Last month, Lupe Fiasco announced that his new album, untitled at this time, is “my Illmatic“. As fans still wait for a release date, the man has been to work.
In August, Lupe put out “Teach A Man To Fish”, a fresh freestyle that came to the heels of a summer of freestyle work. Earlier this month he released a brand-new freestyle “Diet Soda Poetry”, a flip of Drake’s “Champagne Poetry”. Now, he’s released an original track that comes to us courtesy of the SHOWTIME documentary The One and Only Dick Gregory.
Lupe and Mr Gregory
For those unaware, Dick Gregory was a ground-breaking 1960s comedian and civil rights activist. Throughout the turbulent times of the 60s-70s, Gregory was at the forefront of political activism and rebellious comedy.
Lupe Fiasco certainly paid homage to the man. Appearing on the soundtrack to the documentary, “Big Energy” covers Dick Gregory’s life and times, taking us from milestone to milestone.
Lupe recounts his life:
“Born in St. Louis, moved to Illinois to school/Then came up to Chicago for professional college pursuings/Told jokes in the army, not your average Amish mami.”
“In the 1960s is when he really was in his prime/Had a brick layin’ in Playboy, even ended up in Times/Wrote n-gger in ’64 and then wrote many more/Extending proficiency to flip obscenity to lore.”
“…his life was quite fascinating/From the rare hostage crisis to Kennedy assassination/He was there, present and probably every affair/From Selma to telling Kentucky Fried treat their chickens with care.”
A diet of Gold
But celebrating Gregory’s life isn’t the only celebration Lupe’s doing. Last Wednesday (September 22), Lupe announced that his debut LP Food & Liquor has finally been certified Gold. Released in 2006, the album has passed the 500,000 copies-sold milestones.
Lupe took to Instagram to celebrate, thanking his fans and enemies alike. Whether they “stayed down like an elephant chest” or “tried to harm the name”, Lupe says “#TheMarathonContinues”. Food & Liquor, 15 years-old last Sunday, is the jewel in Lupe Fiasco’s crown. Indeed, the album debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and took three Grammy nominations. Among these were Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song (“Kick, Push”), and Best Solo Rap Performance. In 2008, Lupe won Best Urban/Alternative Song for “Daydreamin” at the 50th Grammys.
Fans and artists alike toasted to Lupe and Food & Liquor‘s legacy, among them Tyler, the Creator and ScHoolboy Q.
I remember goin to @LupeFiasco sHow at tHe observatory in O.C & He brung out @gmalone & g brung out mystro… I wasn’t even rapping at tHe time 😢😢 my locs always called me weird for listening to lupe 😂 classic album ✊🏾 https://t.co/Nl3z3t1yFB
