Thoughts On: Tetsuo & Youth

Recommended Listening: Mural, Prisoner 1 & 2, Adoration of the Magi

Welcome back to another installment of Thoughts On, where I feign musical knowledge in such a way to trick my readers into thinking I can write legit reviews. Just a warning now this will be one of the most bias things I ever write because this week we are talked about Lupe Fiasco's 'Tetsuo & Youth'. Now Lupe is one of my favorite rappers whom I have been following for years and I was anxiously waiting this release back in January. I would like to say that I spent the almost two months between release and this write up deeply analyzing the album but honestly I just got caught up in a bunch more music. That being said I think this work is phenomenal and I am going to try my best to fairly explain my point of view. It should also be noted that this may be the last album from Lupe for a while, as he split with his current label and wants to disappear from the mainstream eye after promotion of his album is done.

I remember being a junior in high school and catching wind of this rapper by the name of Lupe Fiasco. Curious I do what I always do, download multiple albums and try and access whether or not I like this artist. These albums I got of course being 'Food & Liquor' and 'The Cool', which now stand as classics of the 00's era of hip-hop music. But who was this Lupe character? Well he is a rapper from Chicago (one of the biggest breeding grounds of major rappers) who was probably first notably heard on a guest verse on Kanye West's song 'Touch the sky', where his clever wordplay and nerdy overtones gathered attention. Later that year his solo album (Food and Liquor) dropped and the rest is history. Now Lupe is an interesting rapper in his own right, he is lyrically one of the most complex rappers I have ever heard (matched only really by Kendrick and Eminem) but his real power is how he is able to paint such complex narratives within his music that is so vivid it is almost tangible. He talks a lot of video games, anime, and early on how he used to hate hip-hop music. At the time I resonated more so with him than any other rapper (Except Gambino) and I was amazed that one could be so outwardly nerdy and still be a respected rapper. His first two albums were chock full of allusions that took months to fully decipher and Lupe become the new face of Conscious Rap. To anyone who doesn't know, Conscious Rap is simply a pet name given to a sub-genre of hip-hop that focuses on either pressing external issues or puts emphasis on intelligent lyricism. As years went on however Lupe became entangled with his Atlantic music label and put out the less than stellar album 'Lasers', which has an odd mix of positive energy and anti establishment views. It was a high polarizing album' with most Lupe fans not liking the direction his music was taking. Later on in 2012 he released 'Food and Liquor part II' and while it was much better than Lasers it still did not live up to the legacy of his earlier work. At lot of this was apparently caused by what the label did and didn't want Lupe to put on his albums, and Tetsuo & Youth was shaping up to be an entirely different album before he took a bit more control and changed the whole project. There were a good 3 singles released to promote the album and none of them made it on. The only single the album has is Deliver, which is a result of the project changing so much in its life cycle.

So what does the album sound like? Well T&Y has a bit of a short track list, a 16 piece album made up of 12 tracks and 4 interludes based on the 4 seasons, but it does not lack in length or depth. The album starts with the interlude 'Summer' in which a bright violin plays while you can hear the sounds of children splashing in water in the background. From the jump it seems like Lupe is going with a more artist approach, and while some may see this as pretentious I see it as purposeful. He wants this album to be a reflection of his artistry and not just a collection of singles. After Summer we get 'Mural', a fantastic 9 minute song with no hook that is just Lupe doing what he does best. It samples the song 'Chanson d'Un Jour d'Hive' by Cortex and has probably one of the best sounding openings to a hip-hop song I have ever heard. The original song is a beautiful piece of work and Mural uses it well to not just open up the album lyrically but make a statement. The are so many great lines in this song it is hard to know where to start but as a Lupe fan I cant tell you this is one of his best songs, period. With references to old cartoons that then play into metaphors for food, nods to the video games and comic characters of his childhood, and social commentary this dense song only let me know the the Lupe I loved was back. Now spoiler for the rest of the review, since Lupe's lyrics usually take on a sort of mysticism the following interpretations of mine may be completely different from the actually meaning of the song or just plain wrong. In 'Dots & Lines' which opens with this incredibly impressive banjo solo that plays before the beat kicks in (which must have been do in-house because it is not listed as being sampled), which is a hard snare pattern supported by what sounds like a harmonica. It reminded me of Stevie Wonder in terms the amount of the soul approach it is taking and it as a super simply and catchy about sacred geometry and lines. Now one interpretation of this song is just how we all fall into specific patterns and follow certain rules that we didn't even know existed, as shower by Lupe's line “I walk as my father walk, master builder is what I thought”. But according to Rap Genius (which again I have to look about because Lupe is literally everywhere lyrically) they see this song as Lupe's desire to be free of Atlantic records, as shown by the very title of Dots & lines meaning contracts.

