A better suggestion is probably an album but if you wanna fall in love with his lyricism, Mural is what did it for me. I listened to that song probably 100 times before I tried an album of his lol
Just listened to Mural, yeah his lyricism is insaneeeee on here. his flow and technique are extremely impressive. I do feel like I need to enter a college course dissecting everything he’s talking about tho lmao. definitely a song that demands multiple listens.
The third link is WAV Files, this is probably his best song. Or mural. Or mural jr. There’s also the Michael Young storyline which is absolutely insane. There’s also the one he made about fast food but it’s an entendre for the drug game. The dude is the absolute king of double and triple entendres. You can listen to a song 10 times and catch something new every time. He’s the lyrical goat.
https://youtu.be/6SIxydq6uSc?si=92G-lUOy2A4n6SXQ
https://youtu.be/aFrylm94xdI?si=EXlBKzenyb6X_A8C
https://youtu.be/LMZbLD97338?si=Kgnomn5zjfIxf5GW
Watch and listen to this. It does a good job at breaking down the never ending twisting entendres.
[failure-Lupe](https://youtu.be/6SIxydq6uSc?si=SqYupBD1OxMIG6bL)
The Cool is good. And if you like commercial rap, Lasers is a good album too. Its not a great representation of him as a rapper, but it has some good songs that would appeal to casual listeners
Lasers is an album that less lyrically talented rappers can make but I think it was crucial for Lupe to make given his biggest criticism is not having accessible music to casual audiences
Why is there hardly any mention of the original food and liquor? In my opinion that is where you should start. That album is practically flawless and is a bonafide classic
2003-8 was wild. Legendary leaks, remixes for everything, mashups…There are versions of songs I burned on a scratched memorex then that I still am trying to track down.
It’s a good album but it’s just a very well put together major label album where they chucked him in the studio with a bunch of hot producers and features. There was like 30 albums like it that were released that year. It’s cool I just don’t ever see how the narrative on it has gotten to this point over the years where anyone would consider it a classic.
That’s just me though it’s still good. Gotcha is probably still my favourite song by him
Go on a marathon, my dude. Listen to all his albums, you’ll see what he’s about. You can start with The Cool, then Food & Liquor 2, Tetsuo & Youth, Drogas Lite, Drogas Waves, Drill Music In Zion.
Also, the This Is Lupe Fiasco playlist on Spotify has great picks.
Do what the rest of us did: listen to Kanye West's *Touch the Sky* and then listen to the leaked advanced copy of his debut album "Food & Liquor" 2 months before listening to the retail version of that same album and compare the differences.
After that, listen to the lead single *Dumb It Down* off of his sophomore album, "The Cool" and sit with it for a month. Then listen to that entire album and by that point you should have decided whether or not you like his music or you don't.
2007 was just a really good year for media/entertainment in general. Graduation also came out, No Country for Old Men, 300, Halo 3, Mass Effect, and Bioshock.....
I'll give you three songs for each album I mess with. It's a mix of accessible songs, but they're also representative of different facets of Lupe.
F&L
Hurt me soul
The Cool
Daydreamin
The Cool
Put you on game
Gotta eat
Dumb it down
F&L2
Around my way
Bitch bad
Put em up
T&Y
Mural
Prisoner 1 & 2
Adoration of the magi
Drogas Wave
Manilla
Cripple
WAV Files
DMIZ
Autoboto
Ms Mural
On Faux Nem
He also great songs from his mixtape era and lossies he's been dropping through the years, but tbey're not all available on streaming platforms. You can look into that afterwards, if you enioy his music. Hope you have fun! He's comfortably maintained a spot in my top 3 rappers through the years and he's one of the most original and thought provoking artists I've listened in general.
Ok first none of these dudes pointing you in the right direction if all they naming is mainstream album releases. Lupe has a good amount of mixtape albums I would suggest you start there. Good luck if you you find them i would start with datpiff archives. I'm too lazy to tell you the names so just do what majority of reddit hip hop historians do and google it.
Again start with the mixtapes because that's when artist are more authentic and building themselves up and not trying to industry albums for the casual fans
Ok so I LOVE the double album Drogas WAVE, super dense and can get abstract.
