Lupe Fiasco Looks Back on His Critically Acclaimed Debut Album 'Food & Liquor' 10 Years Later
A must listen for any fan.
Today marks the 10th anniversary of Lupe Fiasco’s critically-acclaimed debut album Food & Liquor, that is if you don’t count the leak two months prior to its official release. Coming off a successful run of mixtapes, the Chicago native’s Jay Z-executive produced LP became the cover letter of new-age “backpack rap,” melding the world of hip-hop with equally irreverent subcultures like streetwear, skateboarding and street art. It’s safe to say, Food & Liquor was a soundtrack to HYPEBEASTs around the globe, during a time in which our industry was just beginning to grow legs.
We tried to reach out to Lupe to talk about his Grammy Award-winning album, and although we never connected, Lupe did just drop an audio-tour guiding us through the process of making his album. A must-listen for any fan.
In this hour-long retrospect, Fiasco talks in-depth about his album cover, explaining the significance of each floating item. This may be the more interesting part of his story, especially for our readers, as he rambles off names like WTAPS, Hiroshi Fujiwara, maharishi, Banksy, Kevin Ma, Medicom and Virgil Abloh, to name a few. He also speaks on Jay Z’s involvement with the record, the various unreleased songs that are still out there, and how it still impacts today’s culture. Stay tuned until the end, as Lupe premieres a brand new track just before wrapping up.
