The Cool

The Cool a song by Lupe Fiasco on Foxsoundi — Free Music, Smart Streaming for Everyone

The Cool by Lupe Fiasco

About The Cool

Taken from his debut album Food & Liquor, Lupe Fiasco spins a lyrical tale about a hustler who is shot to death but miraculously comes back to life. This track became the basis for Lupe’s sophomore effort, Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool, a concept album about a young kid, Michael Young History, caught up in gang and drug life. Dubbed the “Coolest saga,” several songs from Lupe’s second album constitute the beginning of the story, while this track represents the end. .

The Cool Lyrics

[00:04.98] Yeah
[00:10.07] Yeah
[00:12.33] The Cool
[00:15.03] Turn me up
[00:16.34] Uh-huh
[00:17.67] Yeah
[00:20.15] He came back
[00:21.39] In the same suit that he was buried in
[00:23.08] Similar to the one his grandfather was married in
[00:25.73] Yes, he was still fresh to death
[00:27.96] Bling, two earrings, a chain laying on his chest
[00:30.70] He still had it 'cause they couldn't find it
[00:32.77] And the bullets from his enemies sat like two inches behind it
[00:35.98] Smell the Hennesey from when his niggas got reminded
[00:38.31] And poured out liquor in his memory, he didn't mind it, but
[00:41.57] He couldn't sip it fast enough
[00:43.10] So the liquor was just filling the casket up
[00:45.75] Floating down by his feet was the letter from his sister
[00:48.74] Second grade handwriting simply read, "I miss ya"
[00:51.25] Suit jacket pocket held his baby daughter's picture
[00:53.77] Right next to it, one of his man's stuck a Swisher
[00:56.47] He had a notion as he laid there soaking
[00:58.44] He saw that the latch was broken, he kicked his casket open
[01:01.17] And he
[01:01.57] This life goes passing you by
[01:04.28] It might go fast if you lie
[01:06.73] You go and you live then you die
[01:10.53] Oh-oh-oh-oh
[01:11.98] If life goes passing you by
[01:14.37] Don't cry
[01:15.62] If you breaking the rules
[01:17.17] Making your moves (yeah)
[01:18.52] Paying your dues (uh-huh)
[01:20.76] Chasing the cool
[01:21.81] Not at all nervous as he dug to the surface
[01:24.37] Tarnished gold chain is what he loosened up the earth with
[01:27.03] He used his mouth as a shovel to try and hollow it
[01:29.56] And when he couldn't dirt spit, he swallowed it
[01:31.46] Working like a, hmm, reverse archaeologist
[01:34.31] Except, his buried treasure was sunshine
[01:36.89] So when some shined through a hole that he had drove
[01:39.43] It reflected off the gold and almost made son blind
[01:41.92] He grabbed on to some grass and climbed
[01:43.77] Pulled hisself up out of his own grave and looked at the time
[01:47.12] On the watch that had stopped six months after the shots
[01:49.53] That had got him in the box wringing Henny out his socks
[01:52.34] Figured it was hours because he wasn't older
[01:55.03] Used some flowers to brush the dirt up off his shoulders, so
[01:57.89] With a right hand that was all bones and no reason to stay
[02:00.99] He decided to walk home
[02:02.29] So he
[02:02.86] This life goes passing you by
[02:05.66] It might go fast if you lie (yeah)
[02:08.13] You go and you live then you die
[02:11.84] Oh-oh-oh-oh
[02:13.24] If life goes passing you by
[02:15.82] Don't cry (uh)
[02:16.77] If you breaking the rules (yeah)
[02:18.48] Making your moves (uh)
[02:19.70] Paying your dues (uh)
[02:21.84] Chasing the cool
[02:22.90] He begged for some change, to get him on a train
[02:25.57] "Damn that nigga stank", is what they complained
[02:27.96] Tried to light the blunt but it burst into flames
[02:30.37] Caught the reflection in the window of what he became
[02:32.77] A long look, wasn't shook, wasn't ashamed
[02:35.44] Matter fact, only thing on his brain was brains, yeah
[02:39.00] And getting back in his lane, doing his thang
[02:41.13] First he had to find something to slang
[02:43.00] Next stop was his block
[02:44.62] It had the same cops
[02:46.03] Walked right past the same spot where he was shot
[02:48.24] Shocked that some little niggas tried to sell him rocks
[02:50.94] It just felt weird being on the opposite
[02:53.61] They figured that he wasn't from there
[02:55.16] So they pulled out and robbed him
[02:56.98] With the same gun they shot him with
[02:58.96] Put it to his head and said, "You scared, ain't you?"
[03:01.29] He said, "Hustler for death, no heaven for a gangster" and
[03:04.07] This life goes passing you by
[03:06.65] It might go fast if you lie
[03:09.18] You go and you live then you die
[03:13.14] Oh-oh-oh-oh
[03:14.32] If life goes passing you by
[03:16.92] Don't cry
[03:18.28] If you breaking the rules
[03:19.87] Making your moves
[03:21.14] Paying your dues
[03:23.26] Chasing the cool
[03:26.45] Yeah
[03:28.84] Uh
[03:32.90] Cool
[03:34.56]

From the album: Hip Hop 100