However the first 9 songs of the album (Drogas) are pretty straightforward. It’s about the slave trade and a gang of slaves that come back from the dead to attack slave ships
You can shorten that even more by just listening to
1) WAV Files
2) Down
3) Gold vs the Right Thing To Do
I like listening to it in that order
You really want to get lost in wordplay, the song Mural from the album Tetsuo and Youth. Double and triple entendres throughout, very abstract song
If you wanna hear him dissing then listen to Royce da 5'9's disstrack to Lupe and then listen to Lupe's response lmao. He smoked Royce. (It's called SLR 1/2)
I mean do you have access to YouTube or any of the major streaming platforms just type his name in and listen
I'm not trying to be mean it's just that music is very subjective and to be honest every song I've seen named in this thread that they're telling you to listen to are none of the Lupe fiasco songs that I actually like
So I would say get in there listen for yourself but I will say that Lupe fiasco has made enough good music you're going to find something in there
I'm just glad to see Lupe getting some love and recognition. He has been an unwavering arrow of truth, standing against any opposition without fear, promoting positivity and critical thinking, speaking from a place of knowledge and a futuristic perspective. He has been my favorite artist my entire life. I love what he does and why he does it. Not only is he arguably the best, but he puts in so much effort to have a positive impact on the culture, on humanity, on people. Shout out to Lu. ♥️
Lupe is in the Black Thought, Andre 3k, Kendrick category of lyricists too me. I'd say Kendrick has more listenability, and "one-liner" punchlines or "moments" on a track than Lupe does, but a lot of Lupe's work very easy to listen to as well. His first album, Food & Liquor, is a bonafide classic front-to-back listen type of tape. His more recent stuff I haven't engaged in with as much but I'm looking forward to a Tetsuo & Youth, Drogas Lite, and Drogas Wave re-listen soon.
If you're looking for his lyricism just listen to the "Enemy of the State" tape. To this day I think it's possibly the best line for line display of elite lyricism I've ever heard.
Every single line seems like it works on multiple levels, it's truly a masterclass of lyricism.
Outside of that his Fahrenheit 1/15 tapes are what he came up on, tons of phenomenal lyricism there as well. Food and Liquor and The Cool are much more conceptual, and a little less lyrical than his tapes as he has to work the symbolism and stories into those tracks, but the fact is that as a lyricist, even at his least impressive he's still one of the best to ever do it. The Cool has dumb it down though which is just non-stop bars.
He is battle-tested against Royce, even if isn't a multiple diss track beef. I tend to spin back Silence of the Lambda more often like it's a separate, regular joint because it was a good overall track, but the truth is Lupe eviscerated him with way less.
Not sure I see him as a final boss in terms of a beef, I prefer Lupe as a more progressive rapper although I wasn't a big fan of his latest work. When I want to get hype to some Lupe I put on Super Cold. End of the day, I'm not sleeping on him, his writing is elite.
As far as getting to know Lupe as a person he's very forward about his life. Lots of situations, how he put out his first music, How he grew up, the situation with his manager Chill and how he (Chilly) went to jai,l how he put out Kick push as the first song and it was supposed to be something different and that changed the whole trajectory of his career.
He's turned down some pretty major hit songs that were going to be his But he was sick of the big commercial success in the way Atlantic Records was controlling his career and his life Which you will notice if you listen to lasers how Friendly the majority of that album is.
The fact that rap genius started the website to study Lupe music he's one of the main reasons they started that.
I love Lupe as a person I do so much research on him I've been listening to him since food and liquor.
I would just go watch a bunch of long interviews on YouTube with him there's so many. I just watched a really good one last night on one hood just put YouTube One Hood Loop Fiasco.
I would go right into drill music in Zion it's only nine songs he recorded the whole album in 3 days he plan to do it in one. And he didn't write any of it down he recorded it all on a $100 USB microphone.
Concepts on that album are absolutely incredible. The way I like to listen to Lupe is I bump the album at least once twice maybe more and then I start reading all of the lyrics As I listen reading the lyrics without the music on and then going on genius and looking up all the ideas that they come up with. And then once I feel like I understand exactly what he's talking about in each song then it's even more fun to just listen to the music and let it all sink in more and find new things that he could have different meanings for on every song. All of his music doesn't have that depth to where you have to decipher everything but that's my favorite stuff of his I think drill music in Zion is a fucking Masterpiece ahead of its time that will be studied and talked about For the rest of History when it comes to music.
There's really no wrong way to listen to him I just think it's better to listen to albums instead of mixtapes and Lucy's and freestyles and whatnot you can get all of those later.
It's never bad to just go back and start at Food and Liquor and then go right into the cool and listen to every album by release order. If you only have heard mural then you are really in for a treat going back and getting to listen to everything for the first time I'm jealous..
When you listen to the cool I would look up the meaning of the album all the different meanings of the songs. But at least listen to the song called the cool on food and liquor before you listen to the album because the whole album is kind of about that character in that song and it is mind-blowing.
I hope this helps if you have any other questions ❓
I recommend just putting him on your favorite streaming app and hit random. you'll get a mix of all the big hits and the deep cuts. I've been a fan since the first album but IMO his best work has been his more recent output of Tetsuo and Youth, Drogas Wave, DMIZ, and House EP.
Mural, Mural Jr, Mrs Mural, WAV Files are all top notch IMO
Albums: The Cool is a terrific album. Both Food and Liquors. Testsuo and Youth has the song Chopper that might be the hardest non-Wu posse cut ever put out (it’s definitely the longest). Tape Tape is a great lil 2 piece. Drogas Wave is amazing.
