Lupe Fiasco: Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt 1 – review

The great American novel is a dream writers can aspire to but never achieve. A similar fate has befallen Chicago's Lupe Fiasco, though whether he'll notice is another matter. Actively shunning sexism and violence, Fiasco stands out from many of his hip-hop peers. But he does so in such portentous fashion – "revered by the rich, approved by the poor" – that you wish he'd spend more time singing about his cars (which he also does on this album). Audobon Ballroom bigs up the Harlem renaissance, bemoans gold chains and tells white people not to use the N-word (thanks, will remember that). Bitch Bad confusingly tries to set up a debate around the use of the B-word; fortunately the chorus – "Bitch bad, woman good, lady better, greatest motherhood" is there to set us straight. Fiasco is not without skills or beliefs, but neither are as refined as his self-regard.