Lupe Fiasco

Boasting a quasi-mystical concept that boasts three characters, ‘The Cool’, ‘The Game’ and ‘The Streets’, you come to Lupe Fiasco’s second album expecting something straight out of André 3000’s wildest dreams. Luckily, this Chicago MC keeps high-concept gibberish to a minimum, packing his second album with rhymes about robots and skateboards that nonetheless roll with the sort of swagger which leaves other brainbox rappers red-faced and grasping for their inhalers. Pleasingly, the crossover moments shine: ‘Hello/Goodbye (Uncool)’ snatches a hook from UNKLE – and, thus, one of Josh Homme’s riffs – while ‘Little Weapon’, produced by Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, sees Lupe morphed into the body of a gun-toting child warrior. But hold for the last verse, where we discover it’s all about – gasp! – violent computer games. Or is it? Our brain hurts.

Louis Pattison

7 out of 10