Yesterday in New York City, Lupe Fiasco held a very private listening session for his fourth studio album, Food And Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1. Originally planned as a double disc, Lupe made the decision to only go with the first part of the album this time around and it is scheduled to drop on September 25th.
Lupe also plans to release The Great American Rap Album Pt. 2 before the end of 2012 or in early 2013 before he drops his final album on Atlantic Records, which we have learned is titled Skulls. Hip-Hop Wired chatted with Lupe Fiasco and listened to his forthcoming album while he kept it very candid about this highly anticipated "sequel" (not really) to his critically acclaimed debut. Hit the jump to check out the album's artwork as well as eight things you must know about the album, according to Lupe himself.
"There's songs about America, and there's songs about rapping," said Lupe. "America. Rap. Metaphors and similes, Pledge of allegiance, Statue of Liberty. That's it. The inspiration for the album comes from people like Howard Zinn, Chris Hedges, James Baldwin. It's me literally trying as best I can in my flawed way and undefined childish manner to try and define America. To explain America and figure it out for my perspective. So it's raw, it's abrasive, it's naive, it's all of that. Then it's me...just rapping my A$ off."
An example of the split of the album is evident in its introductory track, "Strange Fruition (The Art Of Falling Off)." The first voice you hear on the album is a speech by James Baldwin on the "N-Word" and how it is a word created by Americans. "We invented the word N-Word, white people invented it," says Baldwin on the track before the Soundtrakk-produced beat drops. The song sets the pace for the album not as a return to form of the old Lupe from Food And Liquor, but as an evolution to what he is now. He's backing up his bold statements of our homeland with facts from historians.
As Lupe tells it, "Strange Fruition" is a re-imagining of "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday. "It's about slaves in the south, and how they looked like strange fruit in the south. Which is funny, because the song was written by a white guy," says Lupe. "The fruit has ripened in 2012, it's still just as strange, just as odd, among the other layers in the song. That's the "America" portion of the album.
Lupe was well aware of the criticisms from LASERS. He gets it, but the funny thing is, you might not get it. "What's going to freak a lot of people out is that most of the album was made while we were makingLASERS. 'Form Follow Function,' was made during LASERS. 'Put 'Em Up,' this is what we were doing when we hit a wall during LASERS 2.5," Lupe says. "We hit this wall with the label, and I told myself I just need to create something out of this head space. So one day I was doing LASERS records, and later that night we are doing The Great American Rap Album. It's going to mess up the perception of what people thought LASERS was."
"These women's rights workers used to chant this back in the 1920s. They used to have a slogan where they would say 'give me bread, but give me roses.' So they'd say give me bread and all those necessities in life, but we also want something that's beautiful. It comes from this American movement of workers, out in the streets protesting and fighting," Lupe explains. "It's a little caveat in everything that went into making the album, it's even in the titles."
Lupe says that there will be close to 15 tracks on the album, six of the records which were played yesterday were new tracks in addition to the four that have already been released to the public.
1. Strange Fruition (The Art Of Falling Off)
2. The Ital (Roses)
3. Put Em Up
4. Form Follows Function
5. Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)
6. Lamborghini Angels
7. B***h Bad
8. Battle Scars (with Guy Sebastian)
9. Unforgivable Youth
10. Hood Now (Outro)
Outside of Guy Sebastian's "Battle Scars," which has already made big waves overseas, and Pooh Bear on "Hood Now" there will be no "big" features on Food & Liquor 2, The Great American Rap Album. "It's just one of those things that never happened," says Fiasco. "It never developed. There was nobody in the studio, I'd just wake up and be like 'I got an idea, let me go into the studio and record "B***h Bad.' Blu would be asleep, and Kendrick (Lamar) is in Asia. Just never happened."
When Lupe was asked why he felt the need to create the sequel to his debut album, he prefaced his answer by saying "you aren't going to like my answer."
"This was always called, The Great American Rap Album. This was never called Food & Liquor 2. The only reason I called [it] Food & Liquor 2 was so people would ask me 'hey, is this like part 2 of Food & Liquor?' he said laughingly. "I said let's name it that so the people would be like, 'Wow, this is the sequel to Food & Liquor! Now I got to go and buy Food & Liquor again. It's still an overarching principal in life, it's still carries the same story. So yeah, it's Food & Liquor 2, but the main focus is that it's The Great American Rap Album. I'm not trying to make a revival. The only revival I'm making is that it has the title Food & Liquor in it. But it's the same story. It's still the same concept of good and bad. Just like America has good and bad. Nothing in here is embellished. This is raw history, this happened. These women were raped, these babies were slaughtered. This happened."
It was damn near impossible to breakdown Lupe's masterful "Form Follows Function," after one listen. As Lupe explained before playing the album, it is split into songs about America and songs just flexing his lyrical talent. "Form Follows Function" falls into the latter. "This is the masterpiece," Lupe said before playing the song. "I don't need any comments, I don't need the thank yous, and that isn't ego. I'm confident in my own ability. This song is a masterpiece of rappity-rap-rap," Lupe boldly states.
This is the standout record of standout records. The soulful Infamous-produced record is an intense song with no chorus, just dope instrumentation over incredible lyricism. By the time you were done breaking down one intricate Lupe lyric, there were four more he just spit that went over your head. It is a song that will restore faith in OG Lupe Fiasco fans for those who lost it after LASERS.
If you loved LASERS, this album may not be for you. From what was played, this album sounds nothing like the euro pop infused album that LASERS was. None of the records played sound like anything you are likely to hear in any rave or party in the time being, and for fans of Food & Liquor, this is a very good thing. Soundtrakk and 1500 or Nothin' carry the bulk of the production on the album with beats that enhance Lupe's already dense lyrical ability instead of overpower it as what tended to happen on his previous effort.
Once more, a lot of The Great American Rap Album Part 1 was recorded during the making of LASERS. Rejoice, Lupe fans. The kid who made Food & Liquor & The Cool never fell off. The Great American Rap Album Part 1 is a reminder that no matter what he does outside of the booth, inside of it he is in a rare class of his own. Lyrically, Lupe rises even higher than expected. Sonically, the established chemistry he's made with Soundtrakk over the years is apparent. The sequel to this album, which he says is already 85% finished, is said to be out in late 2012 or 2013 and he feels it is better. Only time will tell if Lupe's lofty expectations will resonate. Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album Part 1 hits stores September 25th.
Source: http://hiphopwired.com/2012/08/23/8-things-you-must-know-about-lupe-fiascos-food-liquor-2-the-great-american-rap-album-pt-1/
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