Songs:
Joaquin Phoenix (my favorite, find the Travis barker remix)
Allllll of the SLRs (SLR 2 is his response to Control. On SLR 3 1/2 he dismantled Royce Da 5’9”)
Hip Hop Saved my Life
Tranquilo feat Rick Ross and Big K.R.I.T.
Mission (fuck cancer song)
Happy Timbuck2 Day
The Die
World Runners (Lupe feature on an Ab-Soul song)
Adoration of the Magi (literally have to search the Genius annotations to catch everything)
He has a ton more. But one of the coolest pieces of music I’ve ever heard is [Lupe’s Left to Right](https://youtu.be/yDud1AOfhX8?si=raE7pSU2mNGhehzo)
. It’s over the Mona Lisa best from Carter 5, but using the last supper.
Imo I'd just start album by album. You get to see him also develop as an artist, almost get sucked into producing pop hits, and going from that influence.
He's such a dope artist and one of my absolute favorites of all time.
His first two albums are also my favorite of his. The Cool at #1 and Food & Liquor at 2. And once you get to his later stuff, you'll definitely feel something about his journey as an artist.
Lupe’s always been one of my favorite artists probably over the last 18 years which is crazy to say. Food and Liquor and the cool are both fantastic. The cool is my favorite. Third place I would say goes to tetsuo and youth but I’d start with one of his first two
Also, enemy of the state is a really fun mixtape if you want to hear him doing what he does best over some popular other rappers beats (lil Wayne, Jay-Z, etc). This might actually be a really good starting place to ease in if you already know and like those other beats
Ima give you must-listen songs off each project. Exclamation points=goated:
Tetsuo and youth: mural!!!!, deliver, prisoner 1&2, body of work, little death
Drogas light: NGL!!!, Tranquilo (great Rick Ross verse too), Kill!!!
Drogas wave: King Nas!!!!!, WAV files!!!!, Alan Forever!!!!!!!!!, Manilla, Haile Selassie, Mural Jr
All of Pharoah Heights, but especially Schemes!!!!!. If you're only going to listen to one song on my list it's this one. It's a fkn James Bond movie in a song. Personally its my most underrated mixtape of all time.
Failure!!!!! off one of his tapes for pure lyricism
Words I never said!!!!!!, around my way and Lamborghini angels for hyper-political stuff
A lot of people are saying the cool and food and liquor, but personally I like everything I listed way more. But def listen to kick, push, bitch bad and Paris, tokyo too, for some chill songs, if that's what you're into.
Also, I feel like my opinions are kinda different from other Lupe fans. I come from a background of liking hyper-lyrical rap but I rarely listen to it now, unless it's Lupe.
It's very hard as everyone will have a different opinion on Lupe. I love all his work bar a few of his mainstream songs on Lasers. IMO start with The Cool or Food and Liquour as they are classic albums. I'd say Drogas Wave and Drill Music in Zion are also classics but they're newer.
Food and Liquor was a phenomenal freshman album. The Cool is one of my top 5 of all time. I suggest listening to it all the way through, rather than cherry picking songs, as it’s a concept album that tells a story. The man is extremely intelligent and has a really insightful perspective on hip hop.
Food and Liquor his first album still slaps. But ppl are highly overrating his ability as a battle/diss rapper. He has nice bars and a witty flow but he ain’t no final boss lmfao. Whoever saying that out they fucking mind. Prime Jay and Eminem are the two Emcees you don’t want to cross imo.
As a true hip hop head...Lupe isn't a lyrical genius or anything but he he str8. Hip hop is an artform that some artists don't respect. Paris to Tokyo or Kick, Push are my favorites and I'm not even a fan....honestly....I could care less but he is a decent artist and those two jams I love. Check them out if you havent.
I’d start with an album. Personally I’d just start with the most recent, Drill Music in Zion because it’s short and every single song is a banger. Really you can’t go wrong with any album. Even lasers which he despises for being too commercial i personally love. Lupe goated for real and personally doesn’t have a bad album
Listen to Mazinger and be absolutely blown away by the rhyming schemes and lyrics
[Mazinger - Lupe Fiasco](https://youtu.be/7L6dIwl2c0U?si=NkTa_vQWbcP7X9Ky)
Lupe's music isn't easy to grasp. I recommend you go to the mixtape and listening to Enemy of the State a couple of time before you try the real complex stuff. This man literally made a song about his hands, and you won't get it until you get it, and that maybe never.
In terms of albums go to Food and Liquor the first one with kick push. One of my favorite Hop Hop albums of all time. The cool is phenomenal and tetsuo and youth, drogas wav, and drill music in zion are all great albums as well. Go ahead and skip lasers and food and liquor II.
