Food and Liquor [PA]

Performer: Lupe Fiasco
Artist: Jay-Z; Jill Scott
Engineer: Greg Magers; Bojan Dugich; Andrew Coleman
Producer: Kanye West; Craig Kallman; Soundtrakk; Prolyfic; I Monster; Mike Shinoda; The Neptunes; Brandon Howard; Kanye West
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Personnel: Lupe Fiasco (rap vocals); Jill Scott (vocals); Gemini, Jay-Z (rap vocals). Audio Mixers: Craig Bauer; James Auwarter; Bojan Dugich; Patrick Viala. Recording information: 1st And 15th Studios; Record Plant; Right Track Studios, NY. Photographer: Mireya Acierto. There was a buzz surrounding rapper Lupe Fiasco (thanks to a botched deal with Arista, an association with Kanye West, and a postponed record release date) for some time before his debut dropped in 2006. Thankfully, however, the hip-hop world's high hopes were met in full with FOOD & LIQUOR. Innovative, conscious, and boasting work from top-shelf producers like West and the Neptunes, the album comes on strong and doesn't let up, offering a battery of agile, articulate, laid-back rhymes over a backdrop of sophisticated, retro-tinged tracks. FOOD & LIQUOR announces the arrival of a talent poised to take his place in a lineage that includes Nas, Common, and West himself.

Rolling Stone (p.126) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Fiasco reflects on the personal and the political, and reminds fans of everything hip-hop can be. It's full of surprising, creative moments..." Rolling Stone (p.104) - Ranked #16 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 50 Albums Of 2006" -- "Fiasco's debut is smart, ballsy hip-hop both backpackers and Jay-Z fans can love." Spin (p.59) - Ranked #20 in Spin's "The 40 Best Albums of 2006" -- "[H]e's the hip-hop Morrissey, which is exactly what the genre needs." Entertainment Weekly (p.71) - "[The songs] show a young man reaching for the sky, and touching it often enough." -- Grade: B+ XXL (Magazine) (p.140) - "Lyrically dense with a strong moral undercurrent, the album delivered on Lupe's promise of thinking-man's hip-hop..."

Representing the Windy City, rapper Lupe Fiasco is a friend and contemporary of hip-hop game-changer Kanye West. And like West, Fiasco offers an interesting alternative to the bling-obsessed thug rap that dominates much of mainstream hip-hop in the 2000s. A devout Muslim, Fiasco refrains from nearly all the typical indulgences of the rap lifestyle, and rhymes about diverse topics such as skateboarding, addiction to TV and other social ills, and the tenuous state of hip-hop in general. Though he is a somewhat left-field presence in the rap game, his fierce skills and commitment to the hip-hop community have garnered him the respect of a diverse and impressive list of peers.

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