Tetsuo & Youth 2015 Album

Lupe Fiasco

Lupe's spitting on some of the tracks here like on 'Mural' is one of the reasons why I love hip hop. The lines and content Lupe is talking about is also going to take further listens to completely understand everything the dude is talking about, which is rare for anything remotely mainstream in hip hop these days. The other side of this is the production which I can't say I love. Pop-rap could almost be a primary genre here. I was really worried after the first half a dozen or so songs with the "soft shit" as Lupe referred to such songs in a recent interview with Sway. The 'Dots Lines' beat... yuck. It evens itself out as the album ventures on but all in all I'd take Lupe over the beats on the much maligned 'F&L2' over these. Other criticisms: I don't like Ab Soul's voice; the song would probably be my favourite without him, 'Choppers' is too long, and the beat isn't A1. Although I didn't understand the hate for the aforementioned album, it is good to see Lupe receiving the critical acclaim again that his talent deserves. It will be interesting to see what Lupe can bring in the future with complete creative control because judging by his comments in the interview I mentioned earlier even this seemed to be compromised. 3.5-3/5 Best Tracks: Mural, Madonna (And Other Mothers in the Hood), They.Resurrect.Over.New