Avg Rating: 
4.3 ( 31 total votes )
(Note: Yes, the album cover is completely black.)
Six years after he exploded onto the scene with his breakthrough debut album Food & Liquor, Chi-Town veteran Lupe Fiasco has finally released a sequel in the form of Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Pt. 1, featuring "B*tch Bad," "Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)," "Lamborghini Angels" and "Put Em Up."
Guest appearances include Bilal, Casey Benjamin, Guy Sebastian, Jane $$$, Jason Evigan and Poo Bear.
...Read the full album review
Fans can also check out Lupe Fiasco's previous albums: Lupe Fiasco - Lasers | Lupe Fiasco - The Cool | Lupe Fiasco- Food & Liquor
Featured Songs From This Album
Lupe Fiasco - Put ‘Em Up
The road to a new Lupe Fiasco album is never smooth, and sure enough the lead up to Lupe’s upcoming Food & Liquor II album has been filled with more twists and turns then a Six Flags. But despite the controversies...Read More
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Lupe Fiasco - Lamborghini Angels
Hopefully there will be no sample drama this time around and we can just focus on the music. For the second single off his upcoming Food & Liquor II album, Lupe Fiasco has chosen Lamborghini Angels, a thoroughly hypnotic...Read More
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Lupe Fiasco - Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free)
“Those who would trade in their freedom for their protection deserve neither,” Benjamin Franklin. And if I’m starting off a post with some revolutionary political quotes than there’s a pretty good chance some...Read More
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Lupe Fiasco - B*tch Bad
Did you hear it—that faint rustling sound issuing from nowhere in particular? That was the sound of Lupe Fiasco fans worldwide raising a collective eyebrow upon learning that the Chi-town rhymesayer was following up...Read More
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DJBooth Album Review
Two years ago, when the debate around Lasers was raging harder than an ASU keg party, I repeatedly heard the argument that, “If this was an album from anyone but Lupe Fiasco you’d think it was great.” But that was exactly the point. Lupe Fiasco isn’t anyone, he never has been. I’ve heard things on Lupe Fiasco albums that I’d never heard before, and it’s often felt like he’s been alone in carrying “conscious” rap’s flag through the mainstream. Kanye seems to have forgotten his socially conscious leanings sometime around his fourteenth trip to Paris, Jay-Z’ music has always been about elevating himself above the masses, and Eminem’s struggle is with himself, not the system. If I held Lupe to a different standard, it was the standard he had created for himself. He was the one we counted on to fight for us, and so it was hard not to be disappointed when looking at Lasers and seeing hip-hop’s most high profile revolutionary waving the white flag.
So while it’s not really accurate to say that Lupe’s “back”, he’s come too far to go back to anything, there’s no question that by creating a part two to his debut album, Food & Liquor, he’s looking to return to his roots. F&L2, or if you prefer the unabridged version, Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1, is not the second coming of dead prez. It has its own moments of pop-leaning lightness, but there’s more than enough revolutionary material here to leave the faithful satiated.
The most commonly leveled complaint against Lupe is that he’s “preachy”, and he’s almost never taken the podium more relentlessly than on F&L 2. But the fact that preaching is considered a cardinal sin in hip-hop is proof that our priorities have become twisted beyond recognition. As long as the hook’s catchy, rappers can deliver rhymes overflowing with automatic weapons and crack sales. But even suggest that perhaps murdering another human maybe isn’t such a great idea and watch the critics descend.
