Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor

Reminded me at times of Common, and of Kanye. Yay Chicago! I didn’t hear this when it came out but I bet it was a breath of fresh air because boy did 2096 have a lot of bad rap music. Favorites: The Cool, The Emperor’s Soundtrack The outro with all the shoutouts is ridiculous but I feel like it’s a deliberate goof?

Really, really good album! I know nothing about Lupe Fiasco. This was kind of like Kanye with a little less self-indulgence. Distinct songs, great samples. Will revisit this one for sure.

This is actually a really good album, shame his career didn't go the places it should have done. Not sure if a stone cold classic but I enjoyed it a lot

One of the first instances I remember of “smart rap”. This one led to me listening to a lot more in the family of Childish Gambino, J Cole, etc. Love the sampling and wordplay. 3 stars for the music, 4 stars for the influence it had on my musical taste.

I was listening to Open Mike Eagle go through a list of the top 50 Chicago rappers the day this album came to me. In case you were wondering, Lupe was #5.

too long, wasn't needed

Loses a full star for the outro. Gains it back for all the Chicago shoutouts. Otherwise pretty unmemorable

Surprised me a bit, but this is great

I have heard songs from Lupe Fiasco here and there over the years and some were good while others were just meh or outright terrible. I would say this entire album lies right in the middle as well. Nothing great to write home about for sure. At times, there were good beats and flows in teh lyrics but overall this album was pedestrian. I am being generous and giving it three stars as that would make it 6/10 and really it was only about a 4 or 5/10.

Nul

What a killer rap album. Engaging, catchy, and creative. No skits, all bangers. This was a great era of hip-hop.

I liked the music and the positive, respectful spirit of the lyrics, though the album's so wholesome and socially conscious it actually gets a bit cloying. I was constantly thinking, "This is nice!" "Wait, this is music for wimps, isn't it?" "Ah, shit, maybe I'm a wimp..." There's just no rough edges at all – it's a little too smooth and shiny. I enjoyed it on the whole, but it could stand to lose a handful of tracks. Outro is an egregious way to end.

It was good to hear a snippet of Daydream in one of the tracks. Haven't heard the original for years. It was by the Wallace Collection in the '60s but then I re-discovered the i Monster hit from 2004 - Daydream in Blue - which was the actual sample on this. Now that album really should be in the 1001 list but isn't. "Neveroddoreven" is the name and is a really laid back and weird dream of an album which would get 5 stars from me. So thanks, Lupe for pointing me that way even though the generator has ignored it. I'm giving you a star here for that!

Blurrgghh this is the most boring sort of rap. Over produced music for people who want something to play at a dinner party to look cool without offending anyone.

This feels like a rap album for white people at a wine and nibbles soiree in a big farmhouse in the Cotswolds. It's all fine, but could have been written by AI. Samples - check, slick production - check, lyrics that seem to not actually mean anything - check. Music for playing in Gap. Apologies if Mr. Fiasco is just genuinely this dull, but I am suspicious of the intent. Having said that, ending the record with 13 minutes of extensive liner notes suggests he just really is a dork.

I am surprised how good this is, the string based beats and melodies make it very listenable. No huge standout moments but just high consistency across the record.

Yes! Lupe! I’ve been meaning to give him some time and now I see why. Lyrically brilliant and such a lovely flow too.

Felt like I was listening to music but not music. Nothing at all memorable other than the annoying repeated build up beats which seemed to be a common trend.

Stays on theme the whole time, very cool, I like!

Was not expecting this to be so good. I’ve never been a Lupe fan but I understand after listening to this why he remains relevant. Production quality 10/10. Enjoyed it as a whole but not many songs I’d listen to individually

Kanye without all of the turmoil in his life

*No music, just rap. Most tracks sound alike

Feels very Jay-Z and every bit as enjoyable. Kick, Push is fucking gold and I've never skated.

Didn't mind it, didn't love it. Some great songs on here though

4/7

Not a huge fan. I’m not sure how much of an impact this album had. There were plenty of other rap artists doing something similar and better. Not to knock Lupe, he’s not a bad artist. This album just doesn’t seem very impressive sonically or influentially.

Starts super strong and upbeat while some of the energy fades towards the end. Overall a nice find.

Day 378 Really enjoyed this, the instrumental is a great tune. Highlights The instrumental Daydreamin Kick push ii

3,5

Great production

I really liked this one and it came pretty close to getting 4 stars. Right away I was getting a Jay-Z feel from it, and overall it reminded me quite a bit of Talib Kweli’s *Quality*, which is definitely a compliment. It has that polished early-2000s conscious hip-hop sound that I tend to enjoy, with good production and enough going on musically to keep me interested. A few songs in, it did start to feel a little samey, but thankfully the album eventually broke away from that enough to keep things moving. I listened to most of it during a long drive, and it was a great album for that—it kept me engaged without ever becoming something I wanted to turn off. There weren’t a ton of individual songs that immediately jumped out at me, which is probably what keeps it just below 4 stars, but “The Instrumental” was definitely a standout. Finding out afterward that Mike Shinoda produced that track makes a lot of sense. Overall, a really solid hip-hop album and one I’d definitely listen to again. **A strong 3 stars that came very close to 4.**

sturdy, handsomely produced, ambitious stuff that only occasionally rises to its own expectations. a few standouts , a few tracks that come off corny/boring, a lot in between

6/10

Great hip hop album of the 00s

Entirely too long

Great album love Lupe

I thought the concept and execution of this record was great. When I hear Lupe rap, his cadence and timbre reminds me a lot of Kanye. So I wasn't surprised to discover that Kanye is a producer here, and was loudly singing (or rapping 🫠) his praises in public. Jay Z got in on it too, and in no time the media was hailing Lupe as "the saviour of hip-hop". I'm still quite a newbie when it comes to 21st century hip-hop, which is why I compare everything to Kanye, who was my introduction. So, it's still not a genre that I'd actively seek out as regularly as others. When I hear new hip-hop on this project, I'm usually most excited by artists from that "golden age", mid-80s to early-90s, and their sample-heavy, collage-like production style, bringing inventive reworking of old funk, rock and soul tubes into something new. Lupe does bring some of that aspect to "Food & Liquor". The production is built around lush, often orchestral soul and jazz samples. Rather than the cut-and-paste collage of samples, scratches and breaks of the hip-hop I'm used to, Lupe often takes one simple source, such as strings, a soul passage, or a jazz piano loop, and builds a polished new track around it. I particularly liked "Kick, Push", "Sunshine" and "Daydreamin'", the latter being YET ANOTHER take on I Monster's classic piece. And I was fully perplexed by the 12 minute "Outro", which was essentially a "roll credits" moment, where Lupe thanked everyone who helped on the album from Jay Z to secretaries, interns and even websites that helped promote him. It's not what you'd expect in the usual bravado "I'm the best" world of hip-hop, so it's refreshing (if a bit of an endurance test to get through all the names). And I think that's what I liked about Lupe the most. In "Hurt Me Soul", he straight out says that he didn't like hip-hop because of how it degraded women, but fully addresses his hypocrisy in still enjoying listening to the likes of Too $hort despite of it. That introspective self-aware nature is exactly what I love the most about 21st century hip-hop. A good discovery to add to my education around the genre. And it's album number 300 for me, so I'm looking forward to seeing what new perspectives the next 789 albums have in store for me.

Conscious‑Rap, Gesellschaftskommentar, stilistische Breite. Doch trotz einzelner starker Ideen wirkt das Album oft überfrachtet und zerfasert. Die Produktion schwankt, die Hooks bleiben selten hängen, und Lupe findet hier noch nicht die Klarheit, die seine späteren Highlights tragen wird.

This is one of the most melodic and hook-filled rap/hip hop albums I've heard. It's got actual choruses and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Great use of guests, production, and flow to this one. This is kind of the perfect album of the genre for me. But, holy crap, a 10 minute plus song to give thanks to everyone? Actually, I can't fault him too much for that, it's pretty cool.

Lupe Fiasco is one of the most unique rappers of the 21st century, and arguably one of the best lyricists. Some people just have an innate talent for language and he's clearly one of them. Goes on a little long, could do without the 12 min outro, but I guess he's a grateful guy. Also plenty of interesting topics covered

Pretty generic beats, but I'm not its intended audience. Wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. There is a very niche type of hip hop I absolutely love. This is not it.

I enjoyed this one, I'd only heard Kick, Push prior. I found the social storytelling engaging. It felt more like a personal perspective then some of the posturing style lyrics we've heard in other hiphop. Not one that I'd probably listen to again, but I found interesting and I'm glad I heard it.

