I want hot pockets. I’ve never listened to a whole Lupe Fiasco album, but from what I’ve heard, all of his shit was great until Lasers and then he kinda picked it up with Food & Liquor II. Tetsuo & Youth is supposed to be dope af. Everybody was sayin’ it’s his best project since The Cool, so this’ll probably be dope af. I’ve heard great things about this album. I also saw his last radio freestyle and it was dope af.

You can really tell that the shit was comin’ off the top of the motherfuckin’ dome, cuz. Btw Sway is that nigga. I fuck with Sway.

Track 1: Summer (Prod. Rosy Timms)

This is just an instrumental intro with the sound of kids playin’ in the background. You can hear them laughin’ & jumpin’ into a pool. It’s obviously supposed to capture the sound of Summer. It’s not really a song… I like it tho. It’s relaxing. Not gonna give this a rating.

Track 2: Mural (Prod. The Buchanans)

Wow. This song uses the same sample that Beautiful by Jeezy used. This has got to be one of the most overused samples in hip hop. I like the way that The Buchanans flipped it better than the way Black Metaphor did tho. It sounds better on this track. Wtf this song is almost nine minutes long. Damn this nigga goin’ in. This is dope af. His flow is cool. Damn this nigga REALLY goin’ in. The whole time. There’s no hook. That’s the way it should be. Hip Hop needs more music like this. Dope songs with nothing but bars. This shit is crazy. He fuckin’ killed this track. His flow is cool at the beginning, but it gets REALLY dope as the song goes on. This is my shit. I fuck with this. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 3: Blur My Hands Feat. Guy Sebastian (Prod. S1 & M-Phazes)

This song features the same guy that did the hook for Battle Scars from Food & Liquor II. I ain’t like that song… Hopefully this one’s better. This hook is cool. The singin’ on the intro ain’t bad. Thank God. This beat is dope af. Yeah, this hook isn’t bad. It’s a lot smoother than the one from Battle Scars. Lupe did his thing. This song is cool. I fuck with this. 4/5

Track 4: Dots & Lines (Prod. Lupe Fiasco, DJ Simonsayz & JackLNDN)

There’s someone playin’ the… Fuck… What’s it called? The instrument with strings that hillbillies play… BANJO! That’s it. There’s someone playing the banjo in the intro. It’s not on the rest of the song tho… It’s not part of the actual beat. Just the intro. That’s weird. The actual beat is dope af tho. It sounds like there are a ton of instruments used in the beat. The banjo isn’t one of them tho… This beat is smooth af. The hook is smooth. Lupe did his thing on the first verse. The second verse felt kinda short. It was dope tho. That last verse was dope af. Damn, Lupe hasn’t rapped like that in a long time. Where tf has this nigga been? I knew he was a dope rapper, but he just stopped makin’ dope songs for a whi- Wait a minute. Wtf… There’s another banjo solo at the end. Wtf. Shit comes outta nowhere. It doesn’t even really fit. I mean… I wouldn’t be surprised if it has some deep ass complexed meaning that nobody knows about because that’s some shit that Lupe Fiasco would do… But I honestly don’t give a fuck about that shit. I coulda did without it. I still fuck with this song tho. 4/5

Track 5: Fall (Prod. Rosy Timms)

This is just an instrumental interlude, as you could’ve predicted. There’s still kids playin’ in the background. You can hear… uh… leaves I guess… This is smooth. It sounds kinda sad. I like it.

Track 6: Prisoner 1 & 2 Feat. Ayesha Jaco (Prod. MoeZ’art)

This beat is dope af. The hook is cool. Wow… This is dope… He’s talkin’ about the living conditions of a prisoner. This is amazing. “Punching on the glass / Scared some killer might fuck ’em in the ass” That line is great. This is one of the biggest reasons why I’m afraid of going to jail. Shit like this. Jail might not be so terrible if it weren’t for the other inmates. Don’t get me wrong jail is fuckin’ awful already, but the other inmates make it that much worse. This is dope af. This song is amazing. Okay, I guess part 2 is starting here… This part features his sister, Ayesha. “The orange wings of the new Jim Crow are dyed Klansman sheets and court papers, Dreadlocks nooses hang from his neck as the new Jim Crow Corporations feed him seeds, yet unborn. He’ll be captured by Mya, in a ruby-encrusted cage. I see the light at the end of the tunnel, and answers that I leave in empty pages to be written. Where is your pen? The new Jim Crow.” Ah shit the beat just switched up. This beat is dope af. He’s rapping from the perspective of the prison guard in this one. This is fuckin’ dope. I definitely fuck with this. This song is deep af. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 7: Body Of Work Feat. Troi & Terrace Martin (Prod. S1 & Vohn Beatz)

