The Rundown: Lupe Fiasco, Tetsuo & Youth

A track-by-track look at the Chicago MC's 5th release.

The Rundown: Lupe Fiasco, Tetsuo & Youth - Lupe returns with his fifth and final release for Atlantic Records and gets his Frank Sinatra on by doing it his way. Filled with inspiring and uplifting bars, check out the Chicago MC's latest testament for the youth to follow. –– Michael Harris (@IceBlueVA)(Photo: Atlantic Records, 1st & 15th Entertainment)

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The Rundown: Lupe Fiasco, Tetsuo & Youth - Lupe returns with his fifth and final release for Atlantic Records and gets his Frank Sinatra on by doing it his way. Filled with inspiring and uplifting bars, check out the Chicago MC's latest testament for the youth to follow. –– Michael Harris (@IceBlueVA)(Photo: Atlantic Records, 1st & 15th Entertainment)

"Summer" - Lupe kicks off his fifth release in a world of utopia as kids are heard in the background splashing and having a good time. This slick instrumental filled with chords and strings is the calm before the Chi-town spitter storms and unloads his bombs against political and racial injustices and calls for the masses to unite.(Photo: Jason Davis/Getty Images)

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"Summer" - Lupe kicks off his fifth release in a world of utopia as kids are heard in the background splashing and having a good time. This slick instrumental filled with chords and strings is the calm before the Chi-town spitter storms and unloads his bombs against political and racial injustices and calls for the masses to unite.(Photo: Jason Davis/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: Jason Davis/Getty Images

"Mural" - Lupe sets the tone for Tetsuo & Youth by painting pictures with this nearly nine-minute lyrical canvas of how he would like to see the world and some of the actions he would take to bring about that change.  Challenging artists to say something impactful with their music, Lupe inspires with, “You gotta treat your vocal chords like it's a fortress / And treat every single one of your words like reinforcements / And especially when you're recording / 'Cause that's the portion that's important.” (Photo: Chris Weeks/Getty Images for Sonos)

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"Mural" - Lupe sets the tone for Tetsuo & Youth by painting pictures with this nearly nine-minute lyrical canvas of how he would like to see the world and some of the actions he would take to bring about that change.  Challenging artists to say something impactful with their music, Lupe inspires with, “You gotta treat your vocal chords like it's a fortress / And treat every single one of your words like reinforcements / And especially when you're recording / 'Cause that's the portion that's important.” (Photo: Chris Weeks/Getty Images for Sonos)

“Blur My Hands” feat. Guy Sebastian  - S-1 and M-Phazes lay the gritty production here as Lupe makes no apologies that you may have to rewind his lyrics a few times to receive his jewels and soak up his knowledgeable bars.Guy Sebastian provides the motivational chorus while Fiasco explains his magic with the pen as he rhymes, “Now me and words, we made a deal / That I'm gon' keep 'em real / And they show me their secrets, I can even cop a feel / Victorious.” (Photo: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

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“Blur My Hands” feat. Guy Sebastian  - S-1 and M-Phazes lay the gritty production here as Lupe makes no apologies that you may have to rewind his lyrics a few times to receive his jewels and soak up his knowledgeable bars.Guy Sebastian provides the motivational chorus while Fiasco explains his magic with the pen as he rhymes, “Now me and words, we made a deal / That I'm gon' keep 'em real / And they show me their secrets, I can even cop a feel / Victorious.” (Photo: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

“Dots and Lines” - Tetsuo & Youth is Lupe’s swan song for Atlantic Records and he sends a goodbye shot explaining his fights with his label to make life-changing music while they were only interested in him making them a bunch of change. His scathing metaphors include, “To make gold from garbage is not the unchemical part of this map / But truth be told it's the pursuit of gold that turns the goal of men into trash / They souls gold and they turning gold into cash.”(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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“Dots and Lines” - Tetsuo & Youth is Lupe’s swan song for Atlantic Records and he sends a goodbye shot explaining his fights with his label to make life-changing music while they were only interested in him making them a bunch of change. His scathing metaphors include, “To make gold from garbage is not the unchemical part of this map / But truth be told it's the pursuit of gold that turns the goal of men into trash / They souls gold and they turning gold into cash.”(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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"Fall" - Instead of skits, Lupe breaks the album up with instrumental seasons. On this one, we hear kids playing and leaves being raked as he further pushes his message that the youth are innocent and we have to be conscious of the corrupt material society pumps into their young brains. (Photo: Chris Weeks/Getty Images for Sonos)

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"Fall" - Instead of skits, Lupe breaks the album up with instrumental seasons. On this one, we hear kids playing and leaves being raked as he further pushes his message that the youth are innocent and we have to be conscious of the corrupt material society pumps into their young brains. (Photo: Chris Weeks/Getty Images for Sonos)