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I remember this being hot when it came out. I remember trying it and being underwhelmed in 2006. Twenty years later I was still unimpressed. The track I was into was "The Instrumental" which still holds up pretty well. Honestly, if it was that great you'd still hear it on the radio and he would have gone on to have a career, but neither of those materialized. I researched it a bit, he's still making music today and has some decent listener counts. I may be wrong but I hear Kanye in the way he raps and his delivery (he actually calls him out in "Outro"). Both came out about the same time. The big "hit" on here is "Kick, Push", never heard it and didn't like it one bit. "Daydreamin' had its moments even if Jill Scott oversings her part. Repetition kills rap songs for me, just beating one word to absolute death or just rhyming over an incessant beat that never varies. That's what I got from this album. Top 1001? Nah, nope! Just not my thing I guess. 3 stars for being vanilla.

Pretty good album.

so this is ok. but just ok. 3/5 u need to go to a music festival today i have things to do dont waste my time.

Good. Fun.

Some good songs, but too long and I don't like many of the beats/production. Only song I really like I Gotcha.

A very 2000's looking cover, with a very 2000's feel. But it's fun and if it wasn't for that horrible daydream cover or the seemingly endless outro it might have gotten a four.

r&b hiphop, keiny ind co. might meins. c

++: Just Might Be OK, Kick, Push, He Say She Say, Sunshine, Daydreamin', The Cool, American Terrorist, The Emperor's Soundtrack +: Intro, Real, I Gotcha, The Instrumental, Hurt Me Soul, Kick, Push II +-: Pressure --: Outro 7,7/10

Daydreeamin' and a couple of other tracks rang bells

Such a fun album!

Hidden banger DayDream

Much better than I expected. Daydreamin is the standout but it's enjoyable throughout. Even the last track is an interesting idea, although it collapses in itself after a minute or so

Badgood

Might be my favourite of the hip hop albums on this list so far. I like his rapping style, it’s far easier going than the gangsta rubbish on here. The album is really varied in style throughout, helped by numerous samples obviously, but this does keep the album engaging to listen to.

I really enjoyed this. Very well produced, good beats and rhymes, and no bitches, hoes, or cursing. I added “Kick, Push” to my playlist.

if it wasn't that track with jill scott (biggest 'we need a hit' type song), this would've gotten a five. favorite songs: sunshine, he say she say, pressure, the emperor's soundtrack, i gotcha, american terrorist.

An essential name in hip hop even if he's been more obscure as of late. Some classic tracks on this.

gotta love lupe

8.5 / 10

Þetta er hár þristur. Ágætlega fín plata. 12 mínútna outroið hefði samt mátt missa sín

I hadn't heard this album before. Aside from the 12-minute outro, it's nice to listen to, though the big, polished production feels a little outdated.

Probably will not re-listen, but Lupe's delivery and energy were great.

Favourite Songs: Kick, Push

Might be a 5 - I’d never heard it before

Smooth and fun. But far too long. A 12-minute outro?!

He doesn't talk about bitches all the time, that's on the pro side. Aside from that I hate that pompous Kanye production and like so many hip hop albums this is way too long.

12 min???

Might have been quicker if he just listed the people he wasn't giving a shout out to...

1 Intro (Ft. Ayesha Jaco) Epic Intro 2 Real (Ft. Sarah Green) The game 3 Just Might Be OK (Ft. GemStones) Bisschen viel los (Hubschrauber?) 4 Kick, Push Skaterboi – ist ein Vine 5 I Gotcha 6 The Instrumental (Ft. Jonah Matranga) 7 He Say She Say (Ft. GemStones & Sarah Green) Daddy Issues 8 Sunshine Cute 9 Daydreamin' (Ft. Jill Scott) Ohhh den kennt man, find ich sehr nice 10 The Cool 11 Hurt Me Soul 12 Pressure (Ft. JAŸ-Z) 13 American Terrorist (Ft. Matthew Santos) Politisch korrekt (von dem was ich verstanden habe) 14 The Emperor's Soundtrack 15 Kick, Push II Skatergirl 16 Outro Shoutout zu der ganzen Welt für 12 min (Doppelt Shoutout an Gorillaz) Allgemein nicht schlecht, kann mir vorstellen ein paar Songs davon ab und zu mal anzuhören. Aber ist größtenteils nicht ganz so meins.

Not my kind of thing but had a listen. Was ok to be fair.

Atlantic 83959-2 (US) CD rip: I could tell "The Instrumental" had Mike Shinoda's influence before I looked it up. It's basically a Linkin Park track. A lot of these tracks remind me of Will Smith. Very kid-friendly and uplifting lyrics. "Daydreamin'" is hard to fuck up. Favorite track: "Pressure" 12 minutes of shout outs...c'mon man.

another album that had a profound impact on my pre-teen brain

Лупе колись неіронічно називали рятівником хіп-хопу. І з цього альбому можна цілком зрозуміти, чого. Лірично орієнтований реп, сторілайн про персонажа Cool, який повернувся з мертвих, який розтягнувся на декілька окремих релізів. Трохи Кендрік до появи Кендріка. Мені тут не подобаються інтро та аутро, та пару бітів, типу Daydreamin, де не подобається така робота з семплами. Наступний альбом також варто зацінити, якщо сподобався цей. Там фактично продовження ідей цього. А далі відбувся збій з альбомом Lasers. Повне музичне фіаско, від якого Лупе дуже довго відходив. В 24 році був дуже гарний альбом Samurai про Емі Вайнхауз як батл-реперку.

An album that really sounds of it's time, which isn't a bad thing. Daydreamin' was a highlight. 3.4/5.

Not my thing, but pretty good for what it is.

The thinking man's rapper, part of that mid 2000s post Kanye stuff. He's quite good, and the album is easy to listen to without being overbearing or boring. Perhaps just a bit overlong.

The "American" song is genius. The rest is the same old predictable stuff.

Excellent hip-hop album. Very clean, incredibly diverse, fun guest artists, powerful lyrics.

There's a lot of instrumentation and layers to the songs, it's cool and wasn't on my radar before. It's very reminiscent of good (early) Kanye, not sure why this isn't more well known in the mainstream. Good stuff. Such a bad album cover though, I thought this was going to be trash looking at it. Apparently those items were things that Lupe was carrying around every day, instead of drugs and guns. Shout out to the Nintendo DS and what appears to be a small robot for keeping Lupe on the straight and narrow

It’s ok. It is deeper than your typical rap album from the 2000’s, but that doesn’t make it special. The beats are ok, the flow is ok, the songwriting is actually pretty good (it’s even got somewhat of a concept going for it), I just leave feeling underwhelmed.

This isn't really my genre and I didn't really expect to like this, but I actually loved almost every track on this (long) album. The exceptions were the intro and outro tracks, that just felt like filler, but every actual song was absolutely killer! The sampling from other great songs that I know and love (eg. Chick Corea) were really unexpected and really upped the magic, but the level of melodic talent here was really impressive. I listened to this album twice and will probably do so again in the future. Best hiphop/rap album I've ever heard, hands down. Five stars, easily.

Fiasco is an appropriate description. Still don’t like hip-hop.

Didn't completely hate it

I liked this and even recognized 2 of the tracks (Kick, Push and Daydreamin'). I didn't mind the Outro. Ignore the acknowledgements and roll with the vibe of the music. Kinda like Ye-lite and since I don't listen to Ye anymore, it scratches that itch a bit.

Feed me the sauce

Kanye West-coded, se siente muy como a los principios de lo que era el estilo de Kanye, que tiene sentido porque era su productor o algo contribuyó en el álbum Muy buen hiphop, instrumental y liricamente hablando se elaboró muy bien Contiene muy buenos features y le dan profundidad a lo que se elaboró Pressure fue de mis favoritas, pero Daydreaming fue una grata sorpresa que no sabía que era de Lupe La verdad que este es un Fiasco muy bueno Reescuchable, recomendable, y madura más conforme más se escucha Incluso la canción de outro es pegajosa y no sé puede dejar de escuchar, de paso me dejó un shoutout jaja

I was never that into kick push but there were other songs on here that I liked, the one with Jill Scott and hurt me soul.

2 out of 5. Good production but not my thing.

200th album!! crazy. couple of these i knew, not overall my vibe though unfortch

Great album, love me some lupe

This album is a revelation. I thought I wasn’t in the mood for a hip hop album today. Boy was I wrong. I had heard of Lupe Fiasco but knew nothing of his sound. Great stuff, compelling, fun. It’s hip hop with soul. It took a few songs to grow on me, but I liked the grooves and kept listening. There are some good collaborations with other vocalists, must of whom I also haven’t heard of, but the combinations were effective and interesting. Almost half way through the lyrics started to grab me more, especially the song about the child soldiers. The music is mostly electronic but has rhythm and soul (usually) and is more than a backdrop for vocals. There was some decent humor mixed in, too. I really liked this album!