The singin’ from Troi at the beginning is dope. Lupe did his thing on the first verse. The hook is dope af. This beat is dope af. I don’t say this shit often, but this song wouldn’t be as good without that hook. Troi be singin’ like a motherfucker. That last verse is my shit. That was dope. OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT SAXOPHONE SOLO FROM TERRACE MARTIN IS MY SHIT NIGGA OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH GODDAMN THAT SHIT IS SMOOTH AF I DON’T OOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOHHHHHOOOOOHOHOHOOHHOOOOOO SHIT GODDAMN! THIS NIGGA KILLED THAT SHIT WOOOOOOH DAMN. GODDAMN. FUCK. AHHH SHIT. That was dope af. Wtf. That was amazing. I wish y’all could see my face when that solo started. Terrace Martin had me like

That shit was crazy. 5/5

Track 8: Little Death Feat. Nikki Jean (Prod. S1 & Vohn Beatz)

This beat is fuckin’ dope af. Lupe’s first verse was dope. That hook from Nikki Jean is nice. This song is smooth af. Lupe did his thing. I fuck with this. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 9: No Scratches Feat. Nikki Jean (Prod. DJ Simonsayz)

This beat is dope. Lupe did his thing on the first verse. The hook is cool. Eh. This isn’t bad. Just not my kinda song. He’s rappin’ about relationships & shit. It’s alright I guess… 3/5

Track 10: Winter (Prod. Rosy Timms)

There aren’t any kids screamin’ on this one. This has a really harsh, wicked sound. Sounds like background music for a horror movie. It’s not really something you would listen to because it sounds good. The other interludes were cool because they were relaxing and smooth and pleasant to the ear, but this is just noise to set the mood for whatever song comes next. It really wouldn’t be shit outside the context of this album. Damn that sounded kinda harsh. It’s not bad. It just isn’t something I would listen to outside of this album. This isn’t a song one would have on repeat. It’s cool tho.

Track 11: Chopper Feat. Billy Blue, Buk, Trouble, Trae The Truth, Fam-Lay & Glasses Malone (Prod. DJ Dahi)

Ah fuck yeah. If there’s gonna be a posse track it should definitely be over DJ Dahi production. Dahi is that nigga. Most of these niggas I ain’t heard of. Never heard of Billy Blue. Buk is from a rap group called Psychodrama. I’m not familiar with them. I only know Trouble because he got beef with T.I. I ain’t never heard his music tho. Trae The Truth is dope. Never heard of Fam-Lay. I’ve only heard features from Glasses Malone on like 3 songs. This beat is dope af. The hook from Lupe is dope. This shit HARD. This Billy Blue verse is dope. Buk’s voice sound smooth af. His verse was dope af. Trouble killed that shit. That was dope. Damn Trae The Truth fuckin’ spazzed on this shit. DAMN this nigga SPITTIN’! I liked that shit! Trae The Truth verse was dope af. Fam-Lay did his thing. Glasses Malone killed it. “Strip pole in my bedroom / But I’mma kill my daughter if she twerk” Lupe fuckin’ killed it too. Damn. This shit is fuckin’ dope af. I like this shit. The shit was longer than a mf, but the shit was dope. Man this shit… man… I fuck with this shit man. This shit dope af. 5/5

Track 12: Deliver Feat. Ty Dolla Sign (Prod. MoeZ’art & Marcus Stephens)

This beat is dope af. This song is deep af. Ty$ doesn’t really do much except sing in the background, but I ain’t complainin’. Lupe did his thing on all three verses. Especially that last verse. “So sad the pizza man don’t come here no mo.” …Idk about that, Ty$. It’s definitely sad, but… You didn’t have to say that. Seriously. It just sounds sarcastic. It doesn’t ruin it tho. But it’s just kinda weird. I still like the song tho. I fuck with this. 4/5

Track 13: Madonna & Other Mamas In The Hood Feat. Nikki Jean (Prod. DJ Dahi)

This beat is fuckin’ crazy. DJ Dahi is fuckin’ amazing. Lupe killed that first verse. This hook is dope af. It sounds kinda creepy. It’s so dope tho. Nikki Jean’s vocals sound like a ghost. In a good way tho. They fit perfectly over this beat. I seriously love that hook. It’s so perfect. Lupe did his thing on the second verse too. Shit every verse on this song is dope af. This shit is great. I fuck with this. This shit is dope af. 5/5

Track 14: Adoration Of The Magi Feat. Crystal Torres (Prod. DJ Dahi)

EUUGGGHHH. THIS BEAT SMOOTH AS FUUUUUCK, MY NIGGA. Damn… Coulda did without that line where he said the word fart. I don’t wanna think about farts. Nice Metal Gear Solid reference. The hook is dope. DAMN… I feel bad for using RapGenius, but I never woulda got this shit on my own.

