one of the best beats on the CD. This could the, “ My name is Lupe and this is why I’m better than you” track. His word play is in top form and his flow is executed perfectly along with the very noticeable beat. The only let down with the track is it’s lack of a great hook. But hey get three perfect scores out of five is still pretty amazing. 9/10

6) The Instrumental- Lupe speeds up a little on this track, but his lyrics don’t falter for it. Doing his verbal back flips at a faster pace only makes him sound more complex. The hook on this track is a pretty big let down. Lupe does his thing to perfection on this track but he missed another opportunity for perfection with a sub par chorus. The beat is again something different. Not bad, but not great either. 7/10

7)He Say She Say- Lupe does another great job of telling a story with this track. New listeners would notice this song more than other’s about Lupe’s lyrical talent. The verses are slowed down with a beat that doesn’t try to stand out too badly. The hook is good, if the singers don’t eventually start to grade on your nerves a bit. Not the greatest track but still a great track. 8/10

8) Sunshine- Lupe’s got a little bit of game on this track. Lupe does a great job on this track, as he does with many others, not just describing something but telling you a story about it. This song has been done thousands of times before. It is simply about picking up a girl, how ever Lupe manages to avoid the norm by not focusing on her or on how easy it is to get her, but rather on the meeting and flirtations eventually venturing off into a dream narrative. Good flow too, again the song is held back by the hook. 8/10

9)Day Dreamin’- This track shows you what he is capable of when he puts all the parts together correctly. Two amazing verses, coupled with a great beat, melodic flow, and Jill Scott keeping it soulful . This track deserves more than the one Grammy it earned. 10/10

10)The Cool- This is one of the most creative tracks for a rap song ever. Lupe takes the concept of a gangster who is killed and comes back to life and tell his story of walking the earth again. I cannot praise Lupe’s Lyricism and creativity enough on this track. The track was co-produced by Kanye and it’s not a typical outing by Mr. West. Fantastic all the way around… except for the hook. While this is slightly better than the rest, it is still enough to hold the song back a bit. 8/10

11) Hurt Me Soul- This should be Lupe’s anthem. He does some pretty amazing things on this track, most notably is the word play. Lupe is in top form in his lyrics and is the only vocalist the entire track. His flow is perfect, almost impossible to not nod your head to this track. Lupe delivers what might be the best four and a half minutes of rapping in a long, long time. 10/10

12) Pressure- This song get the obligatory plus one to it’s score from having Jay-Z featured on it. Lupe does a less complicated, but still clever lyrical exercise. The singer on the hook does a nice job of linking the verses, but the hook sounds like such a transformation from the verses it kind of causes a lack of cohesion in the song. But jay does his thing on the track showcasing why many still say he’s the best. 9/10

13)American Terrorist- Next time someone tells you all rap music is uneducated, make them listen to this song. Very intelligent and creative raps by Lu and a good chorus by his fellow FNF artist, Matt Santos, make this one of the best song from the album. Lupe does his word play tricks and his changes his flow up to match the unorthodox beat. 10/10

14)Emperor’s Soundtrack- Bow before King Lu the First (and Fifteen). Three minutes of Lupe doing nothing but rapping over the best beat on the CD. Lupe is in top form on his verses and manages to make the verses and flow as dramatic as the orchestral beat. 10/10

15) Kick Push II- Second best beat on the Cd. This song is a complete turn around from the last track. It’s darker, more serious, and another story. Lupe takes the concept of Kick, Push and create a very immersive atmosphere and mood. Another top notch song by Lu. 10/10

16) Outro- You don’t get many of these on Cd’s. There’s a reason for this. There is this little collection of pages you get in the CD that serves the same purpose as this song does. It’s not a song. Sorry. It’s just Lu thanking people. N/A

What is Food and Liquor? Is it the best rap CD of all time? Not quite. What it is, is an amazing first outing by a very skilled and talented MC who will retire early because the industry has no desire for someone taking Hip Hop in the positive direction he has taken this CD. It’ll get air time, it’ll get some hits, some awards, and frequent play in a lot of CD players, and that’s it. Is that bad? No, not at all. Food and Liquor is just part one of Lupe Fiasco’s epic Hip Hip trilogy. See you all in part two: the Cool

8.7/10