Feels like the end of something.

Painfully average imo. Lupe does rap well but I don’t remember much of this album other than the songs with Gemini, Jill Scott and Jay-Z. Daydreamin’ with Jill Scott was amazing. If the album had more songs and samples like this I would have rated it higher

music that makes me feel like i got struck by a lightning bolt and am now supercharged

Not a hip-hop fan but this wasn't that bad. Great production

Really really enjoyed this one. Can’t say it’ll be something I revisit a lot but I loved a good chunk of it. The Islamic influences, paying homage to everyone who helped put it together, it was just really fun and felt like real storytelling.

It's okay. It's a bit too poppy / over produced for me and has the stench of Kanye. Kick/Push is a nice summery track - but sort of thing I would happily listen to on the radio but never really have any desire to listen by choice.

Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor I already knew Kick, Push, its a summer vibes playlist staple and a great mid 2000s hip hop track. It never made me investigate any of his stuff though and I had thought it might be a bit of an outlier on here, but it is in line with the rest of the tracks and it's actually a great album and nice discovery. I really like the whole sound of it, it’s Kanye twinged but with a very pleasant shiny Y2K feel to the production, and there are some nice samples and interpolations. It doesn’t always have the percussive weight or sense of groove or musical density of his peers, but it's got a laid back summeriness and poppy edge that I really like. I like his cadence and vocal tone too, alternating between slowed down soulful delivery and quicker more dextrous tempos. Lyrically though it is excellent, thoughtful and nuanced, especially when he raps about the stereotypes and complications and his own attitudes around hip hop on the excellent Hurt Me Soul, male role models growing up on the also excellent He Say She Say or American Imperialism on American Terrorist. Alongside Kick, Push there are great tracks; Real is excellent, I Gotcha is a great Neptunes track, a pop-jazz strain running through it, the aforementioned He Say She Say, Sunshine, Daydreamin’s interpolation/sample of the oft-used Daydream is great, Hurt Me Soul, the Jay-Z assisted, slightly ragga feeling Pressure and The Emporor’s space soundtrack feel is very nice. It’s definitely too long though, a bit of CD bloat pushing it about 4 or 5 tracks and about 20 minutes too far. Even with that though it’s a great mid-2000s hip hop album with an excellent lyrical view point, making it an easy 4. 🥃🥃🥃🥃 Playlist submission: I really like Hurt Me Soul, but I’ll stick with Kick, Push

There's a bold rejection of gangsta-rap, explicitly so in 'Daydreamin'' and 'Hurt Me Soul'. Instead Lupe covers a range of subjects: skateboarding, racism, materialism, the dangers of TV etc. 'The Cool', from the perspective of a resurrected gangsta, shows his leftfield and interesting approach and subject matter. Other highlights: 'Kick, Push', and its counterpart 'Kick, Push II' and 'I Gotcha'. It's a great listen. Thankfully devoid of skits, the Intro and 12-minute Outro of acknowledgements are pretty pointless and not needed on an hour+ album. Otherwise one to file with Native Tongues, Roots, Outkast and other hip hop with interestingly alternative character.

It ended up being one of my favs so far. I really liked Daydreamin and by the second half of the album I was sold

Some big well done production songs. Good performances from featured artists. Super has some nice styling but some of his lyrics are rhymey dimey.

Fiasco's rapping is a little rough around the edges, but his lyricism and rhymes more than make up for it. The production is complex, and more importantly it feels very intentional. I can feel that Fiasco had a clear vision when making this album. However, he might've done too much. By the time I got to the end of this album, I was pretty much burnt out on it.

Cool production and cool rapping but why is that outro so long? 12 minutes of Lupe Fiasco shouting out every person imaginable. Thank you for the shout out though Lupe.

Det va gøy med de sangan æ dro kjensel på, men det her figurere ikke på toppen av rap-albuman æ har hørt på så langt i det her prosjektet for min del.

Uh 1st & (1st &) 15th (15th) Woah, uh Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor Is lovingly, hand-crafted and done By the good folks, at 1st & 15th, yeah Much love to the F&F crew Bryce, (yeah) Gemini, Shayla G Pro, Soundtrakk, Jason Salvador Simon, Bishop G, Bran Dog G-ball, G-Ball, yeah All the engineers, Chilly Chill, mixers Esco, much love goes out, to Rita Lee The Buchanans, Suzis 'N Uzi Everybody that, helped this project from day one Can't forget, Bolo, Footloose You know, the incomparable DJ G.I Kim Lumpkin, Bizzy, Spores (you heard) Marcus, Mr. Mark Pitts, L.A. Reid Drew, Tyvee, Success, the whole FTK You know, Mr. Mike Love, Bulumaster, what up Can't forget, Veedaugh, DJ Pharus, Coops, DJ Timbuktu K-scratch, The Base Man, Boogie Boy DJ Semtex, 279, Dr. Wax, Jason Eavre, HMV, Envy What up, Envy? Get Real, Flex, Funk Master, Flex, yeah (Violet) Can't forget E-Nyce, (Eric Lowe), the entire Bum Squad DJ family Shout to Loud Prince, Crystal Bubblin', (Paul Wall) All of the heavy hitters, (Trey Songz), all of the Murda Mamis Can't forget Kay Slay, Cipha Sounds, Amanda Diva, (Sirius Radio) DJ Chop, (Enough), DJ Hyphen, Greg Street, you know I'm talkin' 'bout? All the radio stations around the world that hold me down (Music Choice) Can't forget 'em all, E-bro, WGCI, Pie 92, Hot 97, Choice FM, BBC One Extra All the pirate stations, can't forget Tim Westwood, all the music video channels (Gomez Warez), Tiffany Green, (MTV), Elroy Smith, (BET), Bam (and VH1) Can't forget my big homie, Sean Deah (Hawaii Mike) What up, baby? There from day one Can't forget K.T., Alazay, the whole Raw Dough Brackets (Mr. Perry), The Pack, even though we no more Mr. Star, much love to Navi, Butcher, D-Lo, (Miss Cole) Butcher source of Quran right now, it's all good, much love to ya All my teachers (ya heard), Mr. K All of the artists my fellow artist in the game that hold me down and help me out Talib Kweli, (Mike Sanders), The Roots shout to Black Thought, Mos Def Can't forget, (Consequence), just (Rhymefest) Everybody, Three Six Mafia man Sway Decipher The whole Star Track, (Rakim), Pusha T, Clipse, Push Konflict Slim Thugger, Twista, (Ab-Liva), Psychodrama, Shawnna, GLC, Really Doe The whole GOOD Music, Ibin Don, C. John, Monopoly Mr. Kanye West, you know Can't forget, Stack Bundlez, what up b? Uh, Poo Bear Everybody showin' me love my whole Fort Minor family Styles of Beyond, Kenna, Apathy, Candy Pop Shout to the whole Demigods Can't forget Craig G, who wants me to wear the crown but I tell him I can't The Gorillaz shout to the Gorillaz, ya heard, uh Shout out to The Desk, all the radio personalities, you know I'm sayin' where I'm from (Scars) Chi-town (ya heard), Chicago Uh huh (Man) Shout to Bionce Foxx, Kid Robot, shout out to Roxy, (Tre), shout to Miss Jones Too Hot 97 (Choco Joc), everybody gave me looks, shout out to all the magazines showin' me love, holdin' me down (Nakid) Especially The Fader, gave my first cover, (Samsil), shout to Billboard, gave me the cover (Crazy Howard McGee), shout to Vibe, Source, XXL, shout to Kicks Exclusive, got a cover Shout to GQ, (Cash Carter), you know Rolling Stone, shout to all the internet sites OkayPlayer All Hip-Hop, School of Hip-Hop.Com, (MySpace), you know, showin' me love, , why not, a thank you All my fans Shout to Hypebeast.Com, shout to Kevin Mar, I love my fans Shout to all my Streetware family all my skater dark heads out there Shout to Slam Excite, (Tony Hole), shout to Hustlin' Body.Com, Freshness Mag.Com, (DGK) Shout to all the stores that around the world that are holdin' me down (Steve Williams) Maharishi, DPMHI Shout to Harley Bleckmen, Damien, and my big brother Nash Money Dollars Alex, shout out to mag the over Slammin' Kicks, Dough Street, Ben Jury Shout out to Lamessie and Amanda, from LMAC Down in Singapore, (Voss), yeah, my lil' brother Dano, Dano West, As-salamu alaykum (Street Connoiseur) Shout to my big brother Ian, stayin' out for Kicks Hawaii Crew (Crabby, Henry), Aloha Huh Aubrass, shout to Ricky Kim, shout to Chuck Anderson (Ken, The Riot), thebillions.Com Shout to Vergil, (Jackson Hennessey), shout to Benjamin, shout to the whole crew (Righteous) (Kung-fu), shout to the JB Classics, you know, shout to my big homie Rob Hebler Weeklydrop.com, (Hot Dogg), Shout to my man Chris Gibbs over at Union Big shout out to Edison Shay and the Chopstick MC, the whole Kli family, yeah F&F Hong Kong, what up You know, it's mad long, right? (Henry Lovell), shout to Keep Up Neighbour, San Francisco (Nathan), shout to my homie Julian out in Paris, (Cabrerra) Holdin' me and my man Jason down, much love Shout to Miami Girl, L.A. Barracuda, shout to Dave Ortiz, Dave's quality Meats You know how the long two way fashion thing, shout to my man Rolf from Artful Dodger Matt Anger, of Reebok, shout to the whole Reebok staff holdin' me down You know I'm sayin', Q Gaskins, Q, it's "Food & Liquor" time baby Shout to Matt Inc., Shout to Wendy, shout to Liz Cardozo, all my family up at Reebok, (Pam's Am) (Dc Shoes), it's all forgiven, ya heard (Shout to Kevin Hana), shout to every club promoter, every show promoter, out there Shout to my big homie Neil, much love to you homie thank you (Christopher Adams) Much obliged, much appreciated, shout to Mark Sheeder, Kevin Black, shout out to Kevin Black Just make sure you get yours man, I'm aware Shout to the entire Atlantic Records staff, Greg Helman, Julia Greenwald (Warren Geese), Emmanuel, Keyzer, James Lopez, (Doug Horn), Sylvia, (Diane) The lovely, talented Veronica Alvarici (Latrice), the lovely and talented Camille Hackney, Cindy Marcuson, (Brian Singjon), (Jules) Katherine I can't forget you (All of the secretaries and), LaToya Sterling (and assistants and the interns) Andrew, you know I'm sayin' (Noah) Shout to Tamara (Scott), shout to Ayesha, (Crespo), aight John McMahon, (nice) When I strut through the building, they show me love, they be like "Watch out Lupe comin' through" (Damon, Cookie), The Nasty Boys, shout to the whole Warner Music Group Leor Cohen, (Mel) and Mr. Kevin Lyles (Rick Betterman, Marcus Youst) Thank you for comin' out man (Darrell Thomas) It was appreciated far beyond you'll ever believe, you know what I'm talkin' about (Scott Francis) Shout to Carlene, Marcia, the whole Def Jam staff too, it's weird cause I'm doing Def Jam shout outs But I got to because they, they, they holdin' me down (G), shout to Tata, shout to Linnie S Shout to Beehive, Samantha Hill, (Guru), it's much appreciated, believe me (Just Blaze), Sean Healey Shout to Glasses Malone, what's up (Saigon), Constantine, Big Chuck, yeah Doin' his thing right now Shout out to Karen Quark, oh man, Karen Quark, yeah, we did it baby David Enriquez, shout to T.I., whole Grand Hustle, (Taro), you know what I'm sayin', yeah Here's the whole crew everybody, from that crew that hold me down, everybody around the world That hold me down, I love you Shout to my family, my mother, my father, my sisters, my brothers, My nieces, my nephews, my aunties, uncles You know I'm sayin', I love all y'all, you know, I love all y'all I ain't gon' say no names, but I love all y'all Shout to all my homies on the block, Madison Street, whole Surrender Crew, shout to Cole Cheece (Jaguar, what up?) Shout to Aida, shout to Antoine, shout to Moon Shout to Shawn, (Tikaboo), Nick Luda Shout to everybody, shout to all y'all man, shout to Li'l Man, shout to (Miss Gartley) Dough Boy Shout to Napo The Original 1500s, (Lupe), Bishop G L-U-P-E, we still here, keep on hustlin', I guarantee, God willin' Rest in peace Randy, shout out to Shakapilva See I called you as one of the last ones (whole Chicago, Ave) But I got ya, you know, the whole Wild Moneys (Soats, Northside, Southside, Eastside, Chicago) get up outta here (Man, Westside) This has been, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor comin' to a close, peace Next album, Lupe Fiasco's (and much love to ya) The Cool If I forgot (yessir), forgive (Astaghfirullah) I'll catch you on the next one As-salamu alaykum