So yes, Lupe may preach, but hip-hop needs a preacher. A spoken word intro aside, Lupe wastes no time getting right down to it on the excellent opening track Strange Fruition: “Now as I wander the city going mad / I see the fruits of evidence planting instead of grass.” In comparison, Bi*ch Bad, delivers its anti-misogyny message with the subtly of a hammer, but considering the bad b*tch epidemic currently sweeping hip-hop, a hammer might be exactly the right tool for the job. ITAL is similarly hammerish in its message, drawing the distinction of being the first track in rap history to advocate “fiscal responsibility,” as is Audubon Ballroom, particularly on the hook. The greatest Lupe moments, however, come when listeners are forced to unravel some mystery - I’m still decoding The Cool years later. Lamborghini Angels contains the kind of lyrical complexity that will have rap heads decoding, and that’s exactly what I’m looking for when I pick up a Lupe Fiasco album. You could criticize Lupe for preaching, for being too verbose and lyrical, but that’d be like criticizing water for being wet.
There are moments of comparative lightness though on F&L 2, as there was on the original Food & Liquor. How Dare You is the album’s most laid back and relaxed cut, though it’s more R&B/soul than pop, thanks in no small part to a hook from Bilal, and Battle Scars is an epic love-gone-bad offering in the Skylar Grey vein, although here it’s Guy Sebastian providing the vocals. And while Heart Donor may at first blush seem to fall in that same category, Lupe quasi-hijacks the verses and turns the record into a love song for his fans and followers. If radio picks up on any of these tracks great, radio could use some higher quality music. But crucially Lupe sounds determined to let radio come to him, not the other way around.
If Lupe does indeed retire after this album, as he’s threatened, then at the very least we’ll be able to say he went out on
an incredibly, densely, unapologetically lyrical note. Frankly though, I wouldn’t worry about that too much about Fiasco hanging up his mic. For rappers like him thoughts of retirement are just part of the artistic life cycle. But if Lupe Fiasco is as truly committed to the people as he sounds on Food & Liquor 2, he won’t be able to stay away for long. It is the curse of the true revolutionary to keep fighting until either victory or death, and neither will be coming anytime soon.
Listen to More: Lupe Fiasco , Editors Pick Written by Nathan S.
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Member Reviews and Ratings
Average Member Rating: Total Ratings: 31
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| Posted on Sep 20, 2012 |
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one of the better albums of this year , thats for sure
could've been better (production is a little not so perfect for me) lyrically and conceptually , the best album of this year (maybe next to Brother Ali's) my favs: brave heart unforgivable youth @*#$! bad lamborghini angels |
| Posted on Sep 20, 2012 |
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As expected...my favorite is " Cold War"......and that last verse on "put em up"...
"Football or volley-b, hock-el-y, or sock-el-y You just get the rock to me Try and put me down like Gaddafi over Lockerbie I'll lock you in a locker b" killed it! |
| Posted on Sep 20, 2012 |
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DJ Booth Member Total Ratings: 1 |
By far the worst album by Lupe Fiasco. I was very disappointed when i listened to the songs. " @*#$! Bad " is the best song on the album, the rest of the songs are terrible. looks like he spent more time focusing on the creative content, than he did with the structural lyrical contents of this album. I will end with this note. The Cover Is Unimportant. It's All About The Content.
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| Posted on Sep 22, 2012 |
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| Posted on Sep 23, 2012 |
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| Posted on Sep 23, 2012 |
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DJ Booth Member  Total Ratings: 74 |
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On an MC level Lupe is god damn untouchable, but the beats on this album... Not so good, not at all. Lupe really didn't have a good roster of producers on here. Even if Atlantic didnt give him a big budget to make the album he still could of got producers like 9th Wonder, Black Milk, Chuck Inglish, Emile, Exile, Hi-Tek, Jake One, Khrysis, M-Phazes, Madlib, Needlz, Nottz, Oddisee, Prolyfic, Ski Beatz, (more) Soundtrakk, Statik Selektah, stic.man... I mean he's homies with Pharrell so he could've got beats of him for a good price.