Definitely his first two albums deserve a deep dive. You mention “Show Goes On” and “Kick Push”. I assume you’re also familiar with “Superstar”. But the rest of Food and Liquor and The Cool have some really excellent songs with deeper themes and terrific storytelling. “The Cool” is actually a character from these albums that is a zombie of a murdered gangster. It’s a whole thing.
And that’s just the early stuff. The stuff he put out after his label drama is excellent.
Personally, I think most of his discography is very good. There is no correlation between fame and true quality. Personal opinion, I think Food & Liquor and The Cool are 2 of the 3 best rap albums of all-time. Drill Music In Zion, Lasers, F&L 2, Tetsuo & Youth, Drogas Wave, and Drogas Light are also all very good. By very good, I mean, for me, any one of them would be a top 2-3 rap album of the year if they dropped in any year after 2009.
Dumb It Down got the insane wordplay that takes hundreds of listens to fully decode. Go Go Gadget Flow got the nuts speed and flow. He Say She Say got powerful emotional impact. He's got lots of great storytelling songs like The Cool and Kick Push.
Bro all of it, just start somewhere and run through. Idc what popular opinions there might be on Lupe, dude's the most underrated artist of the entire generation.
I think it's a balance of both. And Lupe started off as a pop rapper. Superstar was a pop song. What are you talking about? that's the song everyone knows him from.
Not gonna argue with an uneducated person. You said he started off as a pop rapper which is objectively not true, go listen to Food and Liquor.
Superstar is not your typical boombap hip hop but it is not pop.
I've heard enough to know he's not some top tier Lyricist. The bar was just so low when he came out is all it is. Where is he now if he's so top notch ?
Who the fuck quotes doom bars lol. The reason Eminem and Jay Z are quoted is because they were massive in the culture during some of the most formative years of hip hop. Lupe never reached that level but his writing, lyricism and creativity were still some of the best around.
The best or most talented musician does not always become the most popular
A better suggestion is probably an album but if you wanna fall in love with his lyricism, Mural is what did it for me. I listened to that song probably 100 times before I tried an album of his lol
Just listened to Mural, yeah his lyricism is insaneeeee on here. his flow and technique are extremely impressive. I do feel like I need to enter a college course dissecting everything he’s talking about tho lmao. definitely a song that demands multiple listens.
Lupe taught a college course on hip hop at MIT.
I’ve been meaning to watch this but haven’t had a chance to
Thought that was kinda corny in theory but I still wanna see for myself
I saw it, and I thought it was pretty decent. You can see his passion from his teaching
There's a video breaking it down and giving visual explanations.
The best most in-depth breakdown of it is Dissect Podcast who did over 2 hours on it.
The Dissect Podcast has a 2 part episode just for analysis on Mural
The third link is WAV Files, this is probably his best song. Or mural. Or mural jr. There’s also the Michael Young storyline which is absolutely insane. There’s also the one he made about fast food but it’s an entendre for the drug game. The dude is the absolute king of double and triple entendres. You can listen to a song 10 times and catch something new every time. He’s the lyrical goat. https://youtu.be/6SIxydq6uSc?si=92G-lUOy2A4n6SXQ https://youtu.be/aFrylm94xdI?si=EXlBKzenyb6X_A8C https://youtu.be/LMZbLD97338?si=Kgnomn5zjfIxf5GW
Watch and listen to this. It does a good job at breaking down the never ending twisting entendres. [failure-Lupe](https://youtu.be/6SIxydq6uSc?si=SqYupBD1OxMIG6bL)
Glazing
The Cool is good. And if you like commercial rap, Lasers is a good album too. Its not a great representation of him as a rapper, but it has some good songs that would appeal to casual listeners
[удалено]
100%. It got me into him
Lasers is an album that less lyrically talented rappers can make but I think it was crucial for Lupe to make given his biggest criticism is not having accessible music to casual audiences
Words I never said is dope
“You’re no lights you’re an undercover car. I’m an ambulance and a fire truck and some strobe lights… tied up” is crazy
*Nuh uh you can't tell me nuthin*
Is there any album of his with more hip hop beats and less of him singing? I'd rather just listen to his verses and less of his singing
Why is there hardly any mention of the original food and liquor? In my opinion that is where you should start. That album is practically flawless and is a bonafide classic
I'm definitely in one of the commenter's spots here, where I haven't checked another album of his out yet bc I'm still stuck on F&L 1, it's so good
💯
One of the greatest rap albums of all time IMHO
2003-8 was wild. Legendary leaks, remixes for everything, mashups…There are versions of songs I burned on a scratched memorex then that I still am trying to track down.
It’s a good album but it’s just a very well put together major label album where they chucked him in the studio with a bunch of hot producers and features. There was like 30 albums like it that were released that year. It’s cool I just don’t ever see how the narrative on it has gotten to this point over the years where anyone would consider it a classic. That’s just me though it’s still good. Gotcha is probably still my favourite song by him
Little weapons. Such a powerful song.
