Encyclopedia
| Lupe Fiasco's The Cool
Encyclopedia
|
| Tutorials | Encyclopedia | Dictionary | Directory |
|
Lupe Fiasco's The Cool
Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, commonly referred to as simply The Cool, is the critically acclaimed second studio album by Chicago hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco, released on December 18, 2007 in the United States. The Cool is a loose concept album, based on a song and its titular character from his debut album Food & Liquor of the same name. The album features production from Soundtrakk, Unkle, Patrick Stump and Chris & Drop, among others. Guest appearances include GemStones, Snoop Dogg, and Matthew Santos. The album debuted at #15, moved a spot up to #14 on the Billboard 200 in its second week. It debuted as the #1 rap record and remained there for 9 weeks. It has been certified Gold by the RIAA.[1]
BackgroundConceptDuring the recording of the album, Lupe Fiasco's father died,[2] his good friend Stack Bundles died, and his business partner and mentor?Charles "Chilly" Patton?was sentenced to 44 years in prison.[3] When asked about the album's dark side, Lupe Fiasco replied: Lupe Fiasco's The Cool expands on the story Lupe told on the track, "The Cool", from his debut album. Fiasco introduces the characters the Streets and the Game.[4] The album tells the story of the little boy from "He Say, She Say" who grew up without a father, and the people that step in to raise him are the Streets and the Game.[5] Speaking on the concept Lupe said: Lupe also stated that there are plans to spin The Cool into a horror-themed radio program, and a comic book. The album was also personalized into a promotion in the form of a skateboard design contest, hosted by imeem, which was won by Sluglife, the show name for designer/artist Lawrence Ervin.[6] Recording sessionsIn an interview with MTV News Lupe Fiasco explained how he planned to record The Cool: SalesThe album debuted at number fifteen on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 143,407 copies in its first week.[7] Although the album did have higher first week domestic sales than his debut effort Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor did, it failed to chart as high. In its second week, the album jumped one spot to number fourteen, selling 54,398 copies.[8] In its third week, the album fell three spots to number seventeen, selling 30,782 copies.[9] In its fourth, the album fell six spots to number twenty three, selling 20,498 copies.[10] In its fifth week, it fell three spots to number twenty six, selling 18,526 copies.[11] In its sixth week, it fell three spots to number twenty nine, selling 17,928 copies.[12] In its seventh week, it fell fifteen spots to number forty four, selling 15,841 copies.[13] In its eighth week, it fell thirteen spots to number fifty seven, selling 14,767 copies.[14] In its ninth week, it went up fifteen spots to number forty two, selling 22,565 copies.[15] In its tenth week, it went up twelve spots to number thirty, selling 19,524 copies.[16] In its eleventh week, it fell two spots to number thirty two, selling 17,362 copies.[17] In its twelfth week, it fell three spots to number thirty five, selling 16,218 copies.[18] In its thirteenth week, it fell six spots to number forty one, selling 15,230 copies.[19] The album was certified Gold. In the UK, the album debuted at #7 due to the success of the first single, "Superstar" reaching the top 5 on the singles chart. It fell out of the albums chart the next week.[20] The album has been officially certified gold selling over 500,000 copies in the USA.[21] ReceptionLupe Fiasco's The Cool was received with mostly positive reviews from music critics, with an 77 (out of 100) rating from review aggregator MetaCritic.com.[22] Entertainment Weekly said "Sonically, he's got the same kind of gratifying ADHD going on. Some tracks, like 'Paris, Tokyo,' contrast his Twista-style rapid-fire delivery with a lazy rhythm that's close to smooth jazz which can comparable to A Tribe Called Quest. 'Hello/Goodbye,' at the other extreme, has U.K. electro outfit Unkle providing a tense rock feel."[23] The New York Times, hailing the album as "one of the year?s best hip-hop albums," added that "The songs only grow more urgent as Lupe Fiasco expands his sociopolitical perspective. 'Intruder Alert' starts as a wary love song and broadens its topic to immigration. 'Little Weapon,' produced by Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, looks at children with guns, from child soldiers in Africa to high school shooters."[24] Allmusic said "He is one of the most clever artists around, and as far as telling stories with rhymes goes, he's way up there, best exemplified by 'Hip-Hop Saved My Life' (a gripping story about a struggling rapper) and 'Gotta Eat' (where Lupe's inspiration for metaphors is a cheeseburger, yet it is no more corny than Main Source's classic 'Just a Friendly Game of Baseball')."[25] Track listing
Samples"Streets on Fire" "Paris, Tokyo"
"Gold Watch"
"Hello/Goodbye (Uncool)"
"Put You on Game"
PersonnelInformation taken from Allmusic.[26]
Chart Positions
Singles chart positions
Release history
References
fr:Lupe Fiasco's The Cool it:The Cool nl:The Cool Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
top
©2008-2009 TutorGig.com. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Statement
