Music Review: Lupe Fiasco “The Cool” (1st and 15th/Atlantic) * * * 1/2
While most of hip-hop’s regional fiefdoms crank out dumb-as-dirt party music and deny their art form’s potential for speaking real truths, Chicago is emerging as home to the most thoughtful exponents of the genre: Common, Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco. In 2006, Fiasco’s “Food and Liquor” expanded rap’s subject matter with the miraculous skateboarding anthem “Kick, Push,” and his new disc, “The Cool,” continues to make hip-hop bigger and brighter.
“The Cool” is reportedly a concept album about one man’s struggle between two supernatural forces, “The Game” and “The Street.” Well, good luck with that. “The Cool” is best enjoyed for its constituent parts, especially the expansive, Coldplay-esque single “Superstar” and the scathing indictment of low-aiming rappers, “Dumb It Down.” Apart from a collaboration with UNKLE and the engaging, Snoop Dogg-fueled rave-up “Hi Definition,” Fiasco keeps his collaborations Chicago-centric, and the biggest surprise of the disc is “Little Weapon,” a Virginia Tech massacre anthem produced by Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy.
“The Cool” wears its brains on its sleeve, but it also has plenty of heart. The love anthem “Paris, Tokyo” boasts a smooth jazz melody worthy of Steely Dan and a high-flying romantic narrative. With Fiasco, modern hip-hop finally has a crusader for truth, justice and a sense of real purpose beyond the endless party.
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Comments
Hey Kristen,
No, I didn’t see the Cains show — Tulsa’s seriously outclassing us on booking lately. Wish I had: Ryan’s an amazing talent. I interviewed him and saw him when he was 22 and in Whiskeytown, and I’ll always remember him as one of the most witty people I’ve interviewed. His recorded output ranges from good to great, and it only dips down to merely good because he tends to record every single idea he has — few musicians are as insanely prolific as this guy.
Again, sounds like a great show.
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Hi George, this isn’t a comment about the above review, I was just wondering if you caught Ryan Adams and the Cardinals Wednesday evening at the Cains in Tulsa? What a great show! I did not know much about him until my husband got me interested. His voice reminds me so much of Jeff Buckley (at times). Of course the performance was wonderful. He came out before the show and pretended he was someone else, also named Ryan, to be the opening act and peformed for about 30 minutes. He never broke character. Anyway, they played close to two hours and then finished off with a 45 minute encore. I was just wondering if anyone else caught the show and what they thought.