Lupe Fiasco - The Cool Review

Posted by Patrick Robinson on 12.19.2007

Can Lupe Fiasco top his Grammy nominated debut album Food & Liquor with The Cool?

A few weeks ago, I outlined the list of the Top 10 rappers to look for in 2007. Lupe Fiasco came in at Number 1 and without a doubt, has certainly made his presence felt in the latter half of 2007. With talks of The Cool being his second last album in what has been an incredibly short career and the incident at the VH1 Hip-Hop Awards questioning his status as a hip-hop fan, Lupe has certainly lived up to his Number 1 placing on the list.

His debut album, Food & Liquor peaked at Number 8 on the Billboard Top 200 albums, despite the lead single, “Kick, Push” failing to break the Top 50 on the Billboard singles chart. Furthermore, the album was plagued with early leaking to the Internet on two occasions, the first leak causing him to re-record a lot of material for the final product.

With three Grammy nominations and numerous other awards for his debut album, can Lupe Fiasco successfully follow in Food & Liquor’s footsteps? Or will he suffer the sophomore jinx and become complacent in his work?



Tracks

1. Baba Says Cool For Thought
2. Free Chilly Ft. Sarah Green & Gemstones
3. Go Go Gadget Flow
4. The Coolest
5. Superstar Ft. Matthew Santos
6. Paris, Tokyo
7. Hi-Definition Ft. Snoop Dogg & Pooh Bear
8. Gold Watch
9. Hip-Hop Saved My Life Ft. Nikki Jean
10. Intruder Alert Ft. Sarah Green
11. Streets On Fire
12. Little Weapon Ft. Bishop G & Nikki Jean
13. Gotta Eat
14. Dumb It Down Ft. Gemstones & Graham Burris
15. Hello / Goodbye (Uncool) Ft. UNKLE
16. The Die Ft. Gemstones
17. Put You On Game
18. Fighters Ft. Matthew Santos
19. Go Baby Ft. Gemstones

Lupe Fiasco is ridiculously talented. His charisma, ability to change topics within a song, use of metaphors, raw lyrical ability, ear for beats and creativity as a whole are light years beyond anybody else in the hip-hop game at the moment. Many see this as a blessing and a curse. A blessing because this pure talent creates some of the most fantastic and engaging songs you’ll hear but a curse because it ultimately goes over the head of most listeners. Add to this are his somewhat unorthodox flow and voice, and you are left with an incredible individual who is falling upon deaf ears. Whilst Food & Liquor served as a showcase of his ability, it is The Cool that I feel, truly shows us what Lupe is capable of if you are willing to listen.

The first two tracks serve as intros to the album with the former outlining things that are perceived as ‘cool’ (“They think it’s cool to stand on the block hiding Product in their socks”). The latter is a shout out to Chilly Mack who, if I remember correctly, was Lupe’s manager and friend during his early days but is currently incarcerated.

Production-wise, this album truly rivals Ghostface Killah’s album The Big Doe Rehab for the best produced album of 2007 in my opinion. Songs such as lead single “Superstar”, “Paris, Tokyo” and “Fighters” have laid-back beats, which are also pretty damn catchy. Comparatively, “Hip-Hop Saved My Life” and “Intruder Alert” practically bleed emotion with the latter being one of the best beats I’ve heard in my life. Finally, “Put You On Game” is truly dark and menacing complimenting the song lyrics perfectly. Whilst this is only a sample of the songs on The Cool it truly is an enjoyable listen from a purely production-wise standpoint with the solitary misstep being “Gold Watch” where an irritating chatter sample distracts you from the song.

Lyrically, Lupe has matured as an artist and is not afraid to show it in songs such as “Go Go Gadget Flow” where his double cadence flow indicates his ability to rap at a faster pace AND make sense at the same time (something I feel rappers such as Twista lack on occasion).

Elsewhere, “Hip-Hop Saved My Life” is an amazingly vivid story of an aspiring rapper trying to make it as an artist. From a mere MySpace artist, to achieving success on the local circuit to, finally gaining recognition on a national scale Lupe is incredibly detailed giving each bar purpose. Lupe ends the song with the chilling lines ”Now it feels good when it happens like that, two days from goin' back to sellin' crack” mirroring what is undoubtedly the mindset of many rappers that fail to make it as an artist and ultimately return to hustling to make a living.

The album’s second single, “Dumb It Down” is a slap in the face of the haters and those that dumb their lyrics down for a mainstream audience rather than preserve their integrity as an artist. There’s about a list of a dozen rappers floating around in my head as I type this that should take note of the lyrics in this song. Not just for the message they represent, but again, for Lupe’s raw lyrical ability. It needs to be heard to be believed.

“Intruder” is easily the best song on the album and quite possibly his best song to date as each verse deals with a separate reality of life. As previously mentioned, the instrumental is fantastic and Sarah Green adds a degree of emotion to the track that puts the finishing touches on a beautiful display of lyricism, story telling and sincerity.

“Little Weapon” is about children that take up arms in impoverished countries. Bishop G closes out the song with an outstanding verse comparing what Lupe has been rapping about to a child playing a violent video game. Patrick Stump (from Fall Out Boy) produces the track, which has a very militaristic feel (and sounds eerily Linkin Park-ish). “Put You On Game” also condemns a lot of American life:

”I am the American dream,
The rape of Africa
The undying machine,
The overpriced medicine,
The murderous regime,
The tough guy's front
And the one behind the scenes…

…Maybe you can grow up to be a stripper,
A welfare-receiving prostitute
A gold digger,
You can watch on TV,
How they should properly depict you,
The rivers should flow with liquor,
Quench your thirst on my elixirs”

So, with all this praise, what’s stopping this being a perfect album? “Hi-Definition” suffers from a lackluster hook and appearance by Snoop Dogg (the only ‘known’ appearance on the album), “The Die” suffers from being simply average compared to everything else on the album and “Hello / Goodbye” is a little slow and derails some of the momentum the album had. But really, these songs are still much, MUCH, better than the majority of hip-hop music in the market today and aren’t enough to prevent this album from being virtually perfect.

The 411: As I mentioned in the introduction to the review, Lupe isn’t for the average listener. His lyrics and vocabulary are ridiculously advanced and he certainly doesn’t dumb it down for the mainstream. However, if you enjoyed his debut album and for those with an open mind, you will find this to be an extremely enjoyable listen and should not hesitate to pick up a copy as soon as possible. Highly recommended.

Final Score:  9.5   [  Amazing ]