Lupe_Fiasco-Food_And_Liquor_II-The_Great_American_Rap_Album_Part_1-2012-

[notorious8562]

the only one of those was "Battle Scars" and I said that was LASERS...

Niccaz hatin on "Brave Heart" and "Cold War"... same niccaz woulda hated on "Thuggish Ruggish BONE" talkin bout it sounds 'pop'

I don't like the hooks on three of the four middle tracks (Heart Donor to Brave Heart; How Dare You is OK but I typically skip it). He goes in on Brave Heart, but that corny chanting shyt is terrible

 

[Pool_Shark]

Can't stop playing Around My Way don't know if it's the T.R.O.Y. sample but Lupe rides that beat so good and I like the chorus.

"Cash rules everything around these nikkas, while classrooms all around me wither"

Only complaint for this album was at some point I feel like he's beating his message into my brain. I wouldn't mind but none of what he's saying is groundbreaking to me. I know there's some kid out there who's going to learn a lot from this album so that's good.

It's not even really a complaint I would've just sequenced the album differently to kind of give me a break in between the preachin'(no slight)

I guess people are just really fickle and can't give albums time to digest. This and Cruel Summer have been on repeat and will probably stay till Oct. 22nd.

People don't wanna see a rapper try and actually be about something. They're just like "dance and entertain me, don't even try to be something more cause your just a stupid rapper"

It kind of reminds me of this scene from "The Corner" (a show made by the guy that made The Wire) A bunch of junkies are sitting around getting high and one of the main characters ,Gary, starts philosophizing about Schindlers List and how the modern day drug war is another holocaust and how they made black people not human which gave them the ability to do all kinds of horrible things to them. He pauses for a minute and another junkie jumps in and says "nikka shut up and shoot dope" the whole room laughs and the conversation moves to something else.

That's how I feel when I see these cacs say they hate when a rapper takes his craft serious.

 

[wise prophet]

the only one of those was "Battle Scars" and I said that was LASERS...

Niccaz hatin on "Brave Heart" and "Cold War"... same niccaz woulda hated on "Thuggish Ruggish BONE" talkin bout it sounds 'pop'

I don't have a problem with Brave Heart, but I still hate the Cold War hook, just unnecessarily changes the whole vibe of the song to me. Subdued and seemingly morose song and then out of nowhere comes this hollering ass dude trying to evoke "powerful" emotions. Just falls flat on its face.


And you're chastisement of simple hooks is a little perplexing. The whole point of a hook is to make part of the song catchy...hell that's why it's called a "hook", to hook the listener and make them desire the song more. Making it the lyrics simple and repetitive that fits that vibe of the song will achieve this result for most people rather than a hook that tries to do too much. So yes when it comes to hooks shyt like "Don't Like" is better/more effective than something like "Cold War" (yeah I realize this might piss some people off, but whatever).

 

[Hammer]

how much did this sell first week?

 

[intilectual recipricol]

I don't have a problem with Brave Heart, but I still hate the Cold War hook, just unnecessarily changes the whole vibe of the song to me. Subdued and seemingly morose song and then out of nowhere comes this hollering ass dude trying to evoke "powerful" emotions. Just falls flat on its face.


And you're chastisement of simple hooks is a little perplexing. The whole point of a hook is to make part of the song catchy...hell that's why it's called a "hook", to hook the listener and make them desire the song more. Making it the lyrics simple and repetitive that fits that vibe of the song will achieve this result for most people rather than a hook that tries to do too much. So yes when it comes to hooks shyt like "Don't Like" is better/more effective than something like "Cold War" (yeah I realize this might piss some people off, but whatever).

I didnt chastise simple hooks, I said their not "dope"

Seriously you think "Hustle Real Hard" is even remotely in the same universe as the hook to "Ashton Martin Music?" Ashton Martin Music is MUSIC... that other shyt is just a dumb nicca chantin some BS.

The hook to "Cold War" is quite fitting. You ever been to a funeral? Where I'm from theres always a strong voiced woman singing a powerful song. I just dont see where youre coming from. And actually its not called a "hook" its called a "chorus" and its the repeating part of a song between verses meant to be more emotionally intense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_structure_(popular_music)

but dumb rappers will have you think its a hook meant to repeat dumb shyt over and over because they cant think of anything else to say... as if their verses didnt already make it painfully obvious.

