Sunday, December 28, 2008

Reader Review of The Cool

Don't quite know what to think about the review because i don't COMPLETELY agree with everything that was said...but it was fair at best...either way THEY BOUGHT THE ALBUM lol

Lupe Fiasco has this annoying habit of titling his albums with his own name in front (there's a term for that, but I can't remember at the moment), and it's pissing me off. Why? Is there a point to that? No, of course there isn't. Anyway, this album, before it's release, was originally described to me as "a story...you know, about the kid from the '"The Cool", and Lupe basically expands on it." Sounds promising, right? What follows is a bashing of the public perception regarding AIDS, video games, and other randomness. Lupe went and reached far out for subject matter, which all somehow ties to materialism. Did it work?

1. BABA SAYS COOL FOR THOUGHT (FEAT IESHA JACO)
A spoken word introduction. Short, but still a waste of time. And I'm not sure that anyone considers gentrification to be "cool". Next!

2. FREE CHILLY (FEAT SARAH GREEN & GEMSTONES)
Another little uh...song, if you'd can call it that. A little tribute and call-to-arms for Lupe's imprisoned friend and partner "Chilly", who received 44 years for drug distribution, I believe. Honestly, this is not really worth listening to more than once.

3. GO GO GADGET FLOW
This wins the award for corniest title ever. The song is fast-paced, as you can imagine, but isn't that rewarding.

4. THE COOLEST
(I suppose calling your song "The Cooler" would recall vivid memories of William H. Macy's junk in The Cooler, which is why Lupe skipped from "The Cool" to the "-est".) Lupe's hook-writing abilities have not gotten any better. My solution: Do an album without the hooks. Just straight verses all the way through, with the music switched up a bit every four minutes or so. Problem solved.

5. SUPERSTAR (FEAT MATTHEW SANTOS)
The first single, with some dude named Matthew Santos, who, due to the relative success of this song, did fairly decent numbers himself, despite the fact that he doesn't sing all that well, and I've used about one hundred commas in this sentence. The song isn't bad though. (Wait, Matthew Santos has songs of his own, not just Lupe Fiasco feature appearances? I always believed he was a studio singer that was miraculously conceived in the recording booth right before he made his first appearance on Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor.)

6. PARIS, TOKYO
Well, ironically, this sounds like a Tribe cut, despite Lupe never hearing Midnight Marauders. Interesting. (Someone should put that in his Christmas stocking, as he's truly missing out on some good shit.) That being said, it's a smooth, quality song.

7. HI-DEFINITION (FEAT SNOOP DOGG & POOH BEAR)
I've heard many people lose their minds at the thought of Snoop being featured on conscious rapper Lupe Fiasco's album. However, the beat works, Snoop doesn't have much of an impact, and this song makes for great summer cruising. (If you say so.)

8. GOLD WATCH
Confession time: I've never listened to more than 30 seconds of this song. The beat is that fucking atrocious. (And yet I liked it. Funny, that.)

9. HIP-HOP SAVED MY LIFE (FEAT NIKKI JEAN)
Average hook by Nikki Jean (yeah, I have no clue who that is, either), but the verses are alright. Simple, yet effective production.

10. INTRUDER ALERT (FEAT SARAH GREEN)
Oh, this song? I was going to listen to this, but then I just went on living my life.

11. STREETS ON FIRE
Much better, despite the depressing subject matter of AIDS. I really like this one though.

12. LITTLE WEAPON (FEAT BISHOP G & NIKKI JEAN)
Ridiculous drumroll, courtesy of Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy. What the fuck? (Indeed.) It doesn't really matter, though, as this song is awesome. (Yeah, I wasn't expecting Andrew to go in that particular direction, either.)

13. GOTTA EAT
I'm not hungry, but thanks, though. Much appreciated.

14. DUMB IT DOWN (FEAT GEMSTONES & GRAHAM BURRIS)
Incredible bassline, which makes for a gritty track. Find the lyrics online, read them along with the song, and then pick your jaw off the ground. Lather, rinse, repeat.

15. HELLO / GOODBYE (FEAT UNKLE)
Takes a little bit to get started, but Lupe shows why some consider him to be one of the best newcomers, relatively speaking. The track ends oddly though.

16. THE DIE (FEAT GEMSTONES)
Andddddddd skip.

17. PUT YOU ON GAME
Couldn't get into it. To be fair, I didn't try that hard, but I shouldn't have to.

18. FIGHTERS (FEAT MATTHEW SANTOS)
Matthew Santos, otherwise know as the Magical Magician, reappears here. He sounds much better, and this simple and effective closing to the album works extremely well. One of my favorite tracks.

