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Celebrated as one of hip-hop’s true performers, Lupe Fiasco is as cool they come. Whether he’s telling skateboard tales or teaming up with Pharrell, his rhyme structure and street freestyles give lovers of hip-hop hope. This hope, as well as the belief that hip-hop isn’t dead - it’s just been on vacation, breathes life in to a genre that more times than not fails to inspire listeners today the way that it used to.
Without doubt his best piece of work to date, ‘Superstar’ is an uplifting introduction in to the world of superstardom. Explaining the ins and outs of the celebrity lifestyle, Lupe’s rhyme structure is executed with a bounce and swing that no other rapper this side of 2000 has been able to achieve. Add to this the relaxing vocals of Matthew Santos - who sounds like a cross between Chris Martin and John Legend, and you’ve got a hip-hop anthem that could easily stand in the same category as Naughty By Nature‘s ‘OPP’ or House Of Pain‘s ‘Jump Around’. This record proves that Lupe Fiasco is just as the title suggests, a superstar.
Released 14/01/08 on Atlantic.
