LUPE FIASCO, 'KICK, PUSHING' HIMSELF INTO THE HIP-HOP HALL OF FAME

At last, someone who has something to say! These days I've been sick and tired of the materialistic and sexist 'hip-hop' that has dominated MTV and the radio in these recent times. Artist like Mos Def, Nas and Talib Kweli are far and few and instead we are bombarded by people who have nothing to say but how many cars, houses and women they have. But finally Lupe Fiasco has landed in our shores.

Chicagobased Muslim MC Lupe Fiasco began rapping in Junior High School and joined a group called Da Pak. The group signed to Epic, released one single and split up. L.A. Reid signed Fiasco as a solo artist to Arista, but was fired (Reid) before anything of significance happened. Fiasco eventually landed at Atlantic Records where his debut album 'food and liquor' was released. He appeared in Kanye West's ''Touch the Sky' where he outshone Kanye with his metaphor based lyrics.

Boy can this guy write. He is poetry in motion just like J. Ivy. His lyrics flow and ebb and his storytelling is evident in his first single 'kick, push', a song about a love of skateboarding (something he has in common with Pharrel, who produced one of his songs in the album). One music review said the song is a 'unique song that unites hip-hop with skateboarding', something that I wholeheartedly agree with. It's not all the time that you see African-Americans (black people in general) talk about skateboarding, they make it seem like a white person's sport. But I disagree but that's another topic for another time.

Another song that I LOVE is the track ft Mz Jill Scott, 'Daydream' my favourite lyrics being 'daydream, where I sleep underneath the flowers, on a beautiful day'. This song, where I might borrow someone else's words which I think are quite adequate, is a 'colorful blend of poetry and bluest hip-hop' at it's most purest. It samples Monster's 'Daydream in Blue'.

Lupe Fiasco's album 'Food and Liquor' is a storytelling lyricism that outshines anything that is called 'hip-hop' sold today.

You can check out his band's website and his myspace to listen to some great tracks. If you live, breath hip-hop this is an album to have in your collection.