Words By: Hallway Jay
OVERALL RATING:
Lupe Fiasco brings forth his most recent studio album: Lupe Fiasco’s “The Cool” where we venture through one of hip-hop’s newest “superstar’s” only to find that his meaning of cool may be a bit different then the next man’s definition. With this album we see an expansion of a song on his first album also titled “The Cool” except on this one there is a deeper Lu.Starting off, I normally drop all the producer credits and break down the songs accordingly but to show off there FNF’s production skills Soundtrakk produces or co-produces 10 out of the 19 (or 10 out of 20 if you buy the Special edition). So in order to properly break down this particular album yours truly will start out with Soundtrakk’s songs and then move on to the other producers.
Lupe Fiasco - Superstar (Ft. Matthew Santos)
To start out this album has two very distinct introductions the first “Baba Says Cool for Thought” is performed by Iesha Jaco and we see that so many “Thought it was cool to….”. Followed by a heartfelt call out, “Free Chilly”, to FNF’s currently incarcerated Co-Owner Charles “Chilly” Patton by Gemstones and Sarah Green, this should be a nice message through the airwaves for a brother on lock down, Keep your Head up.
Soundtrakk establishes himself as a household name with several tracks on Lu’s album yet “Go Go Gadget Flow” is a rapid braggadocios onslaught of lyrics expressing his love for the Chi over electric guitar riffs and a very repetitive set of strings and bass that matches Lupe’s flow perfectly. Trakk absolutely murders the soundwaves with the Matthew Santos assisted “Superstar” where an introspective Fiasco expresses the lifestyle of the upper echelon. The old school feel of “Paris,Tokyo” is co-produced by Eumir Deodato, and includes a sample from Deodato’s “San Juan Sunset”. This ode to the females reminds me of an early 90’s sound and establishes a traveling love. The Nikki Jean assisted “Hip-Hop saved My Life” is a 4 minute story of how different hustles in Hip-Hop help save different people from being feeling “worthless”. This piano driven track establishes the versatility that Soundtrakk encompasses.
Artwork by VangoGFX.More piano’s are given to us through “Intruder Alert” as Matthew Santos and Sarah Green help an epic orchestration perfected through an almost signature drum and snare line. The strings are the bare essentials to a song worthy of greatness with metaphors strung like clothes trying to dry on a line “Gotta Eat” is a noteworthy track, the lyrics matter (listen up emcees). A open letter to industry “Dumb it Down” is a bass and synth heavy track of complete intelligence focused as an outraged Lu brings a tsunami of lyrics to the record labels doorsteps we also see Gemstones and Graham Burris on this track as well. The death of the Cool is established with subtle shouts, electrics guitars, and synth as an introspective Gemstones and Lupe go back and forth to show the lyrical prowess of two of the Chi’s finest. The final track (or final two if you get the special edition w/ Blackout from Circuit City) brings forth a high powered energized track with Lupe shouting the ladies out and make it well known that “LupEND” is on its way.
Despite this extreme list of songs, about 50 percent given to in-house producer love, we do see outstanding tracks from Chris & Drop with “The Coolest”, “Gold Watch”, “Streets On Fire”. The song “Streets on Fire” is a stand out of the three with an epic backdrop given by scratched and the amazing voice of Matthew Santos while Lu explains the personification of the Streets. One other production credit that comes surprisingly is Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy’s “Little Weapon” featuring Bishop G and Nikki Jean. This song displays how a child and weapons are extremely deadly combination, the sample is crazy in this track, as well as the “Ohhhh’s” during the verses, check it out. Alshux’s “Hi-Definition” features the always eventful Snoop Dogg and Pooh Bear and is one of the best constructed and most vibrant songs constructed on the album, this anthem-like song is single material. Other great selections by various producers include Le Messie’s “ Fighters” featuring Matthew Santos, “Put You on Game” by Simonsays, and Unkle’s “Hello/Goodbye” featuring Gemstones. Unkle’s different style is amazingly constructed and Hello/Goodbye is an excellent example of how different production that can bring a significantly different sound to the album. Overall, this album is definitely “Cool” and hardly a “Fiasco”.
