Superstar

When Chicago-based rapper Lupe Fiasco dropped his debut album "Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor" he represented a marked alternative to the "guns, glamour and girls" posturing many of his rap contemporaries had been churning out in an ever-increasingly clichéd manner. Now returning with his second album, Lupe promises to deliver more of his De La Soul influenced conscious hip hop - the first taste of which is his latest single "Superstar." Teaming up with vocalist Matthew Santos, a definite soundalike to Maroon 5's Adam Levine, Lupe delivers a competent rap over a set of mid-tempo beats and Kanye West style strings, which moves along pleasingly… but not particularly urgently. Although it may not be up to the standard of West-produced gems such as "Kick, Push" this latest offering is still a cut above the majority of hip hop coming out of the US and expectations are high for the new album "The Cool".  shazam