10 Best Hip Hop Albums Of The Decade
9. Lupe Fiasco - Tetsuo & Youth
Few modern rappers are as inconsistent as Lupe Fiasco. His first two albums, 2006’s Food & Liquor and 2007’s The Cool, are held up as modern classics in conscious hip hop circles, but his output nosedived at the start of the decade. 2011’s Lasers was a garbled mess of glossy electronics and pop hooks, and while the following year’s Food & Liquor 2 was a minor step forward, it still lacked the complexities that brought him to the dance in the first place.
Tetsuo & Youth was a huge turnaround, and coming off a set of universally maligned stinkers, Lupe produced the densest and most rewarding work of his career.
T&Y takes multiple listens to grab hold of you, but once it does, it never lets go. Clocking in at almost 80 minutes long, it takes you on a rich journey through four conceptual seasons. Tracks like “Mural” - the most lyrically impressive rap song of 2015 - demand your complete attention, but the album never gets too overbearing. Every time it feels like T&Y is getting too hard to follow, a song like “Dots & Lines” breaks it up with exquisite pop sensibilities, preventing Lupe from overstaying his welcome.
Tetsuo & Youth is the kind of record that may require a deep trawl through Genius’ lyrical breakdowns to fully appreciate. It’s not for everyone, but for those willing to make the effort, T&Y is a masterpiece.