As these become increasingly portentous, the album's production style moves towards darker, more cinematic flourishes; as if moving in time with the circling pianos, brooding strings, and moody guitar squalls, Fiasco pulls the camera back from himself to take a rooftop-level view of his surroundings. The rest of the album plays out this way, with the first person expunged from the frame and replaced by Fiasco in storytelling mode. When it works, it works tremendously.
Much has been made of Fiasco's love of comic books, and indeed there are stretches during this second half where you can feel him working a lot of the same angles; his predilection for stylized city-under-siege dystopia is so refined that it's not difficult to imagine these stories playing out in panels. The beautifully shaded rapper origin story "Hip-Hop Saved My Life" kicks off an evocative three-song stretch that includes the chilling "Intruder Alert" which uses the title phrase to connect the stories of a rape victim, a drug addict, and a landed immigrant and the doomsdayish "Streets on Fire".
In fact, from Santos and producer Soundtrakk to Chicagoan rapper Gemstones and vocalist Sarah Green, most of the album's remaining featured talent comes courtesy of 1st and 15th, the Atlantic-bankrolled label of which Fiasco is co-founder and acting CEO. While the jury's still out on whether that stems from a canny marketing sense or control-freakishness, it doesn't leave much room to doubt that the vision for this sprawling, grandiose, and occasionally overambitious record came from anyone other than Fiasco himself.
Whether he delivered on the full extent of what he wanted to achieve is up for debate; luckily, he's good enough that even when he comes up short, he's still better than most. Skip to content Search query All Results. Pitchfork is the most trusted voice in music. Energetic Happy Hypnotic. Romantic Sad Sentimental. Sexy Trippy All Moods. Drinking Hanging Out In Love. Introspection Late Night Partying.
Rainy Day Relaxation Road Trip. Romantic Evening Sex All Themes. Articles Features Interviews Lists. Streams Videos All Posts. My Profile. Advanced Search. The Cool Review by Andy Kellman. Track Listing. Baba Says Cool for Thought. Free Chilly. Go Go Gadget Flow. The Coolest. Paris, Tokyo. Gold Watch.
Hip-Hop Saved My Life. Intruder Alert. Streets on Fire. Little Weapon. Gotta Eat. Dumb It Down. Lupe Fiasco. The Die.
0コメント