Lupe Fiasco has unveiled plans to release a new album next month.
‘Samurai’ will be the Chicago legend’s ninth studio album, and is inspired by battle rap, Japanese culture and Lupe’s swordsman-like approach to his craft.
“The word ‘samurai’ means to serve,” explains Lupe. “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.”
The announcement comes with a Chris & Blaq-directed visual for the album’s title-track which combines storytelling with analysis of the awkward relationship between hip-hop culture and high brow culture.
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“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.”
Fans will be pleased to hear that ‘Samurai’ sees Lupe teaming up once more with producer Soundtrakk, who also produced 2022’s ‘DRILL MUSIC IN ZION’, and is the first album the pair have working on with Charley “Chill” Patton, their manager 1st & 15th co-CEO, since Lupe’s 2007 classic ‘The Cool’.
‘Samurai’ is now available to pre-save and pre-order on vinyl, and arrives in both physical and digital formats on June 28th via 1st & 15th.
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