Categories : Music Reviews, Rap + Hip-Hop, Top Rated.
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Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Connor Turner |
Already anointed the next great Windy City saviour of hip-hop, Lupe’s debut album Food & Liquor was pigeonholed with a sizeable disadvantage by the enormous sense of expectation. While a stunning revival of mid-nineties era Tribe Called Quest hip-hop, the nostalgic vibe was a commercial failure, albeit a critical success. With The Cool, the pressure continues to mount as Lupe Fiasco is faced with justifying his preordained crown. Luckily, in the face of insurmountable demands, Lupe bestows upon the hip-hop community a worthy masterpiece.
The Cool, which had been marred early on by internet leaks and release date changes, is a different breed from Lupe’s initial foray into the mainstream. Coined as a semi-concept album – the title refers to a reoccurring character in both albums – The Cool has pushed away the mid-‘90s revival (and thankfully the twenty minute shout outs) of Food and Liquor. Instead, Lupe concentrates on showcasing his astonishing flow and vocabulary over a spectrum of sounds.
With production from Unkle and SoundTrakk, and a wide range of guest spots from Snoop Dogg, GemStones and Mathew Santos, The Cool is almost impossible to classify. Bouncing from the dark moody side of ‘Put You On Game’ and ‘Little Weapon’ to the club popping anthems ‘Hi-Definition’ and ‘Superstar,’ The Cool is an experiment to say the least. The aggressive and gritty ‘Dumb it Down’ is the album’s masterpiece, touching on one of Lupe’s favourite subjects – his place in today’s hip-hop industry. The only real tarnish on a near perfect album is the laid back ‘Paris, Tokyo’ which comes far too close to the chilled out vibe of ‘Kick, Push.’
In a year where Kanye and Common both let the hip-hop nation down, it’s a shame that The Cool wasn’t released earlier in the year. This record deserves a fate far greater than a late December release – it truly belongs in the upper echelon of 2008.