“Prisoner 1 & 2” feat. Ayesha Jaco - Lupe takes a stab at the prison industrial complex and the revolving doors that keep trapping Black males on this cut. With his sister Ayesha supplying a spoken word prose of the new “Jim Crow,” Wasalu speaks for the lost souls as he spits, “Scared thugs going crazy in a caged box / Looking at the world through the TV / And they gone, rapping over beats from the tabletops / Ay! That's how it is in a police state.” (Photo: Daniel Boczarski/Redferns via Getty Images)

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“Prisoner 1 & 2” feat. Ayesha Jaco - Lupe takes a stab at the prison industrial complex and the revolving doors that keep trapping Black males on this cut. With his sister Ayesha supplying a spoken word prose of the new “Jim Crow,” Wasalu speaks for the lost souls as he spits, “Scared thugs going crazy in a caged box / Looking at the world through the TV / And they gone, rapping over beats from the tabletops / Ay! That's how it is in a police state.” (Photo: Daniel Boczarski/Redferns via Getty Images)

“Body of Work” feat. Troi and Terrace Martin - Chi-town’s lyrical up-lifter takes time here to describe his relationship with hip hop and not hating her despite the things she’s become. With a little help from Troi and Terrace Martin on his version of The Scarlet Letter, Lupe watches his love being ravaged as he rhymes, “With a $3,000 son she just want a lover / And somebody else that come and try and drug her / Take her off the grill, she done / Pills celebrating, 'we won.'" (Photo: Joe Kohen/Getty Images for Y-3)

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“Body of Work” feat. Troi and Terrace Martin - Chi-town’s lyrical up-lifter takes time here to describe his relationship with hip hop and not hating her despite the things she’s become. With a little help from Troi and Terrace Martin on his version of The Scarlet Letter, Lupe watches his love being ravaged as he rhymes, “With a $3,000 son she just want a lover / And somebody else that come and try and drug her / Take her off the grill, she done / Pills celebrating, 'we won.'" (Photo: Joe Kohen/Getty Images for Y-3)

“Little Death” feat. Nikki Jean - With Nikki Jean supplying the infectious hook, Lupe takes a look at some of society’s double standards, like people’s views on same sex marriage to killers allowed to walk free because a “junkie” was the only witness. Holding the mirror for everyone to see themselves, he rhymes, “Sam marrying Sam / Band pushed upon the finger of Sam's hairiest hand / If that sickens you, you a bigot / If it doesn't, well you're wicked/ Such is life / Odd as Egg McMuffins at night.”(Photos from Left: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images, Nikki Jean via Instagram)

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“Little Death” feat. Nikki Jean - With Nikki Jean supplying the infectious hook, Lupe takes a look at some of society’s double standards, like people’s views on same sex marriage to killers allowed to walk free because a “junkie” was the only witness. Holding the mirror for everyone to see themselves, he rhymes, “Sam marrying Sam / Band pushed upon the finger of Sam's hairiest hand / If that sickens you, you a bigot / If it doesn't, well you're wicked/ Such is life / Odd as Egg McMuffins at night.”(Photos from Left: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images, Nikki Jean via Instagram)

“No Scratches” feat. Nikki Jean - DJ Simon Says supplies the erotic back blend while Lupe and Nikki Jean share their feelings on love gone astray. Sometimes it’s better to throw in the towel as their chorus states, “So before we hit a wall / Heartbreak and it crashes / Just walk away no scratches.”(Photos from Left: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images, Nikki Jean via Instagram)

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“No Scratches” feat. Nikki Jean - DJ Simon Says supplies the erotic back blend while Lupe and Nikki Jean share their feelings on love gone astray. Sometimes it’s better to throw in the towel as their chorus states, “So before we hit a wall / Heartbreak and it crashes / Just walk away no scratches.”(Photos from Left: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images, Nikki Jean via Instagram)

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"Winter" - Eerie violin melodies and gusty winds and snow fill this sonic break as Wasalu prepares to deliver the storm portion of Tetsuo & Youth.  (Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

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"Winter" - Eerie violin melodies and gusty winds and snow fill this sonic break as Wasalu prepares to deliver the storm portion of Tetsuo & Youth.  (Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

“Chopper” feat. Billy Blue, Buk of Psychodrama, Famlay, Glasses Malone, Trae Tha Truth and Trouble - Lupe gets his Malcolm X on as he rounds up some of the street's most certified gangsta lyricists and gets them on one accord: unity and uplifting. Riding out over this synthesizer-driven DJ Dahi production, no bars were spared as evidenced by lines like, “R.I.P. to the homies but long live the killers / It’s why I look at God kind of odd / 'Cause these are the cards that he deal us / Ramen can’t fill us, Medicare can’t heal us / And the mamas can’t stop us and these choppers might kill us.”(Photos from Left: Matt Jelonek/Getty Images, Jessica Alexander/DPA/Landov, Leon Bennett/WireImage)

