ALBUM REVIEW: Lupe Fiasco's "The Cool"

I finally got around to listening to rapper Lupe Fiasco's sophomore album The Cool, released on December 18. I know, I'm late. But after listening to the rhyme-savvy 25-year-old, I came to the conclusion that he's a tad deficient on the beats--they haven't quite reached Kanye or Jay-Z levels. Although he's already released "Dumb it Down" and "Superstar," I actually found myself replaying "Little Weapon," having to start all over every time I discovered a politically-driven lyric that made my mind race.

The song is about youths using guns, but not like inner-city youth. It's more like the kid who shoots up a school or robs a convenience store or is recruited into an African rebel army. My favorite line is when he says that there are "Camouflage suits/made to fit youths/cuz the ones off the dead soldiers/hang a lil loose." The fact that they went through the trouble to fit the kids for battle uniforms is a sick thought. Then he says, "Childhood destroyed/devoid of all childish/ways/Can't write their own names/or read the words/that's on their own graves." The idea that any kid is old enough to kill, but not read is jarring. And then rapper Bishop G closes the song with his own verse saying, "Imagine if I had to console/the families/of those slain/I slayed/on game consoles." Relating the child rebels to kids at home, goofing off on their PS2's, brings home the cultural differences in a major way. Matched up with the drum beat it makes for a good listen. Try it for yourself and spot your own fave lyrics: