Lupe Fiasco's The Cool (EXPLICIT) (CD)

• Category:  Music  »  Rap & Hip Hop  »  Rap & Hip Hop/General
• Format: CD
• Release Date: December 18, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic (USA)
• UPC: 075678995996
• WAPI (Tower ID): 111609376
• Average Customer Review:    (1 customer review)
• Tower.com Sales Rank: #421 in Music (See Top 100 Music Bestsellers)
• #10 in Rap & Hip Hop (See Top 100 Rap & Hip Hop Bestsellers)
• #9 in Rap & Hip Hop/General (See Top 100 Rap & Hip Hop/General Bestsellers)

• DISC 1 for Lupe Fiasco's The Cool (EXPLICIT) (CD) Album
• 1   Iesha Poem
• 2   Free Chilly
• 3   Go Go Gadget Flow
• 4   Coolest, The
• 5   Superstar - (featuring Matthew Santos)
• 6   Paris Tokyo
• 7   High Definition - (featuring Snoop Dog/Pooh Bear)
• 8   Little Weapons
• 9   Hip-Hop Saved My Life - (featuring Nikki Jean)
• 10   Gold Watch
• 11   Street On Fire - (featuring Matthew Santos)
• 12   Hello Goodbye
• 13   Gotta Eat
• 14   Dumb It Down - (featuring Gemini/Graham Burris)
• 15   Die, The - (featuring Gemini)
• 16   Put You On Game
• 17   Fighters - (featuring Matthew Santos)
• 18   Go Baby Go
• 19   Go Baby - (with Gemstones)

•  [Lupe Fiasco - Official Site] 
  
•  [Lupe Fiasco - Myspace] 
  
•  [Lupe Fiasco - Wikipedia Entry] 
  
•  [Lupe Fiasco - Music at LAST.fm] 
  

Rolling Stone (p.62) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "THE COOL goes for softer, jazzier R&B hooks, yet the lyrics are even tougher in their street-level attack on hip-hop materialism."
Spin (p.105) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "The beats pulsate rather than bang, Lupe's voice dances in and out of shadows..."
Entertainment Weekly (p.75) - "Fiasco's wide-ranging pop instincts rarely fail him....It turns out randomness makes for a surprisingly unifying concept." -- Grade: A-
Q (Magazine) (p.103) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]his doesn't disappoint, adding emotional depth to his complex rhyming and heft to the productions..."

Personnel: Chris Goss, Josh Homme (guitar); Philip Shepherd (cello, electric cello); Richard File (piano, organ, synthesizer, programming); Cosmic (keyboards); James Book (bass guitar, programming); Dave Henderson (drums); Pablo Clements (programming, background vocals); Chris Allen (programming); Aidan Lavelle, James Lavelle, Soul Children Of Chicago (background vocals).

Additional personnel: Graham Burris (vocals); Sarah Green, Matthew Santos, Gemstones, Bishop G, Nikki Jean, Pooh Bear, Snoop Dogg, UNKLE.

Building on the success of his acclaimed debut, FOOD & LIQUOR, Chi-town representative Lupe Fiasco returns with a concept-themed record, THE COOL. Evenly balancing intelligent lyricism, poetic symbolism, and catchy pop-themed production, Lupe's sophomore effort partially follows the story of the ghetto Everyman, the Cool, in his ever-changing relationship with the Streets and the Game. Still, it's not all high-concept here. Lupe also celebrates the spoils of superstar glamour on the catchy single, "Superstar," and the travel-fantasy track, "Paris, Tokyo," and enters more experimental territory with the help of British trip-hop act, U.N.K.L.E. on "Hello/Goodbye (Uncool)." THE COOL features production work from Soundtrakk, Chris & Drop, Patrick Stump, and Chris Goss, among others, as well as guest appearances by Sarah Green, GemStones, Pooh Bear, Nikki Jean, Bishop G, Graham Burris, Unkle, Matthew Santos, and Snoop Dogg.

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