 

[the cool]

last time lupe was hungry on a track

 

[Insensitive]

I think this project has some of the most middle of the road instrumentals
out of all four albums.
TL/DR : At the bottom
I dislike the hooks used on certain songs these two in particular :

Heart Donor - Is crazy busy in the beginning, I find myself struggling
to find what's musical in it. Only after the atrocious hook fades out can I appreciate this song and specifically his lyricism which shines through. After several listens I can say I like it just a little bit.

Battle Scars - The hook is okay on this song, my issue with it, is that this sounds like a Bruno Mars or Alex The Kid throwaway the sort of stuff Eminem and B.o.B. are criticized for seems to be okay with some people as long as it's a rapper they like and in this instance that would be Lupe.
Superb lyricism, good hook, but the actual song just feels like I've heard
it before.


As for the rest of the album -

Ayesha says (intro) -
This a beautiful intro !
I missed the spoken word on Lasers, I was actually disappointed
that Lu decided to leave something I expect from a Lu album out.
This intro was poignant and really spoke on some things, this alone rivals some of the best songs on the album, which is funny because it's just spoken word.

Strange Frution -
This is a beautiful song one of my favorite records on the entire album.
He basically tells a powerful story personifying the streets as a demon that
swallows black youth, they're no longer subject to racists chasing them down
and lynching them. They're the fruits bore of a racist agenda, he describes them less as vicitims of violent racism (Strange Fruit) but more the victims of the generational effects of said racism.
Fvcking dope song if you ask me.


Ital (Roses) -
We find Lupe preaching to us, it isn't done nearly as masterfully as the previous track. Strange Fruition tells you things are fvcked up or that you may not be making the right decisions in life without beating you over the head with it.
Which leads to Lupe giving financial advice and it gives us this rather hilarious line :

"Farrari's to expensive and they way to hard to maintain,get yoself
a camri. ***** said a camri ? Watch that hoe depreciate and then you'll
understand me"


I actually like the hook on this song.
As for the song itself, most of it I don't agree with but it's still a sound song.


Around My Way (Freedom aint free) - I won't lie, this song screams to me
"Real Hip Hop" pandering. The song is good, if you've kept up with Lupe since his first album then you know what to expect.
He speaks on his dislike of poverty, planned obsolescence among other ills of society.
Good song, but I don't know if I'll listen to it to much.



Audobon Ballroom - Another bad hook, Good Lyricism deal.
Fantastic lyricism (something I can hardly knock him for on this album)
however as previously stated the hook is pretty bad.

B*tch bad - Terrible.
I don't like the song much at all, and the hook isn't very good either :
"B*tch bad,Woman Good, Lady Better", it's like he feels he's got to break things down to their simplest just for people to understand. I find most of his first verse fvcking atrocious :

"I'm a bad*tch, an I'm bad b*tch something else, an I'm far above average
and maybe other rhymings words like savage, cabbage, and baby carriage and other things that match it "

To me the bolded screams throwaway bars, feels like dude just wrote this and went with it, it doesn't help that he rapped it so lazily, on top of that his impersonation of the mother, is hilarious and bad.

The third verse is probably THE WORSE it doesn't help that he spends the whole verse patronizing women who dress in revealing clothing, seemingly attributing conservative dressing to being "nice and smart" as if the character in his song can't be nice,smart AND sexually forward (not sure if that's the right phrase...).

Reminds me of the Madonna-Whore complex :
Madonna
( I swear it wasn't me who put the link to Lu's Wiki page on this sh1t)

Madonna/Whore Complex: Love without Sex; Sex without Love

It's a song I feel could've been done so much better.
I like the message somewhat and get what he's aiming at, I just feel
that it was/is lazy in comparison to other songs he's done, though I think
the point of this song was to be "simple", to me it feels like in his simplification of the concept something must've been lost.

Lamborghini Angels - Dope. Beat knocks. The lyricism is exquisite and features one of the best hooks on the entire album if you ask

"I see Diamond flooded demons, lamborghini angels, halos down with the doors flapping when they came through"

One gripe with this album I'd like to bring up is that some of these songs could have interchangeable verses and the subject matter wouldn't change to much. Though I think it could be that certain songs like Strange fruition and Lamborghini Angels were apart of a larger concept record in the vain of The Cool while other songs where sandwiched inbetween and sound out of place.


