Tetsuo & Youth

Pitchfork 7.2/10 Something feels different this time around: If Tetsuo & Youth is any indication, something has shaken loose in Lupe, because it's the most focused, thoughtful, and satisfying project he's offered since The Cool.

A.V. Club B The album is the best Lupe Fiasco has been in years, mostly because it forgoes the previously self-imposed mandates of his savior complex in favor of a balanced view from both intrapersonal and interpersonal lenses.

The Needle Drop 7/10 With what might be his final project with Atlantic Records, Lupe Fiasco releases his most conceptual and headiest album in years, backing these tracks up with an instrumental set that's a step above what he delivered on his two previous LPs.

Rolling Stone 3/5 Lupe Fiasco's fifth album is a swirl of double meanings, extended metaphors about yoga and math, and increasingly labyrinthine ways to say "I'm dope".

All Music 4/5 Tetsuo & Youth strolls its way into greatness after a couple listens and wipes out all the bitter aftertaste of Lasers as if that misstep never happened.

Pop Matters 8/10 Tetsuo & Youth finds Lupe Fiasco returning to the ambitious abandon that defined his first two albums.

Spectrum Culture 70% Tetsuo & Youth ... firmly sets Lupe back in the pantheon.

RapReviews.com 10.0/10 Like the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh it’s likely to be better appreciated by future generations than it will be in its own time.