Intro - na Real - 3 Just might be ok - 3 Kick, push - 4 I gotcha - 3 The instrumental - 4 He say she say - 3 Sunshine - 3 Daydreamin' - 4 The cool - 3 Hurt me soul - 3 Pressure - 3 American terrorist - 3 The emperor's soundtrack - 3 Kick, push ii - 3 Outro - 2

Enjoyed this more than I expected, it feels like a relic from another time.

One song can't make an album worth 5 stars to me but Daydreamin comes really fucking close. Not to say there are no other good tracks on the album but I feel like daydreamin is a masterpiece and none of the other tracks on the album come close to its level.

It surprised me how much I actually liked this one. Good melodic, hip-hop with some actual singing and not just straight rap and interesting beats and sounds.

5, but ditch the last track.

Food & Liquor was the kind of album I assumed I wouldn’t connect with—wrong genre, wrong lane, just not my thing. Turns out I was wrong. It was more engaging than I expected, and I genuinely enjoyed the ride. Will I revisit it? Probably not. And that eleven-minute “Outro” certainly doesn’t help. After a couple of minutes of Lupe Fiasco reading through the album credits, I skipped ahead. I appreciate giving people their due, but that’s what liner notes are for. Still, as a one-time listen, I’m glad I gave it a chance.

This is Kanye West if Kanye actually made good music. That's not to say this was fantastic by any means. Rap & Hip-hop have never been my jam save for the old school 80s/90s variety, but this album had a decent flow and a good sample base that kept it from being annoying. The biggest complaint is that it's way too long. I could feel time slowing down as I listened. I swear this hour of music took 3.5 hours.

Started off with vocals incredibly similar to Kanye but this faded further in and the album grew on us. Decent stuff.

Crazy list of producers on this. Pretty good listen.

Very solid rap album w/ guest appearances, production and overall sound. Was gonna give it a four but the damn outro is so unnecessary and long it's a 3 now.

Sort of perplexed by my response to this album. Lupe is overflowing with talent. He’s got great lyrics and flow. But I just can’t get into his voice.

I’m tired of say-my-own-name specialists. Almost a 1 for subjecting me to Outro alone.

Layered and well crafted

I’m an unabashed Lupe fan. I think his whole disco belongs on this list. Said that, outro was too long and not everything here rises to the level.

Gosh. It was - inoffensive - but far too long and I was totally bored by the end.

INSPIRATIONAL

Happy to upset the purists and rank this higher than The Chronic which I had yesterday.

Some good tunes

Great flow, interesting beats. This was a pleasure!

2.5

TRES BIEN!!

Not my genre. Seems well produced enough. Songs feel so samey though. Does he need to announce his name every song? Are they not distinct enough on their own? Whatever/5 (2.5)

this was good! the 10 min outro song just shouting people out was a little much for me lol

Such a solid album. A few questionable lyrics but overall 🔥🔥🔥

An album I loved when I was younger - I haven't listened to this in over a decade! There are some amazing songs in here. I think that some of the instrumental choices weren't great/sounded awkward to my ears. Also, I forgot how much the outro annoyed me! Great rhymes from Lupe, though!

Probably Lupe’s most complete album still. Plenty of great singles and shining moments since but this all just works so well together as an album.

Enjoyed but not his best

Not bad from Lupe but also in that weird limbo period

Pretty cool, but nothing too good. I'm glad I've been forced to try more hip-hop as I do need to get into the genre more but some of these lyrics are better than others. Favourites were by far the ones on Hurt Me Soul, but songs like Sunshine featured some real stinkers. What do you mean this guy said "Working like a... hmm... reverse archaeologist, except his buried treasure was sunshine"??? The beats are pretty good and some of the features are great, I'm just not huge into hip-hop yet and this album doesn't have as layered production as there was on GKMC and TPAB, as well as lacking as much interesting stories to tell as Kendrick in my opinion.

The debut album of one of my favorite rappers. Lupe Fiasco comes up with creative lines and flows about interesting themes that fit perfectly in the beats for each track. If I'm being honest, I love this album but I think Lupe got better as he went on. You can hear the building blocks for what he pulls off on The Cool, Lasers, and Food & Liquor 2. That said, this album Kick Push is some classic fun, The Instrumental and The Cool are great, and Daydreamin' is probably my favorite song on the album. No skips anywhere, and it's overall an excellent 2000s rap album.

Little bit of a Kanye sound but Kendrick lyrics…?

I was surprised to learn that this was Lupe Fiasco's debut album. It sounds really polished, and these tunes are JAMS.