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| Posted on Sep 23, 2012 |
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@Marvin Guerrillero Heroico Jarrod
did u listen to this album or you just skim through it ?? cause it takes at least 5 listens to completely understand what Lu is talking about, i suggest you to listen to this again and pay more attention to the lyrics (maybe use some explanation sites) then come and tell us what u think |
| Posted on Sep 23, 2012 |
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DJ Booth Member Total Ratings: 13 |
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Some of the tracks on FNL2 are absolutely crazy. The closest thing I have heard from Lupe to the masterpiece that is 'The Cool'.
Defiantly one of the albums of the year. 4//5 |
| Posted on Sep 25, 2012 |
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Tastemaker  Total Ratings: 9596 |
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Fire lyrics, that combine well with the beats to create a fantastic end product that creates his second best album behind The Cool...
Top 5 Tracks: 1. Cold War 2. Unforgivable Youth 3. Strange Fruition 4. Audubon Ballroom 5. Around My Way |
| Posted on Sep 25, 2012 |
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DJ Booth Member  Total Ratings: 407 |
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It's Lupe, what more can u ask for?
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| Posted on Sep 25, 2012 |
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DJ Booth Member Total Ratings: 80 |
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Great bounce back album. Top 3 albums of the last 10 years
2006: Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor 2007: Lupe Fiasco's The Cool 2012:? Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1...........LUPE FIASCO I @*#$! LOVE THIS |
| Posted on Sep 25, 2012 |
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| Posted on Sep 25, 2012 |
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DJ Booth Member  Total Ratings: 23 |
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Liked this one alot.
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| Posted on Sep 25, 2012 |
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4.5 round up to 5. Still (imo) not as good as The Cool, which was just flatly amazing. however, this album, is definitely one of the best i heard, especially given the fact that this album seemed to be more conscious (or rather, blatantly concious) than others. But lyrically...no idea where to start...its just, beautiful.
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| Posted on Sep 26, 2012 |
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Not as good as the first, but still something that will be playing for a while.
top 5. 1. strange fruition 2. Put em up 3. brave heart 4. @*#$! bad 5. cold war |
| Posted on Sep 26, 2012 |
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| Posted on Sep 26, 2012 |
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I really enjoyed this ALBUM!
Its WAY WAY better than LOSERS! Glad to have Lupe back :) |
| Posted on Sep 26, 2012 |
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| Posted on Sep 26, 2012 |
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Front runner for album of the year. Lyrically its amazing. I've only had time to give it two listens through and I feel as if I've hardly scratched the surface of its lyrical depth. Brave Heart, Lamborghini Angels, @*#$! Bad, ITAL, Audubon Ballroom (I could keep going) are the high points of the album-and obviously there are plenty of high points
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| Posted on Sep 26, 2012 |
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DJ Booth Member  Total Ratings: 224 |
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This album's number one problem is the production. It's tough to listen to a conscious emcee over these ritsy, glossy, electronic instrumentals. Lasers (which had a similar problem) and F&L2; are both fantastic albums LYRICALLY. But they aren't very good albums MUSICALLY. There were a few songs that I @*#$! with like Strange Fruition and Cold War but other than that, this album was very tough to listen to. If Lupe is going to retire, I wished he would've at least stuck to the hip hop beats that we all love to hear him spit over.
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| Posted on Sep 28, 2012 |
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DJ Booth Member Total Ratings: 5 |
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My review's on my blog. Check it out ---> http://thestixxclusiveblog.com/2012/09/27/lupe-fiasco-food-liquor-2-the-great-american-rap-album-part-1-the-stixxclusive-review/
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| Posted on Sep 28, 2012 |
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i Love this album. i'll definitely say that again. but i just want to point out that, your review (Mr. Nathan) was ON POINT... EXACTLY what i was thinking pretty much. altho, the rating for this album is a bit high when comparing to The Cool as a matter of fact.
