Lupe Fiasco
Tetsuo & Youth (Warner Music)
Breakdown: Lyrically, Lupe Fiasco has always been one of my favourite rappers and now, he is back with his fifth studio album titled Tetsuo & Youth. The record was preceded by the single ‘Deliver’ Lupe revealed that lyrical content was partially inspired by his upbringing in Chicago’s crime-ridden Westside: “The content of it is like, ‘Oh, shit, I didn’t know Lupe could talk like that. I didn’t know Lupe knew that guy. I didn’t know Lupe was affiliated with that.'”
How Many Good Tracks: 10 of the 16.
What I Liked: As mentioned, Lupe’s lyrics, as usual, steal the show. Each track managed to tell a wonderful story in a way which many other rappers struggle to do. Lupe didn’t come into this record hoping to release hits. He had a story to share with his audience and therefore, this isn’t your conventional rap album. Lupe also enlisted the likes of Guy Sebastian, Nikki Jean and a few other relatively unknown names to add some flavour to the songs. It’s great to see him give some other artists a chance rather than using the same rappers and singers over and over again. The album is his most mature to date and there is something really special to it.
What I Didn’t Like: Lupe does not follow the rules on this record. Sure, that’s not a bad thing but many of the songs land up being around six – nine minutes long which saw me skipping them towards the end.
Best Track: Dots and Lines
Rating: 3/5
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