The first thing I noticed about Lupe Fiasco’s new CD, Tetsuo & Youth, is that the track list is split up into seasons. It is unclear why, but there always seems to be a method to Fiasco’s madness when it comes to the blueprint of his music.

Listeners who enjoyed Fiasco’s first album, “Food and Liquor,” will enjoy where he has gone with his music.

If you are a fair-weather Fiasco fan, this album may be one of the more difficult ones to listen to versus the last couple albums he has released.

The second track on the album, “Mural,” is a nearly nine minute laundry list of things that didn’t seem to have a cohesive theme, which makes you wonder what he is going for on this go-around at the very beginning of the album.

Fiasco uses all of his albums as outlets to express what is on his mind just before the album drops.

This album, especially, has a feel of slam poetry versions of his journal read while in the recording studio.

There are only a couple of songs on the new album that have a true hip-hop feel to them as far as the instrumentals go (“Deliver,” “Choppers,” and the second half of “Prisoner 1&2”).

The rest of the album has a mellow feel to it while keeping the clever, politically-driven lyrics that we have come to love about Fiasco.

It is difficult to have a grasp on whether or not he is progressing, lagging or staying stagnant in his art because, as evident in his flow and lyrics, he hasn’t lost a step while keeping his subject matter relevant to the here and now.

Being one of the more intelligent emcees out there, it is his job to keep political and socially conscious rap on the mainstream radar. The album may be slow in many parts, but it is worth a listen just for the basic fact that some perspective on current events can be gained if you can keep up with his rapid-rate punch lines.