I actually really liked this album a lot, i thought it was really fun and good. Highlights: Real Just Might be Ok Daydreamin The Emperors Soundtrack Favorite The Emperor’s Soundtrack

good album. wasn't giving it my full attention. sorry lupe.

I like that he acknowledges everyone who helped with the project at the end - did it need to be 12 minutes... no. I really enjoyed this album a lot, good beats, easy to listen to. I think it would be a really fantastic album if it was slightly shorter? Lotta really great stuff on here tho.

Good, I like self conscious rap but nothing special in the production department to warrant anything higher. Feels like so many other hip hop albums could be on here than this one. If blueprint or MBDTF or really anything early Kanye isn’t on here I’m flipping my shit

perhaps its lyrically interesting but i can't get through the boring makeup of most tracks. the 2 popular hits do alot of heavy lifting.

There was a specific time when rap had larger orchestrations and horn sections that were grand. To me, the best example of this is Jay-Z's Show Me What You Got which I love and unsurprisingly came out the same year as this album (which Jay-Z produced). So, I like a lot of the sound of this album and Lupe's flow is pretty great at times, but a bit sophomoric at others. On first listen it's a 3.5 for me, but likely to bump.

Maybe it's because I saw Lupe in an episode of One Tree Hill that I assumed he wasn't the real deal. Or maybe it says more about me that I watched that show. But regardless, I went into this a bit sceptical. Completely unfounded it turned out! The first few opening songs aren't particularly strong, but that changes with 'Kick, Push', which is very groovy. From then on I couldn't find a single song that didn't work for me. There are a handful of really good songs as well, where favorites include 'I Gotcha', 'Sunshine', and 'The Cool', with the latter probably being my favorite one. The album definitely feel geared towards the radio with many pop-oriented songs, if that makes sense. But this works great for me, I don't mind it. If it's good, it's good! This feeling is reinforced even more when skimming through the number of writers each song has. Without being too familiar with him, the whole album also sounds a bit like a Kanye West album to me. Not bad or good, just an observation. I wasn't expecting to find this album as good as I did, but I just found everything in this record that I expect in a hip-hop album. Not sure how revolutionary it was, or how good the lyrical work is, but the beats are definitely where it's at with this album. And that's almost all I care for anyways.

The album art might be the most 00s album I have ever seen. It really couldn’t been made at any other time. This failed to connect with me, there are however some classics on here like “Kick, Push” or “Daydream”. I think the album is just too long to make it feel consistently good. I think Lupe Fiasco’s contemporaries are a lot better than this album e.g Kanye, Schoolboy Q, Jay Z. The beats are decent and the raps are ok but the rapping never feels good enough to make me want to share this music with my friends. Still not a bad album by any stretch, some good singles with some fluff. Strong 3.

Song had a great beat but overall kinda bland after the first minute in a half.

Man Lupe Fiasco really did have 1 good song. Insufferably bling era temu kanye sounding album. Stellar on a production level, but really suffers from being Lupe Fiasco

conscious hip hop is something i can certainly appreciate listening to but with the approach i’d take to reading a legit novel or watching a good film. like, i’m not returning to this for warm fuzzies but i appreciate the artistry behind it. in this case, i even sat through the credits. anyway shout out to all the internet sites, shout out to my mom for giving me these jbl earbuds so i could listen to music, shout out to beatrice she supports me emotionally, shout out to the guy riding his bike on the sidewalk even though the street is empty, shout out to my entire printmaking class, shout out to my department, shout out to my friends for doing the 1001 album challenge (fav: american terrorist)

(68/100)

First time hearing this, knew a few of the songs, had no idea they were all part of it. Honestly great album

With amazing rapping skills from Lupe, this album sounds so beautiful

Los 2000 hecho disco. Creo que ya puse una review similar pero bue, no me dijo nada pero ta bueno

Very interesting sample and beats. Like they’re actually interesting and creative. Nicely done

I’m not the biggest hip hop fan but there are a few records I really enjoy - however most have required several listens to really click. This is the most immediately good hip hop album I’ve heard. It’s a great alternative to Kanye without the controversy. Also as a skateboarder I love all the references to skateboarding. The downside is it is a bit long. I like the idea of shouting out everyone involved in the record but 12 minutes? Bro literally thanked bbc radio 1extra and Tony hawk

this should be much more popular, lowkey bangers

Good beats, good lyrics, good delivery. Not eat coast or west coast and hallway to daisy age . Interesting rap with different influences

Album 226. Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor (https://open.spotify.com/album/0TDJRkEr2SrhWTetdkEzED?si=y7Q9a6oJSL6WsDJAFp2uqg) — Lupe Fiasco (2006) It’s not the greatest hip-hop album but it’s solid af and gets better and better with every new song until Touch The Sky (https://open.spotify.com/track/2dxjKgT0li4qBI3QwuN9Ih?si=ba01a4c85cb04f0c). Yeah, wanted to do this reference to Kanye's track, 'cause this dude was featured on it. Kanye introduced this dude to the world and one year later this debut album was released. Btw Kanye also produced The Cool (https://open.spotify.com/track/4vheUbZGsFWPpbJrir4Ocw?si=d9196b7a162b4278) track on this album. Basically, there are too many names who were involved in producing. Production and vibes refer to Kanye albums a lot, but with less quality and cohesiveness. Some tracks are perfect and I had them in my playlist for a long time. It was really hard to rate, because my perception and appraisal of the album ascended and ascended as I listened and relistened to more and more songs. 5/5 Liked: — Just Might Be OK — Kick, Push — I Gotcha — The Instrumental — He Say She Say — Sunshine — Daydreamin' — The Cool — Hurt Me Soul — American Terrorist — The Emperor's Soundtrack — Kick, Push II

I got this cd when it came out and played it pretty heavily for a time, but since completely forgot about it (too much music in the last 20 years?). I'm happy to say it still holds up today as a total classic!! I could do without the bloated intro/outro tracks, but that's only a minor criticism

Loved this album in college. Remains extremely solid. A bit long but has many great tracks along the way.

Great production and Lupe Fiasco is a talented writer and rapper. I wish the hooks themselves were stronger; the center of a 72 minute album cannot hold on couplet choruses alone. But man are those beats lush. This was an incredible time for Chicago-based hip-hop. (Sidebar: I miss the old Kanye, chop up the soul Kanye.)

A pretty good album soured by a 12-minute outro of meaningless shout outs. Put that in the liner notes, Lupe. 6/10

STUNNED this is on the list but it’s an absolute killer. Takes me back to driving home from college in late June, windows down, lit cigarette in hand, this album blasting.. Vibes.

Great album, no notes. That's it for my review yall. I want to thank my parents, obviously. My brother, thank you. My whole family, actually, wouldn't have had ears without you. Thanks you to my teachers, especially the language ones; you helped me find the right words for this review. Shoutout to my old dean, I wonder how he's doing. Shoutout to my friends, old ones and new, everyone who made me who I am. Shoutout to my cities here in the Netherlands. Groningen, Leiden, Utrecht, Den Haag, represent. Shoutout Seoul too. Shoutout to dr. Wax and Chopstick MC, I like your names. Shoutout Kendrick Lamar, Little Simz, Chance the Rapper for making me fall in love with rap. Also Avicii, Stromae, Rolling Stones, Talking Heads, Florence and the Machine, Vince Staples, Stevie Wonder, all my musical heroes. Shoutout to the guy who wanted to sell me a cd in New York and called me racist when I declined, hope you're doing well. Shoutout to the Lidl, but treat your people better boys. I love movies too, so shoutout Martin Scorsese, shoutout Sean Baker, shoutout Bong Joon Ho, shoutout Paul Dano - fuck Tarantino - shoutout everyone on Sesame Street, I see you Elmo Anyway you get it

I'm rounding up because the lyricism on this is crazy. So woke in the best way. I'd def listen again!!

Not the worst rap in the world, but not great. I skipped the last half of the last song when it was just 12 minutes of thanking random people and things. 1/5

Pretty easy listening, just not my style.

ENJOYED THIS

I truly always dismissed Lupe Fiasco on my way in hip hop. Not hard enough to shocking, not soft enough to be RnB, not goofy enough to be backpack. But its just good enough to maintain clout and radio play. But this was very well done. I will adjust my rating because I didn't empart anything greater than the surface level. I will add though that the dichotomy of Lupe's retelling of autobiographical events in Kick Push 1 and 2 was pure art. I enjoyed that. Plus the production is great, it features prominent hip hop icons and up and coming pop stars. So yeah, I dismissed Lupe but the world saw something I didn't until now.

Really good rap album, good beats to game to

I love listening to this album. It has high production value and it was so much fun to journey through its waves. Would listen to it more outside of this exercise.