Put Em Up - Another dope fvcking song. The way the instrumental starts off and that dark synth in the background is
The word play is ridiculous :
"Microphone checker all across the board, you should king him"

And I like how he did the hook on this song in particular.
The lyricism is on point by the way.


How Dare You - One of the better, lighthearted songs on the album.
Which is a nice break after 9 songs speaking on what's negative in the world.

Bilal kills his feature, only other singing feature I feel rivals it on the album is
Janelle's.

And ths is about where I stop reviewing.
I could probably write more but I'm certain most people will not read through
this entire post on top of that I've spent a lot of time writing this already.

TL/DR
The songs I really enjoy on this album are :
Strange Fruition
Form Follows Function
Put Em Up
Cold War
Hood Now
Lamborghini Angels
How Dare You
Brave Heart

Songs I just like and most likely will skip :
Unforgivable Youth
Battle Scars
Audobon ballroom
Ital (Roses)
Around My Way

Songs I don't see myself going back to :
Heart Donor
B*tch Bad

About a 3 to 3.5 out of 5 if you ask me.
It's a good album that could've been great if certain tracks were scrapped.
As it stands now I think better or at least equal projects have been released so far in 2012:

Chino XL
School Boy Q
Nas
Dizzy Wright
Ab-Soul
Skyzoo
and
Blaq Poet
Have all dropped fantastic albums and I'm certain I didn't name all of the good work I've listened to this year.

 

[intilectual recipricol]

last time lupe was hungry on a track

Say Something-Lupe Fiasco Freestyle - YouTube

good lyrics technically but no depth to them. I see you like mixtape throw away lines. Still they are much better than 95% of rappers. That type of stuff has no replay value.

I can tell you are a FABO fan, no?

 

[intilectual recipricol]

B*tch bad - Terrible.
I don't like the song much at all, and the hook isn't very good either :
"B*tch bad,Woman Good, Lady Better", it's like he feels he's got to break things down to their simplest just for people to understand. I find most of his first verse fvcking atrocious :

"I'm a bad*tch, an I'm bad b*tch something else, an I'm far above average
and maybe other rhymings words like savage, cabbage, and baby carriage and other things that match it "

To me the bolded screams throwaway bars, feels like dude just wrote this and went with it, it doesn't help that he rapped it so lazily, on top of that his impersonation of the mother, is hilarious and bad.

The third verse is probably THE WORSE it doesn't help that he spends the whole verse patronizing women who dress in revealing clothing, seemingly attributing conservative dressing to being "nice and smart" as if the character in his song can't be nice,smart AND sexually forward (not sure if that's the right phrase...).

Reminds me of the Madonna-Whore complex :
Madonna
( I swear it wasn't me who put the link to Lu's Wiki page on this sh1t)

Madonna/Whore Complex: Love without Sex; Sex without Love

It's a song I feel could've been done so much better.
I like the message somewhat and get what he's aiming at, I just feel
that it was/is lazy in comparison to other songs he's done, though I think
the point of this song was to be "simple", to me it feels like in his simplification of the concept something must've been lost.

Hate to do it to you mayne, but its your comprehension that was lazy on this. The lines you bolded ARE throw away lines and he used them to show the person rapping them uses throw away lines, and no thought. You quote it and somehow miss the point. Thats why he had to break it down, for you, yet here you are complaining

Secondly he DIDNT say anything about how women dress making them "nice and smart" he said the chick that the verse was referring to WAS nice and smart, and thats how she thought of herself. "Bad mean good to her, she really nice and smart"

Finally people love simple hooks. Turn on the radio my dude. If people sing along with that shyt (kinda like Ye's "Jesus Walks") then he's done his job. But you know cats wanna keep with what they already doing, as shown by the general reaction to the song. Funny thing is Lupe doesnt once tell you not to call the chick a B*tch.

 

[Insensitive]

seemingly attributing conservative dressing to being "nice and smart" as if the character in his song can't be nice,smart AND sexually forward (not sure if that's the right phrase...).