19. GO BABY (FEAT GEMSTONES)
Not really necessary at all. The album could have done without it and still work just fine.

FINAL THOUGHTS: At nineteen tracks, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool is an exhausting listen. The production, while still in-house from Lupe's camp, has gotten better, and more adaptive to Lupe's style. There are some slow points and some production duds, but for the most part, the beats are functional. Lupe's wordplay continues to be solid, although his subject matter can be a little bit bizarre for some people.

BUY OR BURN?: I would recommend a purchase. There are some absolute shit-bricks, and this album would be better as maybe a thirteen-to-fifteen track endeavor. It's worth your money however, and I'm wondering what he's got in store for his so-called "final" effort, the three-disc LupEND. (Why Lupe's opting to skip the double-disc in favor of the more pretentious three-disc offer, we may never know.) We'll see. In the meantime, pick this one up - it's pretty solid.

BEST TRACKS: "Paris, Tokyo"; "Streets on Fire"; "Little Weapon"; "Dumb It Down"; "Fighters"

-Andrew

Source

Thoughts? It's nice to know that even after a year after it's release The Cool is still urging bloggers to review the album...there was another review on that site also CLICK HERE to read it

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

How could he skip "The Die"? I think this guy should listen to the album more than twice before writing a review. A lot of the songs grow on you after 5 plus listens.

Anonymous said...

How could he skip "The Die"? I think this guy should listen to the album more than twice before writing a review. A lot of the songs grow on you after 5 plus listens.

Young Son said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

THIS is definitely hatred u skiped good songs or u dont bother to review them properly, even when u say something good u its still pesimistic

S-Preme said...

that was straight silly hahaha

David 'dsolution' Ansah said...

I'm still listening to the album everyday after a year and still learning new things..so i'll put hes abysmal review down to the fact that he doesnt understand..

Anonymous said...

this is the worst review ever well on of them i think you should take it down i get pissed every time i see it

Anonymous said...

^^^^
okay...its not that serious

Young Son said...

Hey Kaycee...I had an album review for "The Cool" I was wondering if you could post it on here as well. Just a thought!

Thanks for your time!

http://youngsonmusicblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/young-sons-review-of-lupe-fiascos-cool.html

(I hosted (for lack of a better word) those two "Overlooked" mixtapes too.)

Anonymous said...

^^^

i saw ur first comment and i checked ur review but im not posting it...

Young Son said...

Oh okay. That's alright. I just thought it woulda been cool to post one with a more positive swing than those other ones. It's all good though. Anyone else interested in reading it should check it out:

http://youngsonmusicblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/young-sons-review-of-lupe-fiascos-cool.html

I'm a freelance journalist and this was one of my first pieces. I do have to say that my reviews have improved greatly since this one...but nevertheless, enjoy.

Peace and Much Love To Ya!

-Young Son™ (Michael Hannah)
Twin Cities Hip Hop Artist
Freelance Journalist, Affiliate of City College News™

Rep for:
Influential Melodiez™: An Unsigned Independent Collective
The Nu Twin Cities™ [thenutwincities.blogspot.com]
Campus Polo™ Clothing Co.


Website: http://www.youngsonmusic.com
Email: youngsonmusic@gmail.com
Blog: http://theyoungsonblog.info
AOL Instant Messenger: youngson2k

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

thats why im not posting it because its too positive...need some sort of balance...we all know and think the album is great dont really need another person saying it...we are a lupe fiasco fan blog! just dont need another biased review

Young Son said...

I suppose. I don't see it as biased. The truth is the truth. Like I said before, it's all good tho. One question...why the first time you sent this to me, the name said Sarah Green?

Anonymous said...

^^^

damn u caught me lol i was still signed into her gmail and forgot lol

Anonymous said...

and it may be the truth for you because u are a lupe fiasco fan...to others...who may not be into lupe or follow his career like the readers of this blog...ur review would be biased...like i said...we all love lupe over here...so of course we love the album...i like to post reviews from people who either find lupe through the album...or are not fans of lu, hate his music and give insight as to why they feel that way...posting nothing but good stuff about lu all the time would be BORING and i feel that there should be a balance...so yeah...ur review was biased...just like mine would be if i reviewed the cool i love every damn track i cant say nothing negative about his music!

JNolanIsCool said...

I totally disagree with Mr. Andrew's views on the subject matter....he makes it seem like Lupe's shoving it in our face when he's actually speaking very subtly about the topics. You have to listen very carefully and analyze the words to catch it. But the guy's admitted skipping tendencies ensure that he wouldn't do such.
Nice unbiased attempt though.

Young Son said...

