There's a fine line between respecting your listeners' intelligence and mistaking your own vague allusions and abstrusities for some kind of coherent statement, and this time around, Lupe's landed on the wrong side of that line. His pre-hype interviews may have informed us that the record centers around three metaphysical characters called The Cool (spun off from the track of the same name from Lupe's 2006 debut Food & Liquor), The Streets, and The Game, but it turns out those facts- or any discernable storyline, really- aren't immediately evident from just, you know, listening to the album.

Serious bonus points go out to anyone who can manage to extract some kind of meaningful narrative out of The Cool, Lupe Fiasco's purported concept album. Not quite the concept album we were promised, The Cool still features isolated moments of widescreen drama- and Fiasco's storytelling abilities, lyrical dextrousness, and willingness to submerge himself in the theatre of it all make for a rewarding sophomore album. Terms of Use|Privacy Policy|End User Agreement About This Album Songs About This Album Latest albums by Lupe Fiasco Marrying gothic horror with Jigga's liquid flow, The Cool is the most lyrically ambitious hip-hop album of 2007, and the production's genre-spanning electro-hop serves as an excellent point of entry.

Nestled between pop nuggets such as the butter smooth, globe-trotting anthem 'Paris, Tokyo' and lead single 'Superstar,' Fiasco threads a narrative about a gangster named The Cool who strikes a devilish deal with The Streets and is resurrected as a one-armed monster.

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