I have seen the future ... and the name is Lupe Fiasco

"Lupe Fiasco is the shit. The next hottest shit in the Chi and if Twista said it, ain't nothing else need to be talked about after that." - Twista


Now, while the man who said, "Let me get your sheets wet/Listening to Keith Sweat" is not always the foremost authority on what's hot and what's not, he and I can agree on Lupe. I've already raved in two blogs about skateboard anthem "Kick Push," so I'll reserve my praise in this one for other songs. Lupe - along with Jenny Lewis - graces the cover of this month's issue of The Fader, dubbed "The Now Issue!" Describing Fiasco's debut "Food & Liquor" - due later this year - Eric Ducker writes, "As the only MC on the record, he's created an increasingly rare hip-hop album where the artist speaks for himself. The result is suitably, satisfyingly complex with horn-heavy party jams knocking against caustic politicalism."

While the release date of "Food & Liquor" is unknown, I am personally enjoying two Lupe mixtapes ("Fahrenheit 1/15" and "Revenge of the Nerd") that can be downloaded for free. There's also a third mixtape out there, where Lupe raps over Gorillaz "Demon Days," but that one is a little tougher to track down. High points on the mixtapes include "Conflict Diamonds" (rapped over Kanye's "Daimonds From Sierra Leonne"), "Comin From Where I'm From," and "Dear Fall," where Lupe predicts that "God willing" his album will come out in September (hopefully sooner).

As far is 2006 is concerned, "Food & Liquor" is the record I am most anticipating.