After this we have another interlude, this time 'Fall'. And while you can still hear the children laughing but this time we hear the crunch of leaves instead of water. And the violin is now joined by a a bass playing jazz professions and a high hat being hit in the background. The first song in this section is 'Prisoner 1 & 2' another 8 minute song about the incarceration system and the hypocritical nature of it. One of Lupe's close friends Chilly Chill is currently imprisoned (something that Lupe has addressed multiple times on his other works) so it is not hard to see how Lupe could paint such a view picture of experiences inside a correctional facility. Again following tradition of this album the instrumental is composed of a Violin, this time with a piano and snare making up this somber beat that is meant to make you reflect. About halfway through the song however the mood changes and you can hear a standard collect call message from a prison play (it also played at the beginning but here its meant to show a shift) and the instrumental gets the added of musical force of Lupe's vocal's and the sounds of prison cell bars closing that sends shivers down your spine. He then transitions into what seems like a correctional officers perspective of the system and how we are still slaves even when in a position of power. This whole song shows two types of prisoners and is again one of the better songs of Lupe's career, full of fantastic imagery and a haunting message. Next we have 'Little Death' and this song is a beautiful tale of religious perspective told from the view point of multiple major religions. It is already well known that Lupe is major supporter of third world countries and their right to practice religion freely (coming from a complicated religious background himself it makes sense). And the reason I chose this song to talk about is just how amazing it sounds musically. There is a live performance of this and honestly it does well to blend perception of modern rap music. I think all rappers should have live bands playing with them, and with a combination of horns, Nikki Jeans amazing voice, and a smooth bass this sound just shows what hip-hop can be.

The Next Interlude is winter and the Violin now sounds harsh and urgent. No longer are there children laughing but only the sounds of winter winds blowing in the background. It sounds barren and hollow. Next is 'Chopper' which to be is the “worst” song on the album to me, but the story behind the song is interesting. This 9 minute song has the most out of place sounding instrumental, it hits the ear more like a club banger which no other song on this album does. There are still great musical elements but on the whole it stands out as being different. Now a friend of mine who listened to this song and is not a Lupe fan hated this song for its obscene length, which is understandable, but on a Radio interview Lupe said that he also hated how long the song was. This song was a result of Lupe getting some of the realest rappers he knew, people from the harsh streets, and putting them on a track. The song kept getting longer and longer because the rappers had so much to say, and Lupe didn't want to cut them off so what you get is an extended piece that does what most club bangers do while also remaining aware. Next we have the single off this album, 'Deliver'. This is the most straight forward song in terms of what it is trying to say, but how it says it is still full of complex word play and a catchy hook. The song is about how pizza delivery's don't usually come to certain parts of the ghetto because of how dangerous they are. Lyrics recited over a heavy bass and chorus of singers that come in to sing the hook, “pizza man don't come here no more” tell a sad story broken projects and the self perpetuating mindset of the ghetto. The last song I want to talk about is “Adoration of the Magi”, which starts off with this amazing jazzy horn section, a steady collection of snaps and nice bass progression. Lyrically this song has Lupe seeming encouraging us to make mistakes and not get too lost in the control the world has over us because as the chorus states we are all just babies in the grand scheme of things. We have so much yet to see and do that it seems pointless to fret the little things. Also this has one of the best Lupe Verses in terms of how it is rhythmically orated. The third verse is full such a smoother recitation of words that all play off the the previous syllables of the last line that you really have to hear to full comprehend. The album ends with the interlude 'Spring', in which the bright violin of summer returns along with the laughing children and sounds of birds chirping. Overall a beautiful way to end an album.

There are tons of interpretations of what this album is supposed to mean. I think it is artistic statement of what Lupe can do that is full of his desire to break free of his label chains and make music the way he wants to. This album is like a novel that will give you a different feeling every time you listen to it. I think this is project is a masterpiece, and unless something unexpected happens in the world it will defiantly be in my top ten of 2015. Although it is March now this album set the bar for all of 2015 when it dropped in January. I love the musical motifs and unreal imagery that Lupe has shown us that has not lost the inspiration to provide. I recommended you: Listen Soon to this album and prepare yourself for one of the best albums from one of the best rappers out in the public eye. Thank you all for reading and next week I will be reviewing 'Soul Soul' By Ghostface Killah and one of my new favorite bands BADBADNOTGOOD.