On June 28th, Lupe Fiasco announced the release of his ninth studio album titled Samurai. In celebration of this release, Fiasco has shared the title track off of the album with the public.

The song kicks off with hard boom-bap drums and and a sax riff. It gives off late 90s early 2000s conscious hip hop vibes. The song goes to a melodic hook, then the beat drops and Fiasco takes off. His flow is complex and as sharp as a knife. There is a slight Japanese flare to the instrumentation in the beat. By verse two a flute comes in to punctuate the Samurai type aesthetic.

The first verse analyzes the awkward relationship between hip-hop culture and high culture with deft internal rhyme:”Big eyes lookin like skies in binoculars/Two nights live, singin’ by the opera house, but not in it/Just by it, somewhat alongside it/A long silence,” The second verse tells the story of a struggling artist, contrasting glamorous dreams with gritty reality.  The video, directed by Chris & Blaq, spotlights Lupe as he performs the song in the hometown of Chicago, with the city’s skyline in the distance. 

Fans can expect Lupe Fiasco to take a much deeper and introspective approach to his new album.  Samurai follows a loose narrative, tracking a rapper’s life cycle through the battle rap circuit, focusing on the small moments that make up the rapper’s career and drawing parallels between the battlers of today and the warriors of old. The 8-track album is smooth, yet cerebral, radiating Lupe’s pure love for the art of emceeing and committing himself as a servant of the rap game. Samurai arrives in both physical and digital formats on June 28.

Samurai tracklist

1. Samurai
2. Mumble Rap
3. Cake
4. Palaces
5. No. 1 Headband
6. Bigfoot
7. Outside
8. Til Eternity