On This Day: “The Cool”

On this day 13 years ago, Lupe Fiasco released “Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool”, his 2nd studio album. Debuting at #1 on the Billboard Top Hip-Hop/R&B chart, selling 143,000 units first week & would eventually go certified gold. The Cool featured 4 singles: “Superstar” ft. Mathew Santos, “Paris, Tokyo”, “Dumb It Down” & “Hip-Hop Saved My Life”. Lupe would expand on the story that is told through song of the same name on his debut album; the story of a boy without a dad then being raised by the Streets & the Game & how the boy makes his ways through the dichotomy of righteousness & earthly desires. The eerie, somber tones of The Cool came about during a dark time in Lupe’s life where he suffered the loss his Father, the loss of his friend & legend, Stack Bundles & the incarceration of his friend & business partner, Chilly for 44 years.

December 18th, 2007