Cool to go back to that mid-00s Chicago hip hop but with someone that’s punchier and more insightful on the bars than the other big guy of that moment. Some really cool production in here, nice jazz slices as well as the usual fare and nice guest spots to add to the choruses in line with that. 12 minute victory lap / thank you speech outro a hell of a choice too.

Overall: 3.25 (rounded to 3) Consistency: 3 Originality: 3 Enjoyment: 3.5 Virtuosity: 3.5 1. Intro - 3 2. Real - 3 3. Just Might Be OK - 4 4. Kick, Push - 3 5. The Instrumental - 3 6. He Say She Say - 3 7. Sunshine - 3 8. Daydreamin' - 3 9. The Cool - 3 10. Hurt Me Soul - 3 11. Pressure - 3 12. American Terrorist - 3 13. The Emperor's Soundtrack - 3 14. Kick, Push II - 3 15. Outro - 2

This was interesting. The second half was a lot better than the first, will have to give it another listen!

It took me a couple tracks to get into it, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. Pretty solid overall

Ignoring the outro altogether, this is a great hip hop record. Lupe is a rapper I often forget about, so it's nice to see him featured on this list. He has the charisma, the lyricism and the team to back him up on some of the sickest stuff I've heard this week. The weakest moment is a Kanye produced track, that's how good this album is. Pharrell and Hugo on I Gotcha, the emotions I felt hearing He Say She Say and that gorgeous Sunshine beat. Oh there's still more! American Terrorist with that hook! Yeah, I liked this a lot, the Knicks just came back 29 points down (9/10, 5/5 on this scale)

A really solid album. May be a new favourite for this style of mid 2000s it aged insanely well which is made even more impressive by the amount of albums that were very set in their times. Will 100% be returning again.

Lupe Fiasco is one of the great underrated rappers of the 2000s and Food & Liquor is certainly one of his better albums.

Bullshit

The flow of the liquor gets in the way of Lupe Fiasco’s actual flow, which is nonexistent here. Some of this is good, but a lot of this is an overproduced mess. The 12-minute outro is unnecessary.

13 solid tracks,surrounded by a typical intro, and the most mind numbing Outro ever. Did the CD not come with a booklet? And why wasn't I thanked??? Setting those two tracks aside... this was really good. I have vague memories of "Kick, Push" when it was released. It gave me a De La Soul vibe I really liked. Interesting sounds on several tracks and a unique perspective on the world make this definite must listen. Maybe just his stop when the Outro starts. ;)

Lutade åt en trea ett tag men det når inte riktigt dit. Beslutet att lägga 12 minuter shout outs efter ett entimmesalbum fick helhetskänslan att gå från helt okej till lite dålig.

Nära på att vara bra men lyfter ju aldrig riktigt och i slutet är jag bara trött på det.

Blandad kompott. The instrumental var verkligen crazy town-kass, men finns annat som är helt ok bra. Alltid kul att höra Jill Scott till exempel. Men fan, ju längre man kommer desto mer färglöst och tråkigt blir det.

What the heck varför är alla hip-hop album så frikking långa, det gååååååår inte

unmemorable

Great. A true hip hop storyteller. One of the few left, it seems. I only knew two of his songs, but the album didn't surprise me. There’s real life story throughout in a way of that reminds me a lot of J Cole, Jay Z on a feature is no surprise either. You can tell it all comes from the heart because it’s lived, just how Kanye would talk about Chicago in his early stuff. His wordplay is also phenomenal, super creative and intelligent, reminds me of The Tribe. “I told you cornballs I hush puppies.” Cmon. Really really good, and super fun to listen to as well.

nomás kick, push está buena pero igual no taaanto

dude

Love the beat on Just Might Be Okay, flow on kick, push is awesome, daydreaming’>>>, not a fan of some of the melodic stuff (the cool), beat on pressure is insane but not biggest fan of vocals minus the Jay-z part

Really enjoyed

Overall Rating - 4.00/5 (8.00/10). Awesome backing tracks. Outstanding flow. Several tracks that bear a close listen to even today, 20 years later. We need to grow more as a nation and as a people, and tracks like some of these can help to remind us of that fact.

Felt very fresh despite being 20 years old. Album cover is a bit trash, but loved the beats and the lyrics were heartfelt but not lame. 12 mins of audio credits is quite a lot, but nice he gave everyone a shoutout.

I woke up sick this morning, so there's a chance that I'm a bit unfair to this album. Overall, it's an enjoyable ride, but I expected more. While there are a couple of truly phenomenal tracks, I found the rest slightly underwhelming, mostly because of the beats. Most of them just didn't click with me at all, and it's a shame, since this is a top notch album when you focus on the lyrics. The middle is probably the strongest part of the album, it's where it really starts to get in a groove that I was expecting. Outro is a baffling way to end the album, though, just unnecessary bloat. I'll give it another listen soon, though, I think that would be fair given the circumstances right now. Favourite track: Daydreamin'

I feel like the 12 minute thank-you speech outro didn't have to be on this album, like maybe save it for a stage or just print it on the liner notes. Also, dope-ass "I just learned how to use Photoshop" album cover. Music's not great, though.

Je passe un bon moment

Fantastic album. Rap has always been a genre I've struggled to get into but this album was approachable without feeling like it was too simple. The beats and verses seemed good too, though I'm not familiar enough with the genre to know how good it is on a grander scale.

I’m always like “man I wish rappers rapped about something other than money, bitches and drugs” and then I hear a socially conscious rapper being positive and empowering and I’m just like “Nerd!!!”

Don’t like all the RnB bits. Plods along in places.

This is an album

'Eff off. For me, a junk genre with no entertainment value. And there's a stunning number of these on this list. I've liked very, very few - and this is not one of them.

this hip hop album was pleasantly nice, has so much 2000's charm. cool that i knew the hit and it's def better then when i've heard the song online. though 12 min closer ;=;

It's decent hip-hop, nothing particularly groundbreaking, but I'm glad it is more socially aware than a lot of stuff in this genre. Sounds of its time, but I could have done without the intro and 12-minute outro.

This restaurant sucks.

fav songs: i gotcha lyrical, ambitious, dated 50/100

It’s good for what it is but it is not for me

7/10 Pro's: - the rawness of the songs - Big forerunner of Sample-based music, to be appreciated Cons: - sometimes bit monotonous - Big difference between heavy hitter songs and weaker songs on record

162. no words

Well produced. Well performed. I enjoy listening to this album, and its got a little bit of heart. It's not quite RAW enough for my taste in hip hop.

I don't know hip-hop / rap but this was great. Even though I don't think it's really a 4 level it's so good for the genre im giving it a 4

Not my thing for sure, but interesting listen - choice of samples and overall production made for an enjoyable listen

Didn't do anything for me.

Pretty good, I don’t think I’d listen to it again though

No. 191 Just a really solid hip hop album. Some amazing songs on this album. Can't believe I've never heard of Lupe Fiasco before.

Started off kinda slow but it grew on me icl. The rendition of „Daydreamin“ was interesting, i enjoyed quite a few of the other songs as well. The outro had like 100 shoutouts. A generous 4.

Love the cover art can’t say the same for the album. Juvenile lyrics and lame beats.

The outro is a bit much

New to me. I wasn't expecting the food and liquor of the title to represent a Manichaeistic worldview, so that was a surprise. After that, decent enough. Found the production a bit busy, but I'm ill today and maybe most things would sound too busy. Some tracks I really liked - Hurt Me Soul, the Kanye-ish The Emperor's Soundtrack, Kick Push II. But at least half a point docked for the Outro. 3.5*

not the strongest start to an album, but settles into itself after a few tracks. props for having the vision to rap over Daydramin’.

Love the lush beats and Lupe’s flow. A quality 2000s rap album, very much from the early Kanye school.

Smart and we enjoyed the end

I can appreciate the powerful messages and cerebral lyrics and will always love that cover of "Daydreamin'" (I'm a sucker for covers of that song), I would still categorize this album as "perfectly fine."

this style and era of hip-hop does nothing for me

I must say, I'm not super duper into rap, but Lupe Fiasco is a name I've heard a couple times thanks to Fall Out Boy l, and I was super interested in listening to the different influences by all the different producers. I love love love Daydream!! The 12 mins outro is unnecessary tho

Yeah this slaps, will always slap, and will continue to slap no matter what people say. one of the best alt hip-hop albums out there. sure it's not a diverse album, and yeah, the outro is fucking annoying but like, dude, kick push.

Not bad stuff, goes on too long

Daydreamin' is incredibly smooth

There a couple decent songs on it but most of it sounds like Kanye using his formulas too much. Really like Kick Push 2.

Looking back, this may have been where backpack rap peaked.

Didn't capture me at all

A week of mediocre 3 star albums and this is annoying me. Probably this album isn't objectively any worse but it's so meh and bland it's getting 2 stars.

