Lupe Fiasco’s Tetsuo & Youth, the rapper’s fifth album, might remind audiences of Japanese manga character Tetsuo Shima, but Fiasco may have chosen the title only because it sounds cool.
The album may show resilience after his previous struggles with Atlantic Records, his fallen popularity and announcing retirement last year. This album stayed away from major political engagement, rather, and Fiasco is back at his old job, especially on the nine-minute, non-stop rap on the intro track, “Mural.”
Inspired by his own upbringing in Chicago’s West Side, where crime is abundant, songs such as “Prisoner 1 & 2” touches on the prison-industrial complex and dives into multiple minds to evaluate both the prisoner’s thoughts, as well as the prison guards’. “Deliver” took another angle and used the signified pizza delivery car as a symbol of exploring the neglected neighborhoods where crime flourishes.
On the other hand, there are also beautiful lines, such as in “They.Resurrent.Over.New,” featuring Ab-Soul and Troi, where he sang, “High as the angel on Dikembe’s shoulder.” Also important to point out, apart from his words; the album’s cover is an art work of his own, expressing his passion for painting.
This album is definitely a turnaround for Fiasco’s career; contradicting with his lively performance on front stages, his production team has not produced equally lively backing tracks for him, different from past efforts.
Overall, from the audience’s reaction during preview show last Nov. 1 in Jacksonville, Florida, the fans are still out there shouting for Fiasco, and his simple motivation of just making music.
Rating: B-