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“Chopper” feat. Billy Blue, Buk of Psychodrama, Famlay, Glasses Malone, Trae Tha Truth and Trouble - Lupe gets his Malcolm X on as he rounds up some of the street's most certified gangsta lyricists and gets them on one accord: unity and uplifting. Riding out over this synthesizer-driven DJ Dahi production, no bars were spared as evidenced by lines like, “R.I.P. to the homies but long live the killers / It’s why I look at God kind of odd / 'Cause these are the cards that he deal us / Ramen can’t fill us, Medicare can’t heal us / And the mamas can’t stop us and these choppers might kill us.”(Photos from Left: Matt Jelonek/Getty Images, Jessica Alexander/DPA/Landov, Leon Bennett/WireImage)

“Deliver” feat. Ty Dolla $ign - Ty Dolla $ign helps Lupe deliver his message that the ghetto can be what you make it and we have to do all we can to escape the traps set before us. Trying to break the mental chains and unlearn the self-hate, Lupe rhymes through the eyes of a pizza man who won’t come to the hood.Here he spits, “The ghetto was a physical manifestation of hate in a place where ethnicity determines your placement / A place that defines your station / Remind you n****s your place is the basement.”(Photos from Left: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images for Hennessy V.S, Earl Gibson III/Getty Images for BET)

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“Deliver” feat. Ty Dolla $ign - Ty Dolla $ign helps Lupe deliver his message that the ghetto can be what you make it and we have to do all we can to escape the traps set before us. Trying to break the mental chains and unlearn the self-hate, Lupe rhymes through the eyes of a pizza man who won’t come to the hood.Here he spits, “The ghetto was a physical manifestation of hate in a place where ethnicity determines your placement / A place that defines your station / Remind you n****s your place is the basement.”(Photos from Left: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images for Hennessy V.S, Earl Gibson III/Getty Images for BET)

"Madonna (And Other Mothers in the Hood)" feat. Nikki Jean - Lupe dedicates this gem here to the single mothers trying to raise children in the hood and all the obstacles like drugs, guns and poverty she’s trying to circumvent her kids from as they navigate through Babylon.Lupe shows his storytelling genius here as the heartbreak is felt with bars like, “Mama said my son never been no killer…no gangster…no drug dealer, no gang member / Mama said my son never been no trouble.”(Photos from Left: Stefan Gosatti/Getty Images, Nikki Jean via Instagram)

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"Madonna (And Other Mothers in the Hood)" feat. Nikki Jean - Lupe dedicates this gem here to the single mothers trying to raise children in the hood and all the obstacles like drugs, guns and poverty she’s trying to circumvent her kids from as they navigate through Babylon.Lupe shows his storytelling genius here as the heartbreak is felt with bars like, “Mama said my son never been no killer…no gangster…no drug dealer, no gang member / Mama said my son never been no trouble.”(Photos from Left: Stefan Gosatti/Getty Images, Nikki Jean via Instagram)

"Adoration of the Magi" feat. Crystal Torres - DJ Dahi brings out the jazz loops here as Lupe tries to slow down a youngsta headed for destruction. Showing the youth the other side of the coin, he asks, “Why you ready to die? You just a baby…Keep your head up in the sky, you just a baby / Quit chasing money, nevermind, you just a baby.”(Photo: Judy Eddy/WENN.com)

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"Adoration of the Magi" feat. Crystal Torres - DJ Dahi brings out the jazz loops here as Lupe tries to slow down a youngsta headed for destruction. Showing the youth the other side of the coin, he asks, “Why you ready to die? You just a baby…Keep your head up in the sky, you just a baby / Quit chasing money, nevermind, you just a baby.”(Photo: Judy Eddy/WENN.com)

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"They.Resurrect.Over.New" featu. Ab-Soul and Troi  - Wasalu closes out his fifth release moving forward, riding out with Ab-Soul with his foot planted on the gas and seeking change. “Proceeding to the next level,” they resurrect the youth and themselves instead of reminiscing over them.(Photos from Left: Don Arnold/WireImage/Getty Images, Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Anheuser-Busch)

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"They.Resurrect.Over.New" featu. Ab-Soul and Troi  - Wasalu closes out his fifth release moving forward, riding out with Ab-Soul with his foot planted on the gas and seeking change. “Proceeding to the next level,” they resurrect the youth and themselves instead of reminiscing over them.(Photos from Left: Don Arnold/WireImage/Getty Images, Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Anheuser-Busch)

"Spring" - For the final curtain and closing instrumental, the kids seem to have been guided successfully as birds chirp and the youth discover their plight for a new beginning. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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"Spring" - For the final curtain and closing instrumental, the kids seem to have been guided successfully as birds chirp and the youth discover their plight for a new beginning. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)