Lu-sing his cool

Lupe Fiasco, who has been praised by many (including himself) as the savior of his genre, is not great because most of his songs deal with poverty, violence and the state of hip-hop. Plenty of mainstream rappers have tackled the same heavy themes with as much heart as Lupe and twice the swagger. (If you don't believe me, see Houston rapper Bun B's verse in the remix of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes.") What makes Lupe Fiasco an important voice in rap music is his mechanics.\nThe Chicago MC's sophomore effort is a condemnation of the false idols promoted by pop culture's definition of "cool." But here's the surprise: The album is actually fun to listen to, thanks to airy jazz grooves and Lupe's equally smooth flows. Fiasco is a wordsmith, and his raps are finely crafted throughout The Cool. He brags about it on "Go, Go, Gadget Flow" with an almost inhumanly precise delivery that lives up to the track's hokey hook. On the laid-back "Paris, Tokyo," Lupe kicks it like Tribe Called Quest before practically doubling his words per minute on the rapid-fire "The Die."\nLupe moseys again on "Superstar," pondering his newfound stardom and the struggles of fame with aloof nonchalance, but the album's best tracks are those that find young Lu less cool. On the chest-thumping "Little Weapon," an impassioned Lupe channels child soldiers in Africa, rapping in staccato breaths that mimic the tinny snare drum that marches underneath him: "Cute, smileless, heartless, violent / Childhood destroyed, devoid of all childish / ways. Can't write their own names / or read the words that's on their own graves." \nLu is quick to vary styles on The Cool — from the rock-infused and overly punctuated "Hello/Goodbye (Uncool)" to the lame for-the-ladies closer "Go Baby" - with mixed results. Still, it's hard to knock him too far off his pedestal. Lupe's advantage on his peers becomes crystal clear on "Hi-Definition," a collabo with the Doggfather himself, who, while Lu raps about AIDS and urban decay, offers this high-brow ditty: "Lupe, it's Snoopy. Let's go out / Tip toe through the door and do it doggy style." \nMaybe we need Lu more than we think.