Day 24: Food & Liquor (2006) by Lupe Fiasco

For having such a huge music collection, I've only done one hip hop album, which was Mos Def's "The Ecstatic." I figured I'd add one more to the collection since I'm a pretty big hip hop head. But I guess a little background on my experience with music is needed to better understand how I feel about this album. 


My first real introduction to music was when I was in 6th grade. Coming from a religious family, my parents wouldn't allow me to listen to any music that wasn't Christian. Up to that point, I had little knowledge of any secular music. I didn't even know who Tupac was when I heard he died! Crazy, huh?


But when I got to 6th grade, I got my first taste of hip hop (and r&b, to an extent) riding the bus every morning and evening. The bus driver would tune to Power 106, and I would listen to the songs until my stop came by, which was always the last stop. But I fell in love with it. I began to listen to music behind my parents' back, reciting songs and at points trying to come up with songs of my own. I sometimes stayed up til 2 or 3 in the morning listening to music on my clock radio. It was a whole new world for me.


That went on until high school. By that point, I began to learn how to play guitar. For those few years, I kind of dismissed hip hop as being crude, materialistic, and completely watered down. I had very few hip hop acts in my collection. In my opinion, rock music was the best music, and hip hop was just a sad excuse for taking advantage of people's ignorance. You also didn't have to be talented to listen to or to make hip hop. I was, at best, an elitist, hating on brothers and sisters who made some cash on their fame. 


It took my boy Illyz AKA John Cabiles to really reintroduce me back to hip hop. Hahaha...I remember how he got me thinking, although I may not remember the exact words. It was my first time living with Illyz. We were 19 and I was discussing the few hip hop artists that I supported at the time, including Kanye West, claiming that he was the exception to the rule of violence and misogyny within hip hop. Illyz began to discuss the artists that got no support, including one of the hip hop groups that I fell in love with known as Binary Star. He discussed the different types of rhymes that you can find by searching for music. 


Well, if I was an elitist before, then I Super-Saiyaned to an ultra elitist. Now, it was all about the "underground." Fuck the "mainstream." I was different and I was cool for it. Which is ironic, because people feel superior to others for not listening to their obscure music. But in reality, it's like being at a party where you're the only guest. No one else is gonna care.



Elitist super-saiyan: taking about 4 episodes to finish transformation. 


Anyways, it wasn't 'til I lived with my boy Rex that I actually began to listen to music from a different point of view. Living with Rex was like having a DJ in your house. Every day it was some new form of music (mostly hip hop, but he still had a diverse taste in music). Maybe it was because he was musician that he was able to understand the beauty of music in all it's different forms. Either way, I was inspired. It was actually because of him that I began this little mission.


There is one last dude that I have to bring up. And this will bring it full circle. My boy Ryan, one of the guys I met while working Camp Paintrock, was a living archive of black music. At that point, I still hated on mainstream hip hop. But then Ryan called me over one day and put his headphones on my head. On it was playing Lupe Fiasco's "American Terrorist." Holy shit, it blew my mind! It was honest. It was raw. And it spoke to me. I promised I would get that album one way or another. 


And this is where I'm at with my relation to music. It took me a while in my journey, but I got to a point where I realized: why hate? Music is subjective. That which I think is dope may not be dope to someone else. And why not look at music from a someone else's perspective? You may find that you like it. 


Now I love music. I love to listen to it, I love to create it, I love to talk about it. I want to dance to it, I want to sing at the top of my lungs, I want to smash guitars and just feel the energy rush through my soul. I just want music.

If Snoop says so...

I'm still a bit of a hater, no lie. But I'm more aware of it. I try to give all music a chance. There's still music I don't like, but hey, not everything is my cup of tea. But sometimes you can find gems like this album. This album is personal, enlightening, funky, and just straight good. And I just needed to be more open with myself to truly appreciate it.


It took a lot of growing up to begin to think of music in different terms, but a few of my boys definitely had to nudge me towards the edge. So thanks to my boy Illyz for reintroducing to a genre of music that I love dearly, Rex for helping me think differently about music in general, and Ryan for showing me that mainstream music can be good music. You guys were definitely catalyst in my musical journey.


Anyhow, love all music, and love each other. I'll see you on the other side.


Peace, bruthas and sistas.