Martes 22 Ene 2008, 21:39

http://a166.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/71/m_c9580c009a61651148df8f8d432f999d.jpg

Artist: Lupe Fiasco
Track: Dumb It Down
Tags: rap, hip-hop, soul

http://a294.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/70/m_2bd33dd005cff4bec023c8ae10237745.jpg Video

It's coming on for two decades since I was last this impressed by hip-hop/rap.

From the late 80s onwards, we have been graced with little more than the equivalent of manufactured bubblegum pop disguised as hip-hop/rap. The only shining light in amongst the dross was Eminem, who wasn't much more than a cartoon figure himself, and not too far removed from the ideal acceptable by MTV and its perceived audience. 90s hip-hop/rap was an embarrassment to music and to society. What started out in the 1970s as a brilliant reportage of modern life gradually descended to being a political scapegoat, an easy target to blame society's ills on.

One of the great things that came out of Eminem's career was a reintroduction of a decent vocabulary in lyric writing. His love of words is evident. His talent for description earned him the accolade of being a modern day poet by some of his fans. From his legacy we have giants in the making - Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco in particular.

http://b0.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/01533/08/05/1533325080_m.jpg

On his debut album, Food & Liquor, released in Sept 2006, Lupe Fiasco established himself as a storyteller. One of the stories he told was of a man coming back from the dead - The Cool.

The Cool (Amended Album Version)
From: Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor

(I don't know why Last.fm's tags are such a mess. My apologies.)

Lupe took that track and expanded on it as theme for the new album, The Cool, released in the UK this week. The whole album is a prequel - the story of what happened to that man. The songs describe his rise to fame, his life as a celebrity and what led to his demise. It's only January, but it's already being regarded as not only an album of the year but also a masterpiece.

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/130x130/3790196.jpg Lupe Fiasco's The Cool

With Superstar already at No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart, I decided not to recommend that this week. I almost changed my mind and almost chose CRS (Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West & Pharrell) - Us Placers feat. Thom Yorke (which you must hear), but I decided to stick with my original choice: the stark and beautiful Dumb It Down.

Dumb It Down (feat. GemStones and Graham Burris) (Explicit Album Version)

The video is very simple. Black & white imagery, no background, the focus is on the lyrics. The music is mid-tempo, using all the benefits of easy-listening music, engaging and drawing us in, then enrapturing us with detail.

The song is about the advice given to the man in the story in his rise to fame. "You'll sell more records if you / Dumb it down."

I found the lyrics online, not that you need them, Lupe's delivery is perfect.

Babs My Gang

http://a139.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/102/l_7fea1a6896000617d51ef85fcb9ceeda.jpg

Stats as of today:

Comments: 59, Favorited: 91 times, Honors: 0, Links: 5, Ratings: 39, Views: 14,465
Date added to YouTube: October 20, 2007

Additional stats are difficult to capture as tagging is a mess, however, 20 plays scrobbled of the streamable track (above).

Stats after 7 days:

Comments: 63, Favorited: 105 times, Honors: 0, Links: 5, Ratings: 46, Views: 16,623

577 Page Views

http://www.e-zeeinternet.com/count.php?page=151277&style=small_black&nbdigits=5&reloads=1 Page Views