Released: December 18, 2007

Songwriter: Lupe Fiasco Derrick Braxton Chris Paultrie

Producer: Chris&Drop

[Break]
(Oh, give the drummer some, yeah, yeah)
(Oh, give the drummer some, yeah, yeah)
(Oh, give the drummer some, yeah, yeah)
(Oh, give the drummer some, yeah, yeah)

[Intro]
Let's peruse the essentials of Cool
A brief study on the things so instrumental to Lu
That make me feel flyer than lobbies of Ws
A disclaimer, just a rhymer, no credentials from a school (now)
Let's peruse the essentials of Cool
A brief study on the things so instrumental to Lu
That make me feel flyer than lobbies of Ws
A disclaimer, just a rhymer, no credentials from a school

[Verse 1]
In my Fall of Rome jeans, my Head Porter wallet
My Neighborhood shirt and my Eddie Chen CLOT
Shit might not go to college but my street smart polished
Like the black fingernails of that punk rock logic
Do the knowledge: man, you can't be punk from projects
Firm disbeliever in your punch clock promise
Was trading off my comics, I was taking them to school
One of Jay-Z boys, now I'm skating in your pool
Not to be rude, I'm just hating on your rules
Like a young 50, I'm on my world tour
Good morning, Singapore, I'm bringing the sun with me
From the Robert Taylor homes to Africa's slum cities
I am American mentally with Japanese tendencies
Parisian sensibility, so stay out the vicinity of...

[Hook]
Yeah, yeah, them niggas over there, it's just
Yeah, yeah, now look at what I wear
Got my gold watch and my gold chain
With my fancy car and my diamond ring
With my fancy broad and she foreign
So it's no words and it's no slang
And I'm no trick and I'm no lame
It's just so slick that she's so game, and it's
Yeah, yeah, she love it over here, it's just
Yeah, yeah, she love it over here, it's just
Yeah, yeah, she love it over here, it's just
Yeah, yeah, she love it over here, and it's

[Verse 2]
I like Diptyque candles and Maharishi sandals and
Dita sunglasses, Purple Murder Service samples
I like False T-shirts Dover Street is off the handle
Such a good designer, Junya Watanabe, god damn you
I like Yohji Yamamoto and a Max Roach solo
Leather Gucci belts and Guilty Brotherhood polos
I like Montblanc pens and Moleskine paper
I like Goyard bags and green Now & Laters
Monocle magazine and Japanese manga
Futura Nosferatus and HTM trainers
I love Street Fighter 2, I just really hate Zangief
Only Ken and Ryu, I find it hard to beat Blanka
Keep a Wee Ninja hanging and an UNKLE album banging
If you negative in energy, then stay out the vicinity of...

[Hook]
Yeah, yeah, them niggas over there, it's just
Yeah, yeah, now look at what I wear
Got my gold watch and my gold chain
With my fancy car and my diamond ring
With my ghetto broad and she's so plain
Got a couple scars and one of those long names
She-a fight a nigga and cusses with no shame
And her ex-man had her baggin' up cocaine, but she
Yeah, yeah, she love it over here, it's just
Yeah, yeah, she love it over here, it's just
Yeah, yeah, she love it over here, it's just
Yeah, yeah, she love it over here, and it's

[Verse 3]
But my most coveted thing is a high self-esteem
And a low tolerance for them telling me how to lean
See, the most important parts are the ones that are unseen
The wings don't make you fly and the crown don't make you king
Now, God don't like ugly, ain't too happy 'bout pretty
I am ignorance's enemy so stay out the vicinity of...

[Hook]
Yeah, yeah, them niggas over there, it's just
Yeah, yeah, now look at what I wear
Got my gold watch and my gold chain
With my fancy car and my diamond ring
With my ghetto broad and she's so plain
Got a couple scars and one of those long names
She-a fight a nigga and cusses with no shame
And her ex-man had her baggin' up cocaine, but she
Yeah, yeah, she love it over here, it's just
Yeah, yeah, she love it over here, it's just
Yeah, yeah, she love it over here, it's just
Yeah, yeah, she love it over here, and it's

Lupe Fiasco

The Chicago born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco first tasted success when he featured on Kanye West’s hit “Touch the Sky”, a track that shortly preceded his real breakout, his 2006 debut album Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor, and he never looked back. He has established himself as one of the greatest urban wordsmiths of all time, with Genius even dubbing him the ‘Proust of Rap’.

While he’s now regarded of one of the 21st Century’s Hip-Hop greats, he wasn’t always a fan of the genre, initially disliking it due to the prominence of vulgarity and misogyny within it. In his late teens, he aspired to make it as a lyricist. In his early twenty’s, he met Jay-Z, who helped him sign with Atlantic Records in 2005. The following year, he released his debut album (Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor), which was met with acclaim from fans and critics alike, as did his sophomore effort, Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool.

The following eight years of his career saw far less output than many would’ve anticipated. This can be partly attributed to his struggles with Atlantic Records. The executives wanted him to sign a 360 deal; however, as he refused to do so they instead shelved his already completed 3rd album, Lasers, and wouldn’t promote him as they had previously. The overseers at the label also interfered with his music (as they had tried to do with his fan-favorite track “Dumb it Down”); subsequently effecting the quality and sound of his third and fourth albums.