Pitchfork

"For those who don't already know," a sweat-soaked, de-spectacled Lupe Fiasco announced three-quarters through this secret, MySpace-sponsored record release gig at Chicago's Metro, "this is, like, the happiest day of my life."

And with good reason. Just yesterday, Lupe dropped one hell of a debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. Last night, he celebrated by treating several hundred of his closest friends to this free hometown show. They chanted his name, sang along with every word, and called out requests-- and Lupe more or less delivered.

For his part, Fiasco brought verve and spunk, hopping about the stage, temple veins popping out as he spit rhyme after rhyme, all of them pretty much flawless. When he wasn't rapping, he was half dancing, or pantomiming all the Jay-Z lines on "Pressure", or taking a breather while his recorded voice carried on behind him-- yes, he was essentially rapping over the album (apparently he had lost his voice recently), but this didn't hamper his skills or the energy a bit.

Nor did it detract from the spontaneity: Lupe appeared to be choosing the set order on the fly, actually consulting the tracklist on the back of his own album several times for ideas, and occasionally switching things up to accommodate audience requests ("Sunshine" being the most popular one from where I was standing).

If anything was lacking last night, it was probably Lupe's rapport with his DJ, which was weak at best, and downright curt at worst. Much better: a couple cute and comical exchanges between Lupe and right-hand-man Bishop, the latter a solid foil for the brainy wordsmith.

Local musician Matthew Santos turned out to sing his part on "American Terrorist", while Lupe's 1st & 15th crew-- including the promising Gemini and r&b trio Risque-- was on-hand to lend support on several songs.

Tears rolling down his cheeks, a choked-up Lupe abruptly stopped "Hurt Me Soul" a couple measures in so he could dedicate it to his late grandmother. His mother, who stood by onstage throughout the show (along with a couple dozen other folks), stepped up to offer her son a consoling hug. It was touching, to put it tritely, and I'll be damned if it was staged-- one more reason to believe Lupe is the real thing.

Lupe abroad:

09-22 Glasgow, Scotland - SEC Arena
09-23 Birmingham, England - NEC Arena
09-24 London, England - Wembley Arena
09-26 Dublin, Ireland - The Point
09-27 London, England - Royal Albert Hall