Spoiler Alert

“Why you ready to die? You just a baby” – reference to cover art from Biggie’s album.

“Why you got tears up under your eyes? You just a baby” – reference to cover art from Weezy’s album, The Carter III.

“Keep your head up in the sky. You just a baby” – reference to cover art from Nothing Was The Same by Drizzy (wack album btw).

“Quit chasin’ money, never mind, you just a baby” – reference to cover art from an album called Never Mind by Nirvana.

“Why you wanna be born again? You just a baby” – reference to cover art from an album called Born Again by some band called Black Sabbath.

“Why you playin’ in the streets? You just a baby” – reference to cover art from Illmatic.

All these albums have babies on they covers.

Okay, the spoilers are gone. You can continue reading. I hope you successfully avoided the spoilers. I don’t know if the warning’s gonna work because I never have to put in spoiler alerts. Btw I’m really enjoying this album. It’s also 1:42 AM and I have school in the morning, so I’m finna go to sleep and continue this review tomorrow. Aight? Aight.

Okay, I’m back. I prolly shoulda finished this song before goin’ to sleep. I’ll start from the second verse. It might just be me, but this song doesn’t sound as dark as the other ones in the winter section of the album. What the fuck. That 3rd verse is fucking incredible. “You not the first person / The first person from your first cursin’ / To your first cursive / And your curse words is in the curve version / It occurs virgin is the word version / That refers perfect to the first person / In the third verse, who’s really me / In the third person but prefers the first one, that’s me.” I don’t even know what the fuck that shit means, but it’s fuckin’ amazing. This shit is dope af. 5/5

Track 15: They.Resurrect.Over.New. Feat. Ab-Soul & Troi (Prod. DJ Dahi & Blood Diamonds)

Ok, they got video game sound effects at the beginning. Makes sense since the acronym for this song is TRON. EUGH this beat is dope af. DJ Dahi is seriously one of the best producers right now. He’s prolly my favorite producer. Lupe’s flow on this track is dope af. Damn that second verse is dope. Nigga said Galileo. It sounded cool. Troi on the bridge. Troi is dope. Troi should be featured on more Hip Hop songs. This shit is dope af. Soulo fuckin’ killed it. I love this shit. Lupe & Soulo always make heat. Thorns & Horns and World Runners are fuckin’ dope af. This shit is dope af too. I love this shit. They should do a joint album together. That would be dope af. The scratches at the end are dope af. SHIT. This shit is great. I fuck with this. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 16: Spring (Prod. Rosy Timms)

Ok, the kids are playing again. This instrumental still sounds kinda sad, but not really. It sounds like something terrible just happened, but something great is about to happen. The sound just gets happier & happier. It’s relaxing. Kinda creepy in a way. I like it.

Final Thoughts:

That shit was fucking crazy. I seriously can’t choose a favorite song. That shit was dope af. I liked this album a lot more than B4.DA.$$. The songs may not have been quite as consistent on this album, but they were a lot more interesting. I didn’t know what to expect on this album. B4.DA.$$ was still dope, but this shit was just crazy. This album helped me remember some shit that I forgot a while ago. This nigga can rap. Just on the first track you get nothin’ but bars. The production is fuckin’ crazy. You can’t go wrong with DJ Dahi. I liked the way the album was set up with the four seasons too. It kinda made it easier to listen to. It felt like shit was happening. I felt like I was getting somewhere. Every time I hit a new season it felt like I was reaching a new level. I said earlier in this review “Where tf has this nigga been? I knew he was a dope rapper, but he just stopped makin’ dope songs for a whi[le]” I guess he was just being suppressed by Atlantic Records. That’s kinda sad. This amazing rapper couldn’t make the kind of music he wanted to make because it wasn’t good for the radio. That’s fucked up. It’s been a long ass time too. I fuckin’ loved this album. If you are reading this, go out and buy this shit right now. You won’t regret it. Unless you hate good things. This shit was definitely worth listening to. I can’t wait to see what he drops next. I think he’s supposed to be dropping a mixtape called Lost In The Atlantic soon. That should be good. Lupe, I fuck with you. This shit was dope.

Favorite Song: Madonna

Least Favorite Song: No Scratches

Verdict:

92%

Tell me if I’m trippin’ in the comments below

If you enjoyed this article, share it on Twitter & Facebook

For more thoughts on this album watch the videos below.

Follow me on Twitter: @OGNickMarsh