Late 2007 saw the release of Lupe Fiasco’s sophomore album Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool, just one short year after the refreshing Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor hit shelves.  Eight years later, Tetsuo & Youth is the final chapter in Lupe Fiasco’s tumultuous relationship with Atlantic Record, in addition to the rediscovery of the laser sharp attention to detail that saw Jay-Z once refer to him as a “genius writer”.  T&Y is the album that Lupe’s diehard fanbase have hoped for since the details of shady label dealings came to light, loaded with the traits that made him a fan favorite when he first burst on the scene.

Conceptually, Tetsuo examines several biblical themes, including Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, the latter which arrives in the form of the jazz-inspired “Madonna”, likening the mothers of children slain (Leslie McSpadden would empathize greatly) in impoverished environments to the Virgin Mary at the persecution of Jesus Christ (“she was holding him in her hands, just like stigmata”).  The album is sectioned into three parts, separated by the seasons, which hint towards the optimistic or hardships to follow in subsequent records.  T&Y is also (technically) a double album, with both standard and reverse order chronicling tales of sacrifice and resurrection.  The latter also observes the rebirth of character plot device Michael Young History, better known as “The Cool” from Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor and his search for enlightenment.

Lyrically, he is back on another planet, or perhaps just on his own again, akin to the Fahrenheit 1/15 days of the.  While “Adoration of the Magi” is a dizzying display of assonance, it is “Mural” that takes early rap record of the year honors.  Backed by an all too familiar Cortex ample, Fiasco issues a reminder of his superiority over the field as a wordsmith, weaving one of his patented “spider webs” (“I prefer my pictures, in word form”), saturated in obscure references, precise rhyme schemes, double entendres, metaphors and more for nearly nine minutes.  Enlisted guests and producers compliment the master of ceremonies well, the lone blemish arriving in the third act with the overly ambitious posse cut, “Chopper”.

Ty Dolla $ign contributes unaccredited vocals to “Deliver”, a pizza metaphor-laden portrait of the violent Chicagoan landscape while frequent collaborator Nikki Jean delivers gorgeous hooks on “No Scratches”, an tantalizing tour of toxicity in relationships and ”Little Death”, the jazzy, horn-driven take on outrage, regarding the restriction of marriage, nutrition and the justice system, showcasing the duo’s longtime chemistry.  While Symbolyc One and DJ Dahi compose the bulk of the lavish landscapes that appear on Tetsuo & Youth, it is Fiasco’s penmanship that contributes to the dense, fulfilling layers of the third, long anticipated puzzle set of his mainstream career.  It is meant to be unraveled reference after reference, metaphor after metaphor, line for line, because that is what is expected from someone of Carrera Lu’s lofty standard.

Highlights—Body Of Work/Deliver/Little Death/Mural/No Scratches

Skip It—Chopper