LUPE x SOUNDTRAKK

So if amy winehouse was a battle rapper and opera singer, thats the little album im working on called SAMURAI. She told Salaam Remi she was a samurai and that she was gonna kill him on the battlefield with her battle raps. - Lupe Fiasco

shop.season-of-mist.com/lupe-fiasco-samurai-lp

"On his new album, Samurai, Lupe retreats inward to give fans one of his most personal albums in his deep catalog. “I sometimes get tagged by my fans as not doing personal records,” Lupe says, “but I always tell people there's me in there if you listen closely enough. This album is one of my more personal records to date. It's not a full biography, but my personal experiences are tied up in all of my music. A lot of the records are me. Some are from the POV of a character. and some are me. The album weaves things from my life as an artist, touching on things other artists go through.” The narrative follows a battle rapper through various moments in his career, starting with how they honed their battle rap skills, following their career through different moments. Musically, the new album finds Lupe delighting in the simple pleasures of assembling assonant syllables into playful and poignant narratives. The 8-track album is smooth, yet cerebral, brimming with ideas, but always radiating Lupe’s pure love for the art of emceeing and committing himself as a servant of the rap game. The album was produced in full by longtime collaborator and friend, Soundtrakk (“Superstar,” “Kick, Push,” “HipHop Saved My Life”), their second time linking up on a full album after 2022’s DRILL MUSIC IN ZION, and is also the first time Lupe, Trakk, and longtime manager Charles “Chill” Patton were in the studio together since Patton’s release from prison in 2023. “It felt great to be back in the studio again as a family,” Lupe says. It’s the first time they’d worked together in the studio since Lupe’s seminal album, The Cool in 2005. “The word ‘samurai’ means to serve,” Lupe says on the album’s title. “My relationship to that word has always meant that you need to be at the service of other people, either in the overall community, or in this instance, the rap community at large that I’ve been a part of for years. You have some duty, some purpose to serve. The title alone is very important to me. Before rap even, martial arts was my whole life, and it still plays a huge role in my life. The album is me, but also inspired by a quote I heard from one of my favorite artists. The overall themes of the album speak to the constant fight and the battle one goes through being in the entertainment industry. Some of the things we need to defend.”

UPDATES

04/23/20
Lupe talks SAMURAI with Museum of Fine Arts Boston

4/22/20
Lupe says he's 5 songs into SAMURAI on IGLIVE

09/05/19
Lupe introduces SAMURAI album on HYPEBEAST Podcast @ 1:00:30

POTENTIAL TRACKS (there will be 7 tracks)

Samurai
Til Eternity
Heaadbanger
Palaces
Big Foot
Cake
Mumble Rap

POTENTIAL FEATURES

Nas
Nikki Jean

Good interview

So this Skulls now?

Inspired by Amy Winehouse? fully in

Soooo tonight?

IN

in

Nope Skulls is a completely different album, it was yesterday or the day before where Lupe said he's sitting on top of 4 unreleased albums right now

"Yes and so im writing that and nas was like yo thats dope and i was like yeah, so if you (nas) want a verse on it let me know."

This might be the album where we get the Nas collab

Looking forward to seeing it.

I won't get hyped because I know it will probably be years before we hear it

In as always

he said he's 5 songs in

he has one album thats finished (not skulls) but idk why he's not releasing it first

Because he probably needs to clear samples or get a master done on it which takes money and he maybe is waiting the rona out to tour and build funds for that?

Either way I’m so in for this s*** I hope it doesn’t go the way of Roy

Imagine if soundtrakk was on his nujabes s*** for a bit. Doing some lofi ish styles beats.

Or like using taiko drum samples
Maybe even some koto strings

Or or like shakuhachi flutes

Or or or the godly guqin if we going Chinese influence

Please be the godliest s*** I ever heard in my life I know you can do it Lu

i meant why is he releasing this first which is only half finished, as opposed to the album thats already finished and he played for mickey factz and daylyt.

this gon be some wu-tang live at the sydney opera house s***.

also ms mural is def gonna be on this album

soundtrakk recovering from covid-19 as we speak

he gon be on his dilla s***

Lupe just said this will be a 6-7 song album on the mfaboston live

Wow an EP then, hope the songs will be long at least. Hopefully next year we’ll get Skulls then

I hope Lupe will bring back Matthew Santos for this album or Skulls as one of the features. We’ve already heard enough of Nikki Jean, nothing against her

He talked about skulls at length.

He said he had to pull some of the life story pieces out of the album because of the Mickey situation.

Seance was supposed to be the intro where they resurrect basquiat with the chorus being BROOKLYN I N THE HOUSE.

And Living Dangerous was supposed to be the outro because basquiat passed away in a limousine going to a run dmc concert. And the hook is “I wanna be famous by any means, living dangerous in limousines”

Album would’ve 100% been a classic if it came out