Review Summary: Lupe's solid thinking and witty lyrics mixed with great production makes us happy to welcome him back home. Not prefect, but it is definitely whatever comes right under perfect.
Lupe Fiasco is a lot of things. He's a rapper, singer, songwriter, storyteller, political activist, and above all else, an artist. With the backlash from his 2011 effort, Lasers, Lupe was in deep sh-, well, you know. But now he's back with his newest album, Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album Pt.1. Apparently, this is gonna be a two-parter, so we can look forward to a sequel sometime within the next year or so. With that said, let's take a look at what Part 1 has to offer.
It's definitely safe to say that Lupe is back. A lot of people downright HATED Lasers last year (myself not included), so this was like a breath of fresh air for old Lupe fans. The one thing I kind of wanted more of on this album was what we were already promised in video interviews and such: more America. This is supposed to be all about telling America's story, right? So why is only about half of this actually mentioning what I thought was gonna be the whole idea?? I was kind of confused when we got to track 10, which to me sounded like a throwaway from Lasers. This literally had nothing to do with the overall concept of the album. With a title like How Dare You, you'd expect to hear a flaming rant on Obama or something, but instead it's used as a sarcastic meaning to form a song "for the ladies". Although I didn't hate this song, it was by far my least favorite track as it felt unnecessary.
Now some songs on here were definitely reminiscent of The Cool and Food and Liquor. Tracks like "Put Em Up" gave me that chilling, dark vibe that I got from "Put You On Game" and "The Coolest". "Cold War" was a nice metaphor that reminded me of something from Food and Liquor. That powerhouse of a hook made me want some more Sarah Green.
For the songs that did actually deal with issues and ideas of America, I was very impressed. The storytelling and intensity from "Lamborghini Angels" and the sharp flow of both "Around My Way" and "Audubon Ballroom" was what really drove the message home. On top of that, his witty sense of humor on "Bitch Bad" and "Form Follows Function" made me appreciate that our Lupe hasn't turned into a robot. He does have a sense of humor, it's just a hidden one. Lupe's ability to tackle these topics that no one else wants to discuss is what he is best known for. And I enjoyed listening to him preach to the youth as well on tracks like "ITAL (Roses)". He really does care about his fans and it shows.
Now unlike Lasers, on this album one of the things that felt refreshing was that I could actually feel like Lupe gave a crap. Honestly, his lazy and loose voice on Lasers was just awkward and annoying to listen to. You could barely make out the lyrics. You do kind of see that on here, but it's more like his Chi-town accent was taking over and not just him being straight up uninterested in what he was saying. The middle section was probably the weakest part of this album. Like I said earlier, "How Dare You" and "Heart Donor" made me think I was listening to a completely different album. I feel like he would have been better off separating these songs and spreading them out a little instead of clumping them all together. Either that or just get rid of some of them and replace them with relevant stuff. But for what it's worth, "Heart Donor" was still a pretty good record. Poo Bear never fails to impress me on Lupe's work. His thick melody adds another level to this song. Speaking of unbelievable singing, that Jason Evigan guy from the second to last track sounded so much like a Matthew Santos or a Jonah Matranga from "The Instrumental". I would love to hear more from him on future projects. Some pounding vocals on that song, in addition to that killer beat.
My favorite tracks would have to be "Around My Way", "Strange Fruition", and "Heart Donor", as well as many others. Some things I have to nitpick at were that little scream or whatever at the end of the third track from Lupe's autotune. What the heck was that? I don't have a problem with Lupe using autotune, but sometimes he does overdo it (just bein honest people). Also, his tiny, squeaky repetition in between bars on "How Dare You" was plain stupid. Nuff said. Overall, this really was a good comeback for Lupe, and I did love a big chunk of tracks on here. Even though it's not a perfect album, I would go so far as to say that it's damn near close to that. Now with Part 2 of this album on the way, hopefully Mr. Fiasco will continue to bring us the authenticity and greatness of his music. I suggest you buy it.
