Red Bull Music Festival

Red Bull Music Festival is a music festival organized by the energy drink brand, Red Bull. In the 2019 Chicago series, for its third consecutive year, it was held from November 17-30, featuring Lupe Fiasco, Saba, Jamila Woods, Smino, and more. Fiasco performed for the first time in his home city the entirety of his Food & Liquor album, on the 21st at the Riviera Theatre. The event organizers added, "A hip-hop record that was unlike any other being released during its time, "Food & Liquor" represented a new era of Chicago rap, with the reverberations of its influence still being felt today."^[1] Opening acts were Kidd Kenn, Two Depressed Kids, and The Twilite Tone.

Reception[]

In Danielle James' review for HelloBeautiful, she wrote, "Fiasco enters the stage wearing a custom 15 Bulls jersey (possibly a shout out to 1st and 15th Entertainment who released his first album in conjunction with Atlantic Records), camouflage pants, Air Jordan 6s Infareds, and a red bandana. His 12 person band and back-up singers was beautifully displayed on the set. However, before the show even began, he started it just like he did on his album, with the iconic Intro, written and performed by his sister, Ayesha Jaco. [...] Movements have been formed with people vocalizing their thoughts and others joining. However, Fiasco isn't here for solely social media activism, it takes more than a click. He emphatically tells the crowd, "The soul will continue to hurt if it doesn't start to activate or militate to fulfill a goal." The crowd claps and I wonder how many seeds of hope and action have been planted between Kick, Push and Hurt Me Soul to listeners who are both new and longtime fans. It's great to see, years later, that Fiasco has remained an activist at his core."^[2]

In similar sentiments, a writer for hip hop magazine Respect stated, "These three acts set the mood for Lupe Fiasco to own the stage and he did just that. Chicago-born rapper, Lupe Fiasco gave the crowd a passionate performance of a lifetime, reciting his entire 2006 album Food & Liquor. An album that touched millions of listeners in 2006, Lupe Fiasco was able to reciprocate the same feelings and energy back to his hometown 13 years later. A magical night for Chicago, Fiasco's performance lasted around 2 hours and included a charismatic band featuring horns and violins."^[3]