I said "Seemingly", I know he didn't actually state that, it's just how he came off.

Second the song is terrible in my opinion, I've had about two months (maybe more) to decide that.

 

[Versa]

I think the most slept on aspect of Lupe's talent is his flow. Dude's flow is ridiculous. People always talk about the lyrics, the themes, the content, the rhyme scheme, but the way he rides "Put Em Up", "Around My Way", "Audobon Ballroom", etc was just

 

[Loose]

LOL at skipping best tracks on the album i wont even quote that nikka to give him attention

 

[intilectual recipricol]

I think the most slept on aspect of Lupe's talent is his flow. Dude's flow is ridiculous. People always talk about the lyrics, the themes, the content, the rhyme scheme, but the way he rides "Put Em Up", "Around My Way", "Audobon Ballroom", etc was just

You can tell by what people choose to hate on. I hate to quote Drake (actually I dont hate to quote Drake, I cant hate on son), but he said, "of all the things that they be pokin fun at, never the flow though, they know I run that..."

I promise you mayne, I never heard a nicca complain about a hook EVER. I mean really listen to the choruses that these kids actually like and dont complain about, and they wanna hate on the "Heart Donor" chorus? Like I said before these cats woulda hated on "Thuggish Ruggish BONE," uh "California Love," "If I Ruled the World" etc... Anything that aint a dumb ass hootin and hollerin bout nothin on a track would be considered pop to these lil niccaz.

As I said in the thread before this shyt dropped. Lu has a wide fanbase that likes different types of songs from him and we all especially those of us that appreciate all his skills and abilities. Somehow thats lost on some people... like he's sposed to make an album of all "FFF" or "Put Em Up" I appreciate all that shyt (except Battle Scars lol).

 

[tru_m.a.c]

I don't have a problem with Brave Heart, but I still hate the Cold War hook, just unnecessarily changes the whole vibe of the song to me. Subdued and seemingly morose song and then out of nowhere comes this hollering ass dude trying to evoke "powerful" emotions. Just falls flat on its face.


And you're chastisement of simple hooks is a little perplexing. The whole point of a hook is to make part of the song catchy...hell that's why it's called a "hook", to hook the listener and make them desire the song more. Making it the lyrics simple and repetitive that fits that vibe of the song will achieve this result for most people rather than a hook that tries to do too much. So yes when it comes to hooks shyt like "Don't Like" is better/more effective than something like "Cold War" (yeah I realize this might piss some people off, but whatever).

Your post is EXACTLY what I've been trying to capture all weekend.

Its not simply that they're poorly written, they simply don't fit. If you took the hooks out of each song the song would be better.

The same goes for a lot of the beats and break downs.

I was telling my homie that when I ran back Audobon Ballroom. The way that song starts IS HOW THE SONG SHOULD CONTINUE. It doesn't need to ramp up. Or you don't have to ramp it up the ENTIRE song. I'm like fine, if you wanna make stadium anthem type beats, fine. But even Kanye knew how to tone down his Graduation album.

 

[Hiphoplives4eva]

Hate to do it to you mayne, but its your comprehension that was lazy on this. The lines you bolded ARE throw away lines and he used them to show the person rapping them uses throw away lines, and no thought. You quote it and somehow miss the point. Thats why he had to break it down, for you, yet here you are complaining

Secondly he DIDNT say anything about how women dress making them "nice and smart" he said the chick that the verse was referring to WAS nice and smart, and thats how she thought of herself. "Bad mean good to her, she really nice and smart"

Finally people love simple hooks. Turn on the radio my dude. If people sing along with that shyt (kinda like Ye's "Jesus Walks") then he's done his job. But you know cats wanna keep with what they already doing, as shown by the general reaction to the song. Funny thing is Lupe doesnt once tell you not to call the chick a B*tch.

Thanks for breaking it down for the brother. I've come to realize that Lupe really talked over alot of people's heads with this album. Really profound shyt he was spitting throughout. I really haven't heard another MC with as much mastery over his craft since Pac, real talk.

Lupe is truly on an entirely different level right now. Those calling this album wack really need to sit down, put on some headphones, and really listen to what this guy is saying. Unforgivable youth, BraveHeart, and ITAL Roses are especially profound..