Nice unbiased attempt? WTFlip kinda statement is that? Obviously you guys don't know what a review is supposed to be. All I heard was hating in this review. Even though my review was more positive, I still talked about my ACTUAL opinions on what I liked and disliked about an album. A music reviewer reviewing an album is suppose to talk about THEIR opinion. If you want a bland, "unbiased" album review, go read to product description for the album of Amazon.com or something. Man...that just pisses me off that actually writing something with a positive swing receives less praise than some idiot guy BLATANTLY trying to be a jerk.

JNolanIsCool said...

Sir, my response had ZERO correlation to your review. I haven't checked it yet. Kaycee wanted to post an unbiased review and I was simply acknowledging that instead of completely bashing Andrew...that is all.

Young Son said...

Naw man, it doesn't have anything to do with my review...don't get me wrong. But Andrew's review was not unbiased! It was just hate! LOL. I think Kaycee should have posted someone who was "neutral" (and that may have not even been my review), but just someone with a mixed review....frankly, that baby bear porridge review (not too positive, not too negative, but just right). LOL. But anyways, I was thinking about another thing. Did anybody notice how the other review that was left as a link for us to check out was really bogus to GemStones. I just remembered after I was listening to GemStones newest mixtape and hear his Free Chilly flow and how he was apologizing for who he was before and stuff. This dude kept calling him "Lupe's drug dealer". Highly disrespectful.

Anonymous said...

^^^

im still not posting your review...and so what if it was hate...it was something other than "lupe is the greatest rapper ever" i dont know about u but i get tired of hearing that 24/7...now ur starting to annoy me so please stop :)

Young Son said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Young Son said...

Well, I would say something about your last comment (like you shouldn't ever get tired of hearing that Lupe is dope if he really is....this IS a Lupe blog right?) But anyways, I see you caught personal feelings and things like that....so I'll stop on that subject. It really wasn't about my review after the first time I asked, but I can still see you thought that way. ANYWAYS, back to the GemStones issue? Did anyone feel that was a little out of pocket? This is a BLOG and I thought conversation, whether critical, argumentative or whatever was encouraged. That's the beauty of blogging.

Anonymous said...

About the first review, it was bogus. Honestly, he didn't even know anything about the concept, or anything. I can understand why Kaycee would put this out. If you were an ignorant jerk and picked up this c.d. this is probably what you would say. The fact of the matter is Lupe's music makes you actually think. In order to fully get it, to fully take in all of what is put in this album and all his work, you have to do your homework. You actually have to look up his words, what he says about the album, then you step back and listen and its a whole new experience. I like the music itself but when you put the concept and what not on it, well its like that big twist at the end of a movie that makes everything make sense. One of those, "OHHH!", moments. This guy reviewing the album obviously missed that.(Which is probably why he skipped "THE DIE". The whole purpose of that track was to further the concept/story)

S-Preme said...

AND Streets on Fire isnt about aids

Anonymous said...

Well, I would say something about your last comment (like you shouldn't ever get tired of hearing that Lupe is dope if he really is....this IS a Lupe blog right?) But anyways, I see you caught personal feelings and things like that....so I'll stop on that subject. It really wasn't about my review after the first time I asked, but I can still see you thought that way. ANYWAYS, back to the GemStones issue? Did anyone feel that was a little out of pocket? This is a BLOG and I thought conversation, whether critical, argumentative or whatever was encouraged. That's the beauty of blogging.

^^^

right this is a Lupe FAN BLOG that just so happens to post other views and different opinions other than the fact that hes great...have u been reading the blog? and do u HONESTLY THINK Gemstones of Lu give a RATS ASS about what some random reviewer has to say? seriously?...you are taking this WAY TO SERIOUS just like the MAJORITY of Lu's stans...lighten up...get over it...not EVERYONE IN THE WORLD likes Lupe Fiasco's music the way WE DO...Lu has haters,thats a good thing...means hes doing something right...stopped getting your anus sprained over the fact that someone doesn't think that Lu is the GOD MC! its hella annoying...

Young Son said...

Wow. You are truly tripping Kaycee. It's NOT that serious at all. Anyways, I'm talking to the rest of the people about their opinions. If you think it's annoying, I guess that's you then....that must mean I'm doing something right. LOL. No one is coming at you for posting the reviews....that's been over. I was trying to move on to a different topic regarding the reviews. You posting them was suppose to spark conversation right? SHEESH! Could I stop getting hated on and just be treated like a normal blogger and be granted my freedom of speech. I've definitely been following the blog for over a year now and enjoy it....IDK what your hangup is, but you have a good thing here with the blog and what not and it would be nice if you wouldn't come at a fellow blogger like dirt just because I was expressing my opinion about something. It shouldn't be hitting you home personally like that. I don't know why it is, but it just seems like it is.

