Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor by Lupe Fiasco

Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor, the Chicago rapper's debut, landed on September 19, 2006, through 1st & 15th Entertainment and Atlantic, the label Jay-Z steered him toward. He'd already turned heads that year guesting on Kanye West's "Touch the Sky", and he came to his own record with a deep bench behind the boards: the Neptunes, West, Mike Shinoda, Craig Kallman, Prolyfic, Needlz, Soundtrakk and Brandon Howard, with Jay-Z, Chill and Lupe himself as executive producers.

This is conscious hip-hop that actually does the thinking, verses turning over poverty, Islam, terrorism, racism and the business of staying yourself, delivered in a nimble, bookish flow over beats that swing from lush to punchy. "Kick, Push", the first single, gave him his first Hot 100 entry under his own name. The album debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 (early, incomplete SoundScan counts had it at 12), drew four Grammy nominations including Best Rap Album, and "Daydreamin'", with Jill Scott, later won a Grammy of its own at the 50th ceremony.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.