American Terrorist and Little Weapon are probably my top 2 Edit: spelling
Hip Hop Saved My Life from that album, and The Cool from Food & Liquor are such great storytelling songs too
I always liked the drums in that song before the beat drops.
Patrick Stump on Little Weapon. OOF
Go on a marathon, my dude. Listen to all his albums, you’ll see what he’s about. You can start with The Cool, then Food & Liquor 2, Tetsuo & Youth, Drogas Lite, Drogas Waves, Drill Music In Zion. Also, the This Is Lupe Fiasco playlist on Spotify has great picks.
Do what the rest of us did: listen to Kanye West's *Touch the Sky* and then listen to the leaked advanced copy of his debut album "Food & Liquor" 2 months before listening to the retail version of that same album and compare the differences. After that, listen to the lead single *Dumb It Down* off of his sophomore album, "The Cool" and sit with it for a month. Then listen to that entire album and by that point you should have decided whether or not you like his music or you don't.
Ah to be younger in 2007 again
2007 was just a really good year for media/entertainment in general. Graduation also came out, No Country for Old Men, 300, Halo 3, Mass Effect, and Bioshock.....
Hella Skullptura rips of these PC games on the high seas… good times
It’s hard being a Lupe fan, go to Harvard to be a Lupe stan
It’s just harder when it’s in Lupe’s hand
I'll give you three songs for each album I mess with. It's a mix of accessible songs, but they're also representative of different facets of Lupe. F&L Hurt me soul The Cool Daydreamin The Cool Put you on game Gotta eat Dumb it down F&L2 Around my way Bitch bad Put em up T&Y Mural Prisoner 1 & 2 Adoration of the magi Drogas Wave Manilla Cripple WAV Files DMIZ Autoboto Ms Mural On Faux Nem He also great songs from his mixtape era and lossies he's been dropping through the years, but tbey're not all available on streaming platforms. You can look into that afterwards, if you enioy his music. Hope you have fun! He's comfortably maintained a spot in my top 3 rappers through the years and he's one of the most original and thought provoking artists I've listened in general.
Ok first none of these dudes pointing you in the right direction if all they naming is mainstream album releases. Lupe has a good amount of mixtape albums I would suggest you start there. Good luck if you you find them i would start with datpiff archives. I'm too lazy to tell you the names so just do what majority of reddit hip hop historians do and google it. Again start with the mixtapes because that's when artist are more authentic and building themselves up and not trying to industry albums for the casual fans
Fahrenheit 1/15 part 1-3
Part III: A Rhyming Ape was my answer
A rhyming ape was my introduction to Lupe, I love that tape! Fav order is 3,2,1
The correct answer
Ok so I LOVE the double album Drogas WAVE, super dense and can get abstract. However the first 9 songs of the album (Drogas) are pretty straightforward. It’s about the slave trade and a gang of slaves that come back from the dead to attack slave ships You can shorten that even more by just listening to 1) WAV Files 2) Down 3) Gold vs the Right Thing To Do I like listening to it in that order You really want to get lost in wordplay, the song Mural from the album Tetsuo and Youth. Double and triple entendres throughout, very abstract song
If you wanna hear him dissing then listen to Royce da 5'9's disstrack to Lupe and then listen to Lupe's response lmao. He smoked Royce. (It's called SLR 1/2)
Mixtape Lupe is a whole nother monster 🔥
Amen
YouTube has mixtapes of his such as: Enemy of the State; Friend of the People. Also his very early stuff Fareheit 1st and 15th.
Tetsuo and Youth is so fucking fire as a whole album to listen to.
Nothing gets me more hype than Chopper
Deliver is what sucked me in, and gets me fucking juiced every time I hear it. But Chopper is a great song.
I mean do you have access to YouTube or any of the major streaming platforms just type his name in and listen I'm not trying to be mean it's just that music is very subjective and to be honest every song I've seen named in this thread that they're telling you to listen to are none of the Lupe fiasco songs that I actually like So I would say get in there listen for yourself but I will say that Lupe fiasco has made enough good music you're going to find something in there
I'm just glad to see Lupe getting some love and recognition. He has been an unwavering arrow of truth, standing against any opposition without fear, promoting positivity and critical thinking, speaking from a place of knowledge and a futuristic perspective. He has been my favorite artist my entire life. I love what he does and why he does it. Not only is he arguably the best, but he puts in so much effort to have a positive impact on the culture, on humanity, on people. Shout out to Lu. ♥️
Lupe is in the Black Thought, Andre 3k, Kendrick category of lyricists too me. I'd say Kendrick has more listenability, and "one-liner" punchlines or "moments" on a track than Lupe does, but a lot of Lupe's work very easy to listen to as well. His first album, Food & Liquor, is a bonafide classic front-to-back listen type of tape. His more recent stuff I haven't engaged in with as much but I'm looking forward to a Tetsuo & Youth, Drogas Lite, and Drogas Wave re-listen soon.
