Lupe Fiasco – The Cool - B000WPNL8Q

The manner in which I came across Lupe’s work did not hold enormous promise – his track ‘The Instrumental’ stood out among many on Madden’s 2007 soundtrack - that’s an American Football computer game before you ask... Furthermore, 2007 was not a vintage year for urban music releases.

So it was with trepidation that I purchased his second LP, 2008’s ‘The Cool’. Any thoughts that this would be a posturing, all about the bling hip-hop album were quickly dispersed in the first minute. The intro, ‘Baby Says Cool For Thought ’ contains mentions to Katrina (9 seconds in), Virginia Tech (15 seconds), and Police violence (34 seconds). Turns out ‘The Cool’ is actually all about the substance.

Standout tracks such as ‘Superstar’ is reminiscent of Kanye West’s best outings, Gold Watch contains beats worthy of DJ Format, and the chorus of ‘Streets on Fire’ is familiar to anyone who familiar to Ian Brown’s work with UNKLE. ‘Little Weapon’ has such a raucous beat you can’t help put nod your head.

I was excited to see this album even featured an UNKLE collaboration, and its testament to how good this album this is that that track (Hello/Goodbye) can disappoint and I’m still writing this review. Plus any album featuring un-intentional references to Inspector Gadget (Go Go Gadget Flow) are always a listen.