Lupe Fiasco - Tetsuo & Youth
Critic Score
Based on 15 reviews
2015 Ratings: #331 / 1021
User Score
Based on 899 ratings
2015 Rank: #45
Liked by 118 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

90
HipHopDX
In place of frustration and petulance lives a warmth present for the first time in Fiasco full-length history; as if he’s reached a new checkpoint in the development of his patented simple-complexity; as if making music is again fun for him.
83
A.V. Club
The album is the best Lupe Fiasco has been in years, mostly because it forgoes the previously self-imposed mandates of his savior complex in favor of a balanced view from both intrapersonal and interpersonal lenses.
80
PopMatters

Tetsuo & Youth finds Lupe Fiasco returning to the ambitious abandon that defined his first two albums.

80
AllMusic

Tetsuo & Youth strolls its way into greatness after a couple listens and wipes out all the bitter aftertaste of Lasers as if that misstep never happened.

80
Exclaim!

It's a lot to digest, but Lupe's refound vigour and poignancy make it largely worth the effort, despite one or two tracks that you'll no doubt find yourself drifting in and out of.

80
XXL

After a turbulent mix of starts and stops, Tetsuo And Youth ... is an album that both meets fans’ exalted expectations of the Chicago native while surpassing them in the process.

80
Complex
You will not find any throwaway tracks on here. It is quite possibly his greatest creation.​
75
Consequence of Sound
Sometimes subtle, sometimes not, Lupe is a man with a lot to say and a lot of ways of doing it successfully, without pretentiousness.
72
Pitchfork

Something feels different this time around: If Tetsuo & Youth is any indication, something has shaken loose in Lupe, because it's the most focused, thoughtful, and satisfying project he's offered since The Cool.

70
AllHipHop

The main quandary with Tetsuo & Youth is not so much the production, as much as it is the production for the most part sounding the same.

70
The Needle Drop
With what might be his final project with Atlantic Records, Lupe Fiasco releases his most conceptual and headiest album in years, backing these tracks up with an instrumental set that's a step above what he delivered on his two previous LPs.
70
Spectrum Culture

Tetsuo & Youth ... firmly sets Lupe back in the pantheon.

69
Paste

On the whole, Tetsuo and Youth is a shaky album by a newly energized Lupe Fiasco who is newly energized.

60
Rolling Stone

Lupe Fiasco's fifth album is a swirl of double meanings, extended metaphors about yoga and math, and increasingly labyrinthine ways to say "I'm dope".

58
Pretty Much Amazing
Fiasco’s work is an intellectual exercise that takes hip-hop back to its spoken word roots, but unfortunately sacrifices much of the fun in the process.
AZIZ
87

This is the best hip-hop comeback album of all time in my opinion. After 2 duds (even though I personally enjoyed F&L2) Lupe was considered washed. This album changed all that. I can't even choose songs to comment because every song has loads of things to be commented about. The hooks are good, the rhyming schemes are very complex (internal rhymes, alliterations, lots of metaphors), the flow is pretty amazing, the subject matter is also very good most of the time. The only real low point ... read more

Rollo_P
84

Here's two ways to consider music I pulled out of my ass ten minutes ago:

Conceptually - how cool are the ideas on paper, how unique is the thing I just listened too?
Practicality - how often will I return to this, or show it to people I know?

While most albums tend to put their eggs in one basket or the other, Tetsuo & Youth is an album with these two concepts at odds with one another.

Fuck a record playing out like a movie or a comic book, T&Y plays out like a Rubik's cube - if ... read more

Scre4meh
85

Lupe Fiasco, one of the greatest writers in rap and one of the most conceptual rappers you will ever hear music from, proven by one single record.

I never listened to much Lupe Fiasco since i began being a hip hop fanatic, even if that's a little embarassing, so i naturally went completely blind into it and, man, this genuinely slaps so hard. It's honestly already growing to be one of my favourite rap albums. The concept, the insanely detailed and smart writing and even the catchy well-done ... read more

Webco
86

Mural might be the greatest rap song ever

qwayZ
100

Mural is a beatiful song omg

fav: Mural, Chopper, and Deliver

allStar725
85

*guys whos only listened to to pimp a butterfly*
"its like to pimp a butterfly but with some flaws"

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Added on: January 2, 2015