It's been a rather long and messy period of time in between drinks for Lupe Fiasco as fans had to endure a drawn out battle between Lu and his label. That saw more weird internet shenanigans that the heartiest of fans got involved in, Lupe has many hearty fans, but folk like me who love his music but aren't quite all in were left to move on and find someone else to fill the void.

It's a void that's pretty hard to fill though as Lupe Fiasco is simply one of the best lyricists in hip hop. That's probably the first thing that strikes you about Tetsuo & Youth, the extent to which Lupe can paint a picture with words. It's quite something else but it doesn't lend itself to much of a review as I can't really dive in to Lupe's lyrics as I'm still trying to piece them together.

“Overweight taster of kings food that kills crews,
Oblivious feather-weight baker who autographed cakes whenever his quill moves over your meal,
You as simple as a Buddhist monk in a temple standing in some heel groove with the abbot practicing stillness
Real still ‘til he realizes his realness
Defeat Samsara, achieves nirvana and brilliance
-Mural”

It's been about a week since I got my filthy mits on Tetsuo & Youth, around the same time I got B4.DA.$$ from Joey Bada$$. Straight up, I was more excited to listen to Joey's offering and so T&Y got put on the back burner. I'm glad it did though because it gave me much more time to absorb Lupe, to allow him to take me from my current spot, my current mind frame and my current dimension. It's with great joy that I can say that I've come full circle with Lupe Fiasco with T&Y reminding me why I loved him.

You may not be aware that Lupe is a real dude from the streets despite being chucked in that backpack/nerd category. One of the main dimensions of T&Y which I love is how hard it is, which when looking at Lupe's city of Chicago isn't too hard to do. 'Chopper' is 9 minutes of some real, street based bars that Lupe said came from a bunch of dudes who he handpicked because of their street cred. Following 'Chopper' is 'Deliver' which was graced with a video and paints a picture of the ghetto that many of us wouldn't even fully comprehend, where the pizza man doesn't even want to drop a pizza off at your front door.

Throw in 'Madonna' which comes from the angle of mothers in the hood and you get a wholistic view of the hood. The album is segmented by musical interludes named after the seasons and it shouldn't came as any surprise that these three songs follow 'Winter'.

'Mural' is the best example of Lu just going in, spitting bars that dazzle the mind. It's the jam that I've listened to over and over again and still find bars that I didn't vibe to the last time. I feel like I shouldn't really point out Lupe's skill, we know that he can serve up complex rhyme schemes that aren't just complex rhyme schemes. Nor are they just complex rhyme schemes that tell a story. They're complex rhyme schemes that tell a story and force you to think. Whether you're just trying to figure out what the fuck he's saying, or whether you're taking his thoughts on board and you're questioning the decisions you make. That's why I love this album as every song has multiple moments, moments that just make you stop.

There's this reality that comes with Lupe Fiasco's music as he spits thought provoking bars, T&Y also follows a parallel pattern where the music is highly embedded in your imagination. It's your imagination presented through Lupe's imagination which is vivid and he has the ability to paint these pictures with words. 'Dots and Lines' starts off with some gangsta as banjo and then morph's in to a jam that appears to have some strong messages revolving around the idea of sacred geometry.

I feel like an idiot to be honest, but Tetsuo & Youth is great in the sense that your interpretation of the album may be completely different to Fiasco's or mine, or your mate down the road's, but it's still awesome. Maybe one day after I've been in cave with this album for a few weeks, I'll be able to tell you more but I think that everyone will take this album differently and go to a different place when they listen to it.

If this album is a product of the battle between Lupe Fiasco and his label Atlantic, then Lupe won. There's no real compromise and Lupe serves up songs that have no creative constriction as they vary greatly in length and follow no verse, hook, chorus, verse type of formula. It's just spit.

My Bang Up Banger is, well for once I don't have one. Each song attacks you from a different angle which is why I love the album. Each song, at the very least has a seed that draws you in and it's hard to get out without vibing along in some sort of way.

What Is It? Tetsuo & Youth is Lupe at his best. Get it and let it take you where ever it's destined to take you. It reminds me why I had such a great time watching Lupe live at Big Day Out back in the day.