Chicago emcee Lupe Fiasco is back after nearly 2 years releasing his 9th LP. Blowing up in 2005 after appearing on “Touch the Sky” off of Kanye West’s sophomore album Late Registration, he then went on to release 2 classic albums Food & Liquor and The Cool in 2006 & 2007 respectively. However, his output since then has been very inconsistent. His next album Lasers in 2011 is easily his worst yet, Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album in 2013 was just ok but then Tetsuo & Youth in 2015 was a near perfect return to form for him. Given that, I was excited to see what he was going to do in the future. DROGAS Light wound up being a disappointing mixed bag, but DROGAS Wave eventually made up for it. Drill Music in Zion produced by Soundtrakk on the other hand was a near-perfect sequel to Tetsuo & Youth, so I found him going the way of the Samurai from there to be an interesting move.
The title track sets the tone of the album by hooking up a jazzy, lo-fi boom bap instrumental comparing himself to an actual member of the powerful military caste in feudal Japan whereas “Mumble Rap” groovily talks about a woman drawn to the vibe of his remarks waking up with a song on the heart. “Cake” works in an organ & hi-hats showing his fans gratitude for sticking by him even when times were tough prior to “Palaces” bringing back the kicks & snares to talk about being tormented for so long.
“#1 Headband” jazzily starts the 2nd half of the album promising that he’s gonna be the one just before “Bigfoot” singing the things that you’d normally keep inside your head out loud maintaining the jazz influences instrumentally. “Outside” mellowly advises to wait for him out in the open nearing the conclusion of the LP leading into the piano-driven “‘Til Eternity” ending Samurai assuring we’ll go far even with the stallions behind the stagecoach.
I mentioned at the beginning of the review about Lupe’s discography being inconsistent at times in the past but if we’re continuing to get albums from him on the same quality as Samurai & Drill Music in Zion, then I’m all for it because he went back-to-back here. In contrast to the latter being a sequel to one of his most acclaimed offerings, what he gives us here is a loving & living portrait to one of his all-time favorite artists: Amy Winehouse.
Score: 4.5/5
Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!
Legends Will Never Die 