Cagey move by Lupe’s handlers: “Superstar,” the first single from his upcoming The Cool, was leaked onto the ‘nets a few days ago, just in time to go toe-to-toe with Kanye’s Graduation.

Lupe played this number at Bumbershoot and it gave me shivers. On closer listening, I’m loving it even more.

Metaphor. The best hiphop is all about deeper meaning through metaphor, a poetic tecnnique Kanye seems incapable of but Lupe masters like an old pro. Kanye raps about superstardom (“All That I Am,” “The Glory,” “Big Brother,” “The Good Life”—so much of Graduation is spent ruminating on success) and I can’t relate; it’s too clear that these songs are all about Kanye.

Lupe raps “Superstar” and I get the feeling the song is about me. Or at least experiences I’ve had in the past: “If you are what you say you are/A superstar/Then have no fear.” He raps about getting shut out of shows, about striving to meet expectations, about leaving the hype behind for more reliable things. Anybody can understand that, especially with Lupe’s midtempo, dude-next-door delivery.

Singer Matthew Santos weighs in on the hook with a Chris Martin-esque pop-soul voice that works beautifully. (A nod to Kanye’s superstar guest?) Listen closely and you’ll even hear one instance of the word “superstar” delivered with Mary Katherine Gallagher’s SNL inflection—slyly funny shit.

But the best part about the song is the metaphor leaves interpretation to the imagination. The listener is just as easily the superstar of the title as the narrator is. That gray area is crucial; it casts Lupe in a far more likable light than almost any of his peers. The song is abstract, artful in a way that so much mainstream rap never gets to. Kanye alienates, Lupe relates. “Superstar” is money.