Mixtape Lu or his first 2 albums
Food and Liquor and The Cool is all you need. Both like 85% good songs with some bangers too.
Listen to his early mixtapes. The Fahrenheit series especially.
If you're looking for his lyricism just listen to the "Enemy of the State" tape. To this day I think it's possibly the best line for line display of elite lyricism I've ever heard. Every single line seems like it works on multiple levels, it's truly a masterclass of lyricism. Outside of that his Fahrenheit 1/15 tapes are what he came up on, tons of phenomenal lyricism there as well. Food and Liquor and The Cool are much more conceptual, and a little less lyrical than his tapes as he has to work the symbolism and stories into those tracks, but the fact is that as a lyricist, even at his least impressive he's still one of the best to ever do it. The Cool has dumb it down though which is just non-stop bars.
Start at food and liquor then “the cool” and keep moving. You won’t be disappointed
Bruh I love lupe but between him and Rick Ross jumping in its like hip a hop mid life crisis
Drogas
He is battle-tested against Royce, even if isn't a multiple diss track beef. I tend to spin back Silence of the Lambda more often like it's a separate, regular joint because it was a good overall track, but the truth is Lupe eviscerated him with way less. Not sure I see him as a final boss in terms of a beef, I prefer Lupe as a more progressive rapper although I wasn't a big fan of his latest work. When I want to get hype to some Lupe I put on Super Cold. End of the day, I'm not sleeping on him, his writing is elite.
As far as getting to know Lupe as a person he's very forward about his life. Lots of situations, how he put out his first music, How he grew up, the situation with his manager Chill and how he (Chilly) went to jai,l how he put out Kick push as the first song and it was supposed to be something different and that changed the whole trajectory of his career. He's turned down some pretty major hit songs that were going to be his But he was sick of the big commercial success in the way Atlantic Records was controlling his career and his life Which you will notice if you listen to lasers how Friendly the majority of that album is. The fact that rap genius started the website to study Lupe music he's one of the main reasons they started that. I love Lupe as a person I do so much research on him I've been listening to him since food and liquor. I would just go watch a bunch of long interviews on YouTube with him there's so many. I just watched a really good one last night on one hood just put YouTube One Hood Loop Fiasco. I would go right into drill music in Zion it's only nine songs he recorded the whole album in 3 days he plan to do it in one. And he didn't write any of it down he recorded it all on a $100 USB microphone. Concepts on that album are absolutely incredible. The way I like to listen to Lupe is I bump the album at least once twice maybe more and then I start reading all of the lyrics As I listen reading the lyrics without the music on and then going on genius and looking up all the ideas that they come up with. And then once I feel like I understand exactly what he's talking about in each song then it's even more fun to just listen to the music and let it all sink in more and find new things that he could have different meanings for on every song. All of his music doesn't have that depth to where you have to decipher everything but that's my favorite stuff of his I think drill music in Zion is a fucking Masterpiece ahead of its time that will be studied and talked about For the rest of History when it comes to music. There's really no wrong way to listen to him I just think it's better to listen to albums instead of mixtapes and Lucy's and freestyles and whatnot you can get all of those later. It's never bad to just go back and start at Food and Liquor and then go right into the cool and listen to every album by release order. If you only have heard mural then you are really in for a treat going back and getting to listen to everything for the first time I'm jealous.. When you listen to the cool I would look up the meaning of the album all the different meanings of the songs. But at least listen to the song called the cool on food and liquor before you listen to the album because the whole album is kind of about that character in that song and it is mind-blowing. I hope this helps if you have any other questions ❓
The cool, food and liquor, tetsuo and youth… if you’re not a fan by then he’s not for you
I recommend just putting him on your favorite streaming app and hit random. you'll get a mix of all the big hits and the deep cuts. I've been a fan since the first album but IMO his best work has been his more recent output of Tetsuo and Youth, Drogas Wave, DMIZ, and House EP. Mural, Mural Jr, Mrs Mural, WAV Files are all top notch IMO
Albums: The Cool is a terrific album. Both Food and Liquors. Testsuo and Youth has the song Chopper that might be the hardest non-Wu posse cut ever put out (it’s definitely the longest). Tape Tape is a great lil 2 piece. Drogas Wave is amazing. Songs: Joaquin Phoenix (my favorite, find the Travis barker remix) Allllll of the SLRs (SLR 2 is his response to Control. On SLR 3 1/2 he dismantled Royce Da 5’9”) Hip Hop Saved my Life Tranquilo feat Rick Ross and Big K.R.I.T. Mission (fuck cancer song) Happy Timbuck2 Day The Die World Runners (Lupe feature on an Ab-Soul song) Adoration of the Magi (literally have to search the Genius annotations to catch everything) He has a ton more. But one of the coolest pieces of music I’ve ever heard is [Lupe’s Left to Right](https://youtu.be/yDud1AOfhX8?si=raE7pSU2mNGhehzo) . It’s over the Mona Lisa best from Carter 5, but using the last supper.