23. 루프 피아스코 - 푸드 앤 리쿼 총 16곡 수록, 1시간 10분. 나는 힙합은 잘 모르겠다 미안타... 그러나 잔잔하이 듣기는 좋네요 흠... 한줄평: 2.5점? 아쉽게도 쩜오가안된다... 취향: ★★☆☆☆ 재방문: ★★☆☆☆

really good!!! totally surprised me on this one. ana hyped it up to me but i thought it'd be Okay to my taste since mid 2000s music is generally ehhhh to my ear, but this legitimately holds up well. for an album over an hour, my only criticism is the 12 minute outro is just silly. everything else? super strong. great beats, great flow, great vibe. it's hard to pick faves off here because there's a lot of stellar tracks, but "kick, push" is where i first appreciated that maybe i was listening to a banger. effortlessly light record on the whole too in spite of its length. i *really* love his productions here. they're so interesting. legitimately not a single miss on here. fantastic album.

fresh air after a series of really mid rock. A slice of mid-2000s alt/concious-tinged rap is something that I didn't always enjoy suprisingly, especially growing up, but during COVID I decided to widen my taste and have really come around to 2006-2008 rap. First I gotta mention the fantastic production throughout this. It's got the luxorious sound of some of the late bling era but it is centering and complementing Lupe Fiasco's lyricism far more then other albums of the era do. The result lays the groundwork for the next 10 years of rap following it and that does mean what makes it special feels more normalized now. 2006 was really a landmark year for rap between this, Ghostface Killah and Clipse. Hurt Me Soul is one of the clear standouts here, absolutely legendary song that easily stands by the side of some of the best conscious rap out there. Daydreamin also has the incredible sample of the legendary I MONSTER song Daydream in Blue and uses it in a really cool way. This is interestingly one of the few albums that didn't start with the hits, so it really grew on me whilst listening. A pretty easy 5.

This is better than most hip-hop. The lyrics are more intelligent, less gangster, uptempo and some tracks are actually songs with singing!Extensive use of samples - strings, horns. I like Kick, Push.

Another pleasant surprise. Liked the lyrical prowess. Might revisit rating

Food & Liquor is the debut album from Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco, the stage name of Wasalu Mohammad Jaco. Fiasco's raps are filled with inciteful social commentary, and frequent notes about his passion for skateboarding. The albums biggest single is "Kick, Push." the song is, in part, about skateboarding, which Lupe describes as is a cycle of "kick," "push," and then "coast." He's talking about a lot more than just skateboarding...

Great production, kind of futuristic sound for lack of better word. Possibly one of the poorest album covers ever vs the content, which on first listen has some good “alternative” song concepts Major disrespect for including a 12 minute oscar acceptance speech track when i thought i was nearly done, “Can’t forget Tim Westwood” 😳

I had this on cd when I was younger but didn’t really listen to it that much Didn’t dislike anything on here other than the 12 minute outro lol Kick push is a banger 4

I didn't mind some of that but most of it didn't work for me. Aspects of Kick, Push were cool and Daydreamin is probably the best on there but it's basically an hit song previously

The album art gave me very low expectations, but they were greatly exceeded. The lyrics, flow, production, and beats are all great. The song “Pressure” uses an eagle screech sound effect a lot and I could not take it seriously. Also the final song is 12 minutes of thanks that feels like it has random things added to it just to make it absurdly long. You write all this in liner notes, not in a single track that ruins the strong closer the album would have had otherwise. I considered dropping this album’s score down a star for that, but I decided not to. 4/5

Not bad, very listenable

Highlights: Real, Kick Push, I Gotcha, Daydreamin', Pressure, American Terrorist, Kick Push II It gave off a similar hipster vibe like early Kanye, but I didn't like it as much. Still dope doe. With a few more listens I might even change my tune, but so far I'm not crazy about it.

IT was OK. standard hip hop

1 - not for me

Story telling at its peak.

Fun album. I only knew one song but the rest were good with the exception of the last which was self indulgent.

I really enjoyed that. Kept me grooving along the whole way. I would listen again for sure.

Je n’ai pas beaucoup d’attente pour lupe fiasco, je connais peu L’album à l’air trop long L’intro est bien ! Produit par jay-z et il y a du kanye Real a une très bonne prod Je crois que je vois plutôt lupe comme un lieutenant qu’un rôle player Le son principal, kick push, est bien Ah ! Daydreaming est sur cet album ! Overall il est solide quand même, 7 ou 8 selon comment il finit Les sons sont quand même assez inégaux et le flow de lupe me conquit pas totalement Et en même temps il y a des très bons sons (american terrorists) qui rattrapent tout Allez 8, il m’est sympathique en plus

Know Lupe from a few Aesop features, never heard an album though. Can tell he's a cut above most in terms of lyrics, seems like an intelligent guy. Felt like the beats were very noughties and by and large there were pockets of good stuff but apart from kick push no obvious great tracks. Bet there's some Lupe stuff out there I'd love but I'd say this album I only liked, 3.5.

Well-produced, great (thoughtful) lyrics, nice beats. Kick, Push, Daydreamin, and American Terrorist are the standouts. A bit of a cut above the rest in 00s hip-hop.

Not sure why but I had it in my head that I wasn't going to enjoy this before going in. Happy to say I was wrong! A rap album without guns, bitches and bling. Hallelujah. Kick, push, daydream and hurt me soul the standouts. Can't think of many rap tracks about skating. I definitely do not need 12 minutes of shout outs as a final track though. Pretty annoying! 3.5

the section were he thanks everyone goes on longer than the rest of the entire album i think. 4 stars based on that alone

I’m in the minority with this album. I just want it all to stop!

Classic 200's album. Separating from the gangbanger/Jay-z world and into the higher IQ hip-hop. Lupe led a whole new wave of hip-hop. His songs with features make incredible singles.

Decent album.

SO GOOD

3.5 but I did enjoy his flow

good beats

Albums like this make me appreciate Hip Hop more and more. I went into this challenge to try and broaden my music knowledge and put more variety in my day to day listens and its really working. Very strong album with a funny as fuck outro. Shout out to Tony Hawk, MySpace and Star Trek and every person Lupe has ever met.

Really strong album, with a couple weak songs and the funniest fucking outro. 12 minutes of acknowledgements. Shoutout to MySpace I guess.

oki, me gusta un poco, pero seguiré escuchando

starts as a standard mediocre rap album but is quickly hitting top form with an enchanting mix of influences and genius tracks like "American Terrorist"! it's still hip hop, but somehow, i liked it!

Food and Liquor. But Fiasco's Quicker. Such a great album. I remember this one too. Had some great lyrics, great rhymes and word play. From Just Might Be Ok: "Then he leaves the house that love built, that HUD renovated, that Section 8 pays for Well, let's pray for him, let the beat play for him.." And this one from the same track: "I ain't nicest MC, I ain't Cornel West I am Cornel Westside, Chi-Town Guevara Malcolm eXorcise the demons, gangsta leaning He traded in his kufi for a New Era..." He's got a political cap on during most of the these songs, but he's passionate and super nimble on the mic, confident and poised. "Real" feels like his opening shot over the bow of the ship of fools; he is not playing the corporate game, he's going for Real. "Kick, Push" has a nice smooth vibe, but Lupe Fiasco continues to be pointed in his rapping. "Just a rebel looking for a place to be." I don't usually gravitate to HipHop, but I can see why this album is on the list. So innovative, so playful, even as he is serious about his social stances. He's always pushed the envelope of his chosen genre and that signifies that he needs a larger canvas to make his statements, which he is eloquent with. it's no wonder the album opened up with Ayesha Jaco, the fine spoken word artist and his sister. He is himself a poet of Rap.

If every track were as good as “Daydreaming,” this album could easily be a 5. It’s musically unconventional, at times even a little exhausting, and the outro is both original and amusing. But unfortunately, in my opinion, it doesn’t maintain a high enough level throughout to deserve a 4. 6/10

I like the intro, and Real is pretty cool with chopped up beats and a rock riff. Just Might Be OK goes full sci-fi with the futuristic beat, then throws in a gospel sounding chorus. His rapping is a steady intelligent sounding stream, precise and measured. There's more strings and horns than I expected, like on the retro sounding Kick, Push. The next track is jazzy, but very catchy with the deep bass supporting Lupe's flow - my favorite so far. The Instrumental (which isn't) is just as good though. I'm starting to realize I may have underestimated this. At worst, it's smooth and stylish; at best it's something you need to sit up and pay attention to, nuanced and layered. It feels like it borrows from the best of golden era hip hop, but drags it kicking and screaming into the 21st century, the fusion inspired beats and cerebral lyrics both clear upgrades. Daydreamin' is another winner, a duet that could be the backing to a spy movie. Best of the rest: The Cool, American Terrorist. It IS long, especially including the 12-minute closer. But it's good.

