Lupe Fiasco - THE COOL

THE COOL is one of the best albums I have heard in a long time. From beginning to end Lupe brings great pride and entertainment to the fans of Hip hop. While most of the mainstream rappers achieve success by disrespecting women or glorifying materialistic things. Lupe reminds me of Nas in a lot of ways for his clever and deep lyrics. The song "Intruder Alert" deals with real life issues such as rape and drugs. However Lupe is best known for creating characters in his albums and through a selection of songs you see the development of the character, the climax of the character and the death of that very character. His album is not just a group of unrelated songs they all are related in a way, such as chapters in a book. I reccomend to my readers if you have not heard of Lupe that you go out and buy one of his albums, Food and Liquor or The Cool, and trust me you will be blown away.

Sicker than a dog

You know what sucks? Being sick. The usual flu symptoms; runny nose, sore throat, and watery eyes. But after a few halls, some good OJ, a couple of hours of sleep, I'm feeling a little better. I wish I could tell you that I am 100% but I am not, I'm about 95% and then some.

Hip Hop is still breathing

"Hip-hop is dead" The latest album title of one of the most decorated emcees of all-time; Nas. "Hip Hop is dead" is an opinionated statement used by many of the artists in the hip hop music industry and fans alike. However with the overplayed and senseless garbage known as Crank dat ___ being hit songs of the year reaffirms the statement Hip Hop is dead. However is hip hop really dead? It was on the brink of death with all the low blows of crank dat batman, superman, soulja boy, spongebob and whatever cartoon character or superhero of your choosing. However the year ended very strong with 4 great self-conscious albums. Talib Kweli's Eardrum, Common's Finding Forever, Kanye West's Graduation, and Lupe Fiasco's The Cool. The latter being my favorite of the 4. Hip hop may have been down for the count but with self conscious rappers with deeper meanings and substance like the 4 mentioned above will provide the life support and vaccine that Hip hop needs to recover.