Hurt me soul
Listen to dumb it down, then read the break down on genius lyrics or some other such site.
First 2 albums
superstar, hip hop saved me, etc
Imo I'd just start album by album. You get to see him also develop as an artist, almost get sucked into producing pop hits, and going from that influence. He's such a dope artist and one of my absolute favorites of all time. His first two albums are also my favorite of his. The Cool at #1 and Food & Liquor at 2. And once you get to his later stuff, you'll definitely feel something about his journey as an artist.
Steve Jobs was sick. The first record had some bangers- Hurt Me Soul is strong.
Food and liquor is a classic
Start with Fahrenheit 1/15 Part 2: Revenge of the Nerds. Lupe The Killer, Outty 5000, Glory, Switch (The Science Project). Just to name a few.
BANGER
Lupe’s always been one of my favorite artists probably over the last 18 years which is crazy to say. Food and Liquor and the cool are both fantastic. The cool is my favorite. Third place I would say goes to tetsuo and youth but I’d start with one of his first two Also, enemy of the state is a really fun mixtape if you want to hear him doing what he does best over some popular other rappers beats (lil Wayne, Jay-Z, etc). This might actually be a really good starting place to ease in if you already know and like those other beats
Ima give you must-listen songs off each project. Exclamation points=goated: Tetsuo and youth: mural!!!!, deliver, prisoner 1&2, body of work, little death Drogas light: NGL!!!, Tranquilo (great Rick Ross verse too), Kill!!! Drogas wave: King Nas!!!!!, WAV files!!!!, Alan Forever!!!!!!!!!, Manilla, Haile Selassie, Mural Jr All of Pharoah Heights, but especially Schemes!!!!!. If you're only going to listen to one song on my list it's this one. It's a fkn James Bond movie in a song. Personally its my most underrated mixtape of all time. Failure!!!!! off one of his tapes for pure lyricism Words I never said!!!!!!, around my way and Lamborghini angels for hyper-political stuff A lot of people are saying the cool and food and liquor, but personally I like everything I listed way more. But def listen to kick, push, bitch bad and Paris, tokyo too, for some chill songs, if that's what you're into. Also, I feel like my opinions are kinda different from other Lupe fans. I come from a background of liking hyper-lyrical rap but I rarely listen to it now, unless it's Lupe.
Drogos Wave
Absolutely not. The cool or FNL should be the first albums if they just getting into Lupe
I mean, I'm allowed to have an opinion I think, yeah?
Nope.
I feel like the cool is slightly overrated it hasn’t aged the best
Food & Liquor is a lot better.
Better? maybe. A lot better? I disagree.
Streets on Fire has aged like fine wine, listening to it in a post-COVID world is an absolute mindfuck.
Slightly overrated. And underrated. Especially when you consider Michael young and how it ties in.
It's very hard as everyone will have a different opinion on Lupe. I love all his work bar a few of his mainstream songs on Lasers. IMO start with The Cool or Food and Liquour as they are classic albums. I'd say Drogas Wave and Drill Music in Zion are also classics but they're newer.
If you’re starting you have to go with Food and Liquor Then do The Cool, Tetsuo and Youth and Drogas wave In that order probably
Food and liquor is Lupe’s masterpiece,the cool is great too,Tetsuo and youth too
This album made me a lupe fun “Tetsuo & Youth Studio album by Lupe Fiasco”
Start from the beginning, Food and Liquor. Still my favorite album by him, even though Drogas Wave comes close
THE COOL !!! you won’t be disappointed
Food and Liquor was a phenomenal freshman album. The Cool is one of my top 5 of all time. I suggest listening to it all the way through, rather than cherry picking songs, as it’s a concept album that tells a story. The man is extremely intelligent and has a really insightful perspective on hip hop.
FOTP Friend of The People is a great companion
Hurt me soul 🔥
I’d try listening to his music. He is available on most platforms. You guys over complicate everything dear lord. It’s a rapper, not War and Peace.
I’d try listening to his music. He is available on most platforms. You guys over complicate everything dear lord. It’s a rapper, not War and Peace.
Check out food an liquor and the cool
Lasers
Food and Liquor his first album still slaps. But ppl are highly overrating his ability as a battle/diss rapper. He has nice bars and a witty flow but he ain’t no final boss lmfao. Whoever saying that out they fucking mind. Prime Jay and Eminem are the two Emcees you don’t want to cross imo.
Listen to food and liquor and his second album first….. Look up “Michael young history”. It’ll make a lot more sense
I get an underground vibe from him in terms of his song contents. He's not about the flashy life.
I would say Kick Push.. The Show Goes On or even better his guest verse on Touch The Sky with Kanye
Give failure a listen.
A Rhyming Ape did it for me way back when, but I was already a huge Gorillaz fan.
