Review: Tetsuo & Youth by Lupe Fiasco

Wow! Instant classic. I can't believe it took so long to listen to a Lupe Fiasco album. There's a lot here, so I should really listen to it a few more times before reviewing, but the week's almost over.

It's extremely content-dense. Mural sets the tone with no chorus and two verses spread over a whopping 8 minutes 48 seconds. It's a bit intentionally abstruse; he says something you might think is a non sequitur but then you go back and find it connects. The lyricism is elite: the wordplay is insane, vocabulary like Nigel Richards', allusions that would delight any English professor, video game references to make most jaded streamer type PogChamp in the chat. The tracks are mostly 1 to 2 minutes or 5 to 9, which makes it feel kind like Deltron 3030 to me.

And it's a fuckin banger. It goes down like water. I always say that good kid, m.A.A.d. city is great because it's got someting real to say and it's extremely listenable; it's one I listen to all the way thru nearly every time. This feels like that. The beats are all 10/10. It's got gospel (Blur My Hands), banjos (Dots & Lines), disturbing horror-movie violins (Winter), and the slimiest bass line you ever heard (Chopper). There's a lot here and it'll be a pleasure to peel back the layers over many future listens.