Not a fan of hip-hop, but it's better than what I have expected.

Buen álbum, algunas bases estaban interesantes. 6/10

Fucking great. Excellent. I have heard the artist's name, but never a single song. I was completely blown away. The maximalist production, great samples, great USE of the samples, excellent beats, conscious and witty rap, great flow... Man, this totally took me by surprise. I listened to the entire album eyes closed and completely cleared my mind. A+ experience. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Has all types of themes including sad/serious tone songs. Overall great production and good beats. Definitely did not need the 12 minute outro, you aint tecahers by daft punk. Favorite song: Kick, Push

453/1089 - Woah! What a crazy album cover. Is that a Nintendo DS? The best console with such hits like The World Ends with You, Hotel Dusk Room 215, and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky? I might like this album. Very maximalist sound. Wasn't a fan of the first few songs but the album picked up a lot around Kick Push for me and then slowed down around the Jay Z feature, especially that outro which could have had some beat changes or something. Sublime does something similar on their first album and it works a lot better there, and it's a third as long.

Typical 2000s hip hop production but with some unique bells and whistles. Strong hooks and smart lyrics made this an enjoyable listen. But imagine knowing him and listening to 12 minutes of shoutouts for your nar but it never comes!

0.8/5 Just not my style of music. I found it more enjoyable than the Wu-Tang Clan and public enemy but I still couldn't listen to this again.

Hyvää räppiä. Eka biisi ihanan runollinen, tosi hyvää lausuntaa. Vika biisi on ihmeellinen. 12 minuuttia shoutouteja. Sen ansiosta 3.5/5.

Nice, nice. Gustó esa versión de Daydream.

A solid hip hop record with a stellar production. I love Lupe's flow and social sensibilities. The only slight issue is the production. Although very high quality, it wasn't particularly ambitious and is entwined with 2000s sounds and styles. It comes off a bit dated.

Pop-hop? I didn’t warm to this. I was thinking it was over-produced then who pops along to confirm my thinking? H-to-the-Izzo!

Intro - 3/5 Real (feat. Sarah Green) - 4/5 Just Might Be OK (feat. Gemini) - 4.5/5 Kick, Push - 4/5 I Gotcha - 3.5/5 The Instrumental (feat. Jonah Matranga) - 4/5 He Say She Say (feat. Gemini & Sarah Green) - 3.5/5 Sunshine - 3/5 Daydreamin' (feat. Jill Scott) - 5/5 The Cool - 4/5 Hurt Me Soul - 3.5/5 Pressure (feat. Jay-Z) - 3/5 American Terrorist (feat. Matthew Santos) - 4.5/5 The Emperor's Soundtrack - 4/5 Kick, Push II - 4.5/5 Outro - 2/5

Not gonna lie, this one completely caught me off guard, I thought it was amazing all the way through. Five stars.

This really has the feel of hip hop in 2006. Kick, Push was monumental.

It's quite alright. Flows nicely throughout. Just like with many other hip-hop albums, I'm not a big fan of long talking parts or sketches in between, or, as in this case, intros or outros.

#328/1001. A rap artist I did not know before (but the first on this list). Quite generic but quite ok.

Damn, from start to (almost) finish, this album is nothing but smart, catchy, well produced BANGERS. His very audible inhaling is sometimes a distraction, but also a little charming. I think the extensive 12 minute thank you was excessive, but at least the string laden beat is cool. Loved this record

A bit more tuneful than many in this genre but I don’t think I’ll ever get along with rap / hip hop

Fiasko är väl ett passande ord i sammanhanget. Oerhört kommersiellt strömlinjeformat och låter likadant hela tiden. Det är bara när underbara Jill Scott kommer in jag lyfter på ena ögonbrynet. Jag har antagligen roligare om jag lyssnar en timme på NRJ

Jag har aldrig riktigt lyssnat på Lupe Fiasco tidigare. Men det här tycker jag är bra. Kraftfullt och storslaget. Symfoniskt nästan. Snygga samplingar. Rytmisk livfull rap och, vad jag hör, hög kvalitet på texterna. Dock ett väl långt outro. Särskilt bra är: He say she say, Sunshine, Real, Daydreamin, Hurt me soul, American terrorist.

Många olika peoducenter inblandade vilket märks. Soundet skiljer sig en del mellan spåren. Fina spår som He say… och Daydreamin blandas med bottennapp som The instrumental. Naturligtvis är albumet alldeles för långt, men det verkar ju vara någon slags naturlag för hip hop runt millenieskiftet. LF är helt okej MC. Varken mer eller mindre. Stark tvåa.

Urtråkigt. En utspädd soppa utan blod. Kick, push går att ha på i bakgrunden. När jag når The instrumental är måttet rågat. Det är nog med den här System of a down-skiten. Åtminstone 15 låtar för långt.

It was kind of refreshing to hear rap without a lot of cursing. Also, I liked the Lupe was pretty humble though out the whole album. But, rap is really not my favorite genre of music. Still, this album was okay.

I'm a big Lupe Fiasco fan but I haven't listened to this album in a very long time. It suffers from existing in the early 2000s but I actually think that it is a pretty seminal album to move out of that era into the KanYe, TI, Lil Wayne era. This album is so great. It's Lupe's introduction and he isn't holding back trying to be Heady and cerebral. At the same time, Lupe's great because he seems to love rapping. He likes flowing, he likes intricate rhymes and long rap stanzas. On this album he brings some fantastic hooks as well. He talks politics in an interesting way, exploring a lot. The tracks about parents, skateboarding, community, government, are all explored through a unique lens, of somebody balancing good and evil. This connects with a very particular style. Rap that's not gangster but not disconnected from the culture. Rap that looks at the culture with a critical lens without coming off as preachy or pretentious. There are so many great tracks on this including the obvious pop hit, Daydreamin'. There is a lot to say about this album but the fact that it was a debut is crazy. I don't think it's too long when you consider that the last 12 minutes is basically a credit roll that you don't need to listen to. This thing is just so polished, so thought out, so well executed. Lupe is one of my favorite rap artists. I was a big fan of Tetsuo and Youth when it came out and I remember being so excited when Drogas and even Drogas light came out. I don't think Lupe got worse or changed really, though I think Lasers changed him. I think the world changed. 2017 every rapper had face tats and 2 minute songs. Even Kendrick changed his Style, Damn being notably poppier and more accessible to kids who were now the predominant customer base. I think Lupe Fiasco is more of a poet than a lot of his contemporaries. He's not the natural producer, but his art often comes through in his lyrics, word choice and metaphor. His song 'Mural' off tetsuo and youth was something I would sit and listen to reading the lyrics. I don't think that most rap fans want to engage with rap in that way. I'm glad that this album was recognized because for as odd of a time the 2000s were for rap music, this album shines through. I don't know if an album like this would blow up like that now but I'm glad it splashed when it did. It's a time capsule, for better or for worse things are different now.

This is a fun album that's lacking something that I can't quite put my finger on. He's got a lot to say, the production is excellent, though solidly dated in the mid 2000's, and the features are all good but it all feels a bit soulless? It's like you took Talib Kweli and Kanye (pre lunacy) and made an album with all their middling songs. "Kick, Push" is still as good as I remember it being and "The Cool" has a great unique beat but the other songs sort of blended in to each other. It's all really marked by the super clean production, and maybe that's what makes it all a bit too perfect. There isn't a single wrong beat or rap in this album, and not necessarily in a good way. The last "track", aside, it's all musically perfect. I don't know, this didn't stick with me all the way through like I thought it would. I liked it well enough but it's just missing something that I can't quite articulate. It's still good and it didn't feel like an hour til the outro. I don't know what it is. I want to give it a 5 but I can't see myself revisiting it often like I would with other albums at that level.

Ah, the mid 2000s.. for sure not the greatest era in hiphop. Quite the opposite in fact.

Pretty good album, there were some real good tracks on here. None that stood out as outstanding, just an all around good album. Favorite track on the album was Kick, Push.

Pish

5/10

Bops a plenty but there it can feel flat at times where the songs sound similar

Outro-ið var langt og leiðinlegt og þetta cover er ferlegt, en restin var fínt fyrsta tugar hip-hop.

I liked the overall sound of this album. It was a nice blend of rap, R&B, and hip-hop elements. A lot of the backing beats were really interesting and fun, and kept the album from feeling too long and repetitive. However, if we’re considering every track of the album to be an inclusive part of the listen, having a 12 minute track of thank yous at the end is awful. It almost feels like a parody by the end with how long it goes on. The more people he thanks, the less valuable each thank you feels. I appreciate the gratitude, but save it for the liner notes.