Lupe Fiasco - finally, some real hip hop

Every once in a while we get some real stuff, like Jurassic 5 or the Pharcyde guys - hip hop that reminds of you of why it all mattered to begin with. It wasn't always weak, boring beats and bling and guns and bootyquakes and "itsyaberfday" and the rest of what passes for hip hop on the radio. Lupe Fiasco is like that - I heard his track "Kick, Push" on WRAS the other night, driving home from rehearsal, and it was like hearing Eric B and Rakim for the first time back when. The rush of strings, the laid-back flow, and a rhyme about skateboarding, for Pete's sake! It's simple, cinematic, and fresh. Click on the title of this post to go check it out.

I don't know if the rest of the record will stand up, but here's hoping.