Anyways, I'm done with this particular subject. Either way, to conclude, I thought "The Cool" was great because I thought it was great. That's my opinion. I respect everyone else's opinions as well....but I hope my fellow Lupe fans (I don't know what this STAN stuff is about....), would give me an AMEN regarding the The Cool was dope. "Can't I get an AMEN"! Gracias.

Peace Easy Kaycee. Hope your day is filled with sunshine like the 70s band you are named after (that's the corniest thing I've EVER said). Peace Easy.

-Young Son

http://www.youngsonmusic.com
http://www.theyoungsonblog.info

Young Son said...

"Stop getting your anus sprained". Hahaha. That was a hecka funny quote BTW . LOL. I'm finna use that now.

Anonymous said...

Young Son: AMEN! The cool is awesome :D

And smh @ Kaycee callin ppl Stans when she's the one who's got a Lupe blog. Lol ironic...

Young Son said...

*Appluase!

S-Preme said...

to the anonymous comment - read some shit nigga, kaycee calls herself a stan

and that review never once said Gemstones was Lu's drug dealer...it referred to Chilly, but I'm pretty sure the Cook County circuit court affirmed that one...good try tho haha!!!!!

and as a side note - mike shinoda didn't produce ANY tracks on the cool and Patrick Stump ONLY produced Little Weapon, def. not streets on fire

Anonymous said...

yeah i def call myself a stan lol...all the time...dont see why people get offended by that lol

Young Son said...

Uh, I thought I was done, but hey, we can't always have our way huh...lol:

S-Preme....on the review that Kaycee linked at the end of the featured review on the blog...this is what the guy said:

16. THE DIE (FEAT GEMSTONES)
What's wrong, Lupe? Couldn't afford Twista, so you got your weed carrier to whip up a serviceable imitation because you were too exhausted?

HE WAS TALKING ABOUT GemStones. Just thought I'd clear that up.

Oh, and regarding the "Stan" idea, I guess I'm alone with this opinion, but I just view the term as a pejorative. I won't deny that I'm a HUGE FAN tho! I just don't plan on sending Lupe any last-confession tapes before driving off a bridge.

(And that was a joke there people, so please do not retort back to me with an unnecessary serious response about how I shouldn't take the "stan" term literally.....cuz I know you were thinking it...lol)

S-Preme said...

drug dealer and weed carrier are hardly synonymous. as a matter of fact, I'd say they are absolutely nothing alike. Does a chauffeur or a valet sell you your car? Does a coat check at a club sell you your coat? Hmmmm....analogies!

and while we're on the subject of your "joke", the song Stan is called Stan because of the term Stan. A Stan is a stalker fan. Anyone who looks up info on a person or talks about them more than once a day is a stan. If you know someone's birthday, favorite food or personal world view, you are a stan. No one on this blog can EVER say they aren't a stan.

Anonymous said...

^^^
now u know u started something...again lmao

S-Preme said...

:-D that's what i'm here for, cheers

Young Son said...

Fam, who cares if the terms are synonymous. The point was he was talking about "GemStones" and not Chilly. If I said "Drug dealer" in the first post, WELL, I meant the same thing. Either way, I was making clear he was talking about GemStones derogatorily because GemStones was the, as he put it "Twista Imitation" on "The Die". As for the Stan comment...hmmm.....point well taken....I still don't agree with the STALKING part, but saying it's a figure you follow online and stuff, and keep up with their life and what's happening....I can agree with that. Although I think the creation of Twitter makes a lot of us Stans on accident. LOL.

Anyways, lighten up guys. Please. It's a little tense up in here.

Young Son said...

BTW, this has been fun. Regardless if you guys are actually having fun debating different stuff or not...I am.

Ahhh, the art of blogging.

S-Preme said...

to be fair, Twista did twist before Stones even rapped, hence his moniker. Although if anything its a Crucial Conflict imitation. Not "really" derogatory

Young Son said...

UGH! Not the point again! The part about being a drug dealer/weed carrier was the derogatory part I was referring to! C'mon y'all!

Anonymous said...

LMAO! man this is hilarious

Anonymous said...

um, i don't want to agree with S-Preme, but the drug dealer insinuation doesn't exist, and saying he's a weed carrier is just dude's way of saying he's insignificant, which, by industry standards, he is.

S-Preme said...

maaan this is funny like the random uninvited chat room people that one time LOL

Anonymous said...

I can't honor Andrew's B.S. review, because he didn't even listen to every song. What a bum!
-cinque