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| Posted on Sep 29, 2012 |
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DJ Booth Member Total Ratings: 22 |
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wait you guys are honestly comparing this LP to the cool? in what universe,this is decent work but to be perfectly honest,this is way below par for lupes standards of quality
firstly the beats are just uninteresting and not moving in anyway,lupe ought to realize that the beat is a big element in a song and helps give shape and soup for the beef of the idea and these beats for me fail well of.This album in all is a far cry from the intelligent and brilliant food and liquor one times. Dont get me wrong, lupe delivers some powerful .lyrics and deep concepts in this lp but the problem is,i feel some of these ideas are better on paper than in actual listening if you know what i mean. and honestly some of his rhyming was a bit to simplistic at times and not quiet as complex as i had expected from him.one must realize that,in as much as an artist would want to get his views out on various conscious subjects,lupe must not that this is music and at the end of the day,its not just about the message but about how it sounds like to the average ear and for me,it doesn't really impress my ears.its not really that easy on the ear In addition,this album doesn't have the intrigue and unique Rubix cube story telling prowess that i became accustomed too after listening to food and liquor 1 and the cool despite all these flaws though,i commend lupe for sticking to his hip hop principles and not losing sight of his mission despite being held down by Atlanta records its a 4.0 for me,dissapointin at best by his high standards |
| Posted on Sep 29, 2012 |
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Lupe is lyrically on game. But as an emcee he is not connecting. Unlike Nas who paints visual pictures or Kanye who has the listener held by every word, Lupe is more of a Illusionist making intricate rhymes appear out of the blue. Lupe seems to be getting a lot off his chest in this album. But in the end the biggest trouble is that the album seems very loosely connected. I feel like the album is unfinished because it lacks resolve. I guess that is why it is "pt. 1" Also the beat selection is rather safe. I feel like the hook singing is too pop-ish and too fluffy for my taste.
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| Posted on Sep 29, 2012 |
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Tastemaker  Total Ratings: 360 |
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So many tracks are sick in their delivery, and the beats are great - for Lupe. Not many others could rap over these beats.
Heart Donor and How Dare You, not so fond of - something just didn't click for me, idk what. I was going to list the tracks I liked from the album, but then I realized I like nearly every album. Did nobody mention that this album was recorded mostly simultaneously as Lasers? The two were never meant to be the similar - they hold two different styles. I agree, to me, The Cool is still his best. But this is excellent, lyrically and in production. |
| Posted on Sep 30, 2012 |
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DJ Booth Member Total Ratings: 1 |
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Pretty good the only thing that kills me on some of the songs is the terrible singing choruses beside that the lyrics are fire
drunkinhappyhour.weebly.com |
| Posted on Oct 02, 2012 |
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Tastemaker  Total Ratings: 1231 |
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I've waited a while before I commented on this so that I could take the album in fully. I have to conclude that Lupe is back to his lyrical best on this album. After Lasers (horrible album) I didn't know what to expect from Lupe this time. Battle Scars has got hit all over it and has already a number one hit in other parts of the world. If this song can catch on like Superstar did back in the day, Lupe could be onto another gold album.
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| Posted on Oct 09, 2012 |
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| Posted on Oct 15, 2012 |
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| Posted on Oct 18, 2012 |
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Lupe is a GREAT artist, and usually his songs have so much meaning, but this album didn't portray that very well
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| Posted on Nov 26, 2012 |
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Lupe goes back to his origins wih F&L2;. He returns back to make songs around political and socal issues that most rappers choose to pass over or are unaware of. He provides supreme lyrical content and shows just how complex the thinking process is in Lupe's brain when he is contructing music by using many real life events, double/triple metaphors and other poetic devices. I dont't believe this album will have the cultural impact to be concided a classic, but it is a great album!!
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| Posted on Nov 29, 2012 |
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DJ Booth Member  Total Ratings: 3 |
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lupe at his finest
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| Posted on Dec 10, 2012 |
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DJ Booth Member  Total Ratings: 54 |
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One of the best albums this year. Lyrics were amazing as usual.
Instrumentals were not that great which has always been Lupe's weakness. Other than that I loved this album |
| Posted on Jan 03, 2013 |
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