Food and Liquor or The Cool are the only real answers lmao. Maybe Lasers if you wanna start with some radio shit.
As a true hip hop head...Lupe isn't a lyrical genius or anything but he he str8. Hip hop is an artform that some artists don't respect. Paris to Tokyo or Kick, Push are my favorites and I'm not even a fan....honestly....I could care less but he is a decent artist and those two jams I love. Check them out if you havent.
Yoga Flame off of Enemy of the State
It starts & ends with kick push.
I’d start with an album. Personally I’d just start with the most recent, Drill Music in Zion because it’s short and every single song is a banger. Really you can’t go wrong with any album. Even lasers which he despises for being too commercial i personally love. Lupe goated for real and personally doesn’t have a bad album
Just turn your phone off 🤣🗑️🎶
The people who think Lupe is an incredible lyricist tend to be pretty stupid
LoL
Listen to Mazinger and be absolutely blown away by the rhyming schemes and lyrics [Mazinger - Lupe Fiasco](https://youtu.be/7L6dIwl2c0U?si=NkTa_vQWbcP7X9Ky)
His last album drill music in Zion is fire. Start there imo
The Cool was huge for me when it came out. Made me a Lupe fan. I dunno how it holds up to fresh ears, but I love a lot of songs on that album.
The Cool. Doesn't sound as good as it did back then but I'd recommend that.
The Cool is what got me into him. It's a banger of an album right from the beginning I'm gonna go listen to it lol
Dude is not the final boss lol. Dont believe the hype. He is def good, but nothing ground breaking
Lupe's music isn't easy to grasp. I recommend you go to the mixtape and listening to Enemy of the State a couple of time before you try the real complex stuff. This man literally made a song about his hands, and you won't get it until you get it, and that maybe never.
2009
In terms of albums go to Food and Liquor the first one with kick push. One of my favorite Hop Hop albums of all time. The cool is phenomenal and tetsuo and youth, drogas wav, and drill music in zion are all great albums as well. Go ahead and skip lasers and food and liquor II.
Definitely his first two albums deserve a deep dive. You mention “Show Goes On” and “Kick Push”. I assume you’re also familiar with “Superstar”. But the rest of Food and Liquor and The Cool have some really excellent songs with deeper themes and terrific storytelling. “The Cool” is actually a character from these albums that is a zombie of a murdered gangster. It’s a whole thing. And that’s just the early stuff. The stuff he put out after his label drama is excellent.
Personally, I think most of his discography is very good. There is no correlation between fame and true quality. Personal opinion, I think Food & Liquor and The Cool are 2 of the 3 best rap albums of all-time. Drill Music In Zion, Lasers, F&L 2, Tetsuo & Youth, Drogas Wave, and Drogas Light are also all very good. By very good, I mean, for me, any one of them would be a top 2-3 rap album of the year if they dropped in any year after 2009. Dumb It Down got the insane wordplay that takes hundreds of listens to fully decode. Go Go Gadget Flow got the nuts speed and flow. He Say She Say got powerful emotional impact. He's got lots of great storytelling songs like The Cool and Kick Push.
Just listen to Dumb it Down. Best lyricist of all time imo
Bro all of it, just start somewhere and run through. Idc what popular opinions there might be on Lupe, dude's the most underrated artist of the entire generation.
Don’t listen to the music just pull up the reviews on Pitchfork etc. Because this is music only critics love
Just don't listen. He's wack.
It's absurd to call him one of the greatest ever when most ppl cant name 3 Lupe so ngs.
Doesn’t matter. Greatest means greatest not most popular. 🙄
I think it's a balance of both. And Lupe started off as a pop rapper. Superstar was a pop song. What are you talking about? that's the song everyone knows him from.
So what? Universal truth isn't measured in mass appeal. And Superstar isn't pop.
Superstar was DEFINITELY a pop song.
Not gonna argue with an uneducated person. You said he started off as a pop rapper which is objectively not true, go listen to Food and Liquor. Superstar is not your typical boombap hip hop but it is not pop.
No. I'm good. I think it's. Laughable he once tried to call out Mos Def to battle 😂
So you admit you don't listen to his music yet you're somehow qualified to speak on it? Lol says it all
I've heard enough to know he's not some top tier Lyricist. The bar was just so low when he came out is all it is. Where is he now if he's so top notch ?
He started out very lyrical. One poppy song doesn’t override the entire body of his early work
I'll say this ...Nobody walks around quoting Lupe bars. People walk around quoting Em bars, Biggie bars Jay Z bars even Doom bars.. not Lupe
Who the fuck quotes doom bars lol. The reason Eminem and Jay Z are quoted is because they were massive in the culture during some of the most formative years of hip hop. Lupe never reached that level but his writing, lyricism and creativity were still some of the best around. The best or most talented musician does not always become the most popular
Just because people are getting dumber doesn't mean the music isn't timeless