They say time flies by too fast and I couldn’t agree with that sentiment more, especially when you think about Lupe Fiasco dropping his classic debut, Food and Liquor album ten years ago today. Before he dropped the Food and Liquor album, he killed the track Touch the Sky off of the debut album from Kanye West back in 2004. Some people only remembered Lupe Fiasco on the track with Kanye before his album dropped, but he dropped the first installment of the Fahrenheit 1/15 mixtapes back in 2005 and released the other two in 2006. The Food and Liquor album was well-received by all the critics were calling him as the savior of hip hop. He had two major features on the album with them being Jay-Z on Pressure and Jill Scott on Daydreamin, which happen to be a couple of my favorite songs.
Kick, Push
This was the first single from the Food and Liquor album; the track was really smooth with it being an ode to a male and female skateboarder. Kick, Push was released five months before the album was released as the album was pushed back indefinitely because it was leaked.
Hurt Me Soul
This is probably my favorite track of the album and if you think that Kick, Push was smooth, then this track took it up a few notches. The beat, flow, lyrics, pretty much everything about this track says classic. Hurt Me Soul referenced Too Short, 2Pac, Nas and Jay-Z as people that influenced him to be the rapper he is today.
Pressure
This is the track that features Jay-Z, which I remember when I bought the album, saw this track and went straight to it. Let’s just say that I wasn’t disappointed in the track as both of them straight murdered the track. Thinking back to when this came out, there was always a little argument who killed the track more between Lupe and Jay because the track was that good.
Daydreamin’
This is the track I mentioned above that featured the great Jill Scott. I’ll be honest; I didn’t know that it was Jill Scott singing on the track, but I knew whoever was on the track they were perfect for it. Check out the track above!!
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
This album, Lupe Fiasco’s flow, lyrics and style raised the bars pretty high and he immediately became one of my favorite rappers. I love the entire album, with the four tracks mentioned above are my favorites along with Real, Just Might Be OK, He Say She Say, Sunshine, The Cool and American Terrorists are my other tracks I love from the album. For all my hip hop fans, this album from Lupe Fiasco should be in your collection and celebrate one of the best rappers over this 10 year span.
