HIP HOP
Lupe Fiasco, "Lasers" (Atlantic)
Fiasco isn't a very big fan of his new album. He's being too hard on himself. The Chicago rapper's oft-delayed third set is his most pop-sounding album, with songs punctuated by big choruses and catchy R&B hooks. It marks a departure from the socially conscious, indie-minded material from his first two albums, and at times the disc shows signs of strain. But Fiasco is still a sharp lyricist and doesn't shy away from speaking his mind on "Words I Never Said" (featuring a vocal assist from Skylar Grey) and "State Run Radio." Meanwhile, the first single, "The Show Goes On," is a rewrite of Modest Mouse's surprise pop hit "Float On." While it may appear Fiasco is bowing to the establishment, consider it subverting the machine from the inside.
ADAM GRAHAM, DETROIT NEWS
Chef Raekwon, "Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang" (EMI)
Three years ago, the Wu-Tang Clan revolted. Disenchanted by the RZA's operatic direction, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah and Method Man opted for a Puritan approach, returning to the essence on 2007's "8 Diagrams": kung fu clips, spectral soul samples, cryptic criminal slang, dirt-nap drums, even a snippet of Ol Dirty Bastard.
Raekwon's modus operandi here is to make you forget the decade-era fugue that followed "Wu-Tang Forever." While the RZA is busy directing his first feature film, Raekwon recruits a production team comprised of longtime Clan affiliates (Mathematics, Bronze Nazareth, Cilvaringz) and likeminded cellar-dwellers (Evidence, Alchemist, Scram Jones), who faithfully re-create the RZA's aesthetic. The Chef also enlists Rick Ross and Lloyd Banks to go along with fellow '90s icons Busta Rhymes, Nas and Black Thought, as well as the remaining relevant Clansmen. Most impressive is the way in which the diffuse cast is seamlessly assimilated into the Wu cosmology. On "From the Hills," Raheem DeVaughn channels OutKast via Curtis Mayfield, while Method Man and the Chef re-create gritty days of being stick-up kids escaping through sewers.
JEFF WEISS, LOS ANGELES TIMES
