Lupe Fiasco "The Cool"

There are albums that you listen to and immediately know they are about to become part of your permanent collection, and there are those that take time to grow on you. Lupe's Fiasco "The Cool" is a combination. The sheer mad genius of Lupe's production and rhymes aren't immediate. Some tracks take more than one listen- (Little Weapon, Fighters) but upon listening beyond the beat you begin to realize how smart this kid is. On The Coolest the practicing Muslim frankly addresses his ego-
"I love the Lord
But sometimes it's like that I love me more"

The self-proclaimed "coolest" maintains his honesty however. The album's first single is a show stopper- featuring Matt Santos, Lupe Fiasco's homegrown discovery -this is the kind of rap you want to see live. As Lu acknowledges his relative fame in Superstar-"And then it hit me
Standing outside of heaven waiting for god to come and get me
Im too uncouth," he continues to reveal his surprise at his ability to charm the crowd. Lupe Fiasco's quick rhyming is cerebral, but he never neglects his production values with crescendos in all the right places.
Other songs that are love at first listen include Paris/Tokyo, Goldwatch, & the second single Dumb It Down. Remember in Food & Liquor, Lupe's first album when he rapped about skateboards? That geek is back and able to criticize what makes others' game stale.
While The Cool is without a doubt a better album than Graduation or Curtis (the 2007 offering of Kanye West & 50 Cent) it is not perfect. Lupe and Snoop Dogg prove there can be an overdose of coolness on the track Hi-Definition, which somehow misses. Lupe derails his ability to narrate a song with Hip Hop Saved My Life, making things too easy. Although it would be easy to criticize Lupe for his singing his own hooks, it keeps his music genuine. Paris/Tokyo, an ode to love for the jet-set, he offers the chorus:
"Then we can land in the motherland,
Camelback across the desert sand.
Take a train, to Rome, or home,
Brazil, for real," while inspiring the listener to go grab their own John Lennon Chucks.
On the slow starter, Fighters, Lupe's other frequent guest Bishop drops some of the album's best lines - wondering what he would he say to the families of his video game victims. The quick & layered lyrics of The Cool demand a repeated listening.

Overall the album only improves upon a listening overdose.