Tetsuo & Youth
Lupe Fiasco is an underground rapper with a mainstream career, and vice versa. From his label dust-ups to his shifting musical ambitions, he\'s an iconoclast who happens to be a hitmaker. He revels in this duality on *Tetsuo & Youth*. Dig the second track, \"Mural,\" which is nine minutes of dizzying raps with no guests and no hook. \"Chopper\" is similarly maximalist, featuring seven rappers and stretching nearly 10 minutes. Everything from banjo samples to \'80s metal guitars to classic boom-bap beats dot the productions. The smorgasbord of textures complements Lupe\'s seemingly endless verses, adding up to a quixotic album that\'s also one of his best.
Lupe Fiasco's fifth album, Tetsuo & Youth, is the most focused, thoughtful, and satisfying project he's offered since 2007's The Cool. Whatever set the stage for him, he dives back into rapping for its own sake like it's a big dusty novel he's been waiting to pick back up for years.
If there’s anything to be learned from Lupe Fiasco’s online presence over the last few years it’s that the long-time Atlantic signee has grown weary of his role as rap’s perennial social justice warrior (a role he has often thrust upon himself by publicizing controversial, sociopolitical opinions and seeking out…
Lupe Fiasco ended “Form Follows Function,” a song from Food and Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Part 1, his last…
Tossing off fans with the Eurodance, EDM, and the unexplainable album Lasers, and then returning to form with Food & Liquor II, Lupe Fiasco finds himself free to soar and aspire on his 2015 effort Tetsuo & Youth, an album inspired by the rapper's upbringing in Chicago.
Lupe Fiasco has long been a vexing case for the many devotees who've sympathized with his label quarrels and frustrated output, even when th...