BOBBY WOODY • LUPE FIASCO’S FOOD & LIQUOR

I think that there are so many moments that led me down the path of becoming a musician, but one album that is a very clear point on my musical timeline would be Food & Liquor by Lupe Fiasco. I think I first heard the song “Kick, Push” on the radio when I was 12 and it drew me in because it was about skateboarding. What kept me was that every song on the album told a very complete story over a very well produced instrumental. I had already liked Hip Hop and knew I wanted to make music somehow, but I wasn’t trying anything other than demo beat making softwares at this point. After many repeats of FnL, I wanted to make rap songs and I wanted to be as good a storyteller as Lupe. One of the first things that I had recorded and uploaded to the internet was a remix of “Kick, Push.” It’s been 13 years since then and I’m still nowhere near as good a storyteller as Lupe, but I still really appreciate that album (and his next two albums) because it was one of the first rap projects that got me excited and critical about lyrics.