This album was released on June 28th this year. Lupe Fiasco is my favorite rapper of all time, so needless to say I was very excited for this project. When I initially saw the announcement from a random Hip Hop account on Twitter, I was honestly surprised and a little skeptical. It wasn’t until a day or two later that I saw confirmation from Lupe himself. There was a time a few years ago when he would go live on Instagram quite frequently. Fans would often join his broadcasts and be able to talk to him for a little bit. I forget how this came up, but I believe at one point somebody asked Lupe about Amy Winehouse, and he said something like “I’m making an album about her.” I remember the other person being confused and taking it as a joke, but Lupe clarified that he was indeed serious about this project. I didn’t hear anything about it for years, and I eventually forgot about it. It’s here now though. I listened to it the day it came out, and I adored it. However, I wanted to give myself time to digest the record instead of rushing to say whether I liked it or not… Even though it was probably obvious that I loved it. This shit is fire.

After my first few listens of this album, I decided that I should probably do some research on Amy Winehouse, so I listened to Frank & Back to Black before watching the Amy documentary from 2015. I thought Frank was very solid, but I sadly did not care for Back to Black at all. It was disappointing because I really loved the lyrics, but I was not a fan of the direction in which she took her sound at all. Watching the documentary was pretty fun though. In approximately the last thirty minutes of the film, we hear a voicemail that Amy left for Salaam Remi in which she tells him that she’s been writing “these really neat, very beautifully alliterated little battle raps.” These are the same words that Lupe uses for the hook of the album’s intro, title track, and lead single, Samurai.

She follows this comment up by stating, “I’m a samurai.” This was me when I saw this part of the film…

That was kind of a unique experience for me. Things suddenly made more sense after witnessing that. Sidenote: one of my main takeaways from the documentary was that 2000’s era paparazzi was toxic as fuck. Anyway, I really love the jazzy instrumental here from Soundtrakk, and Lupe’s singing on the hook is super catchy. Of course what really makes the song special is Lupe’s rapping on the verses though.

A strong, vibrant meditative song of guidance
Designed to raise eyelids of blind men, saved assignments
With warm regards and age kindness for today's climate
And the vain of gang violence meets the gangs' demises
And it bangs, rises like wings on a plane
Plus a pilot who can fly it into the eye of Hurricane Iris
Stylish, same shoe in different sizes
With evidences of the mileage and the growth
Top hats and coats
Tuxedos and throats, where the bowties posts
Folks look past the lower-class blower of the notes
And tell unspoke jokes as they approach
Which she'd never be inside, but she hopes

The way Lupe puts words together is just so fascinating to listen to for me. In a now deleted review that I posted, I stated that one of the ways I personally define lyricism is when an artist is able to be as specific as possible while communicating exactly what is in their head. The way Lupe is able to paint the picture of a starving artist on this song is so well done.

A couple dollars in the band jar buys a half a turkey sam
Organic and it's hand-carved and ours
If you ask for a piece, freshly laugh for singing jazz in the streets
And the staff ask for police
Crashed at a friend's flat for a week
Felt as home as a raft on the beach

After listening to the album for about half a month, this song’s relative brevity does begin to stand out a bit. He doesn’t go as deep here as he does on pretty much every other track. It’s still a fantastic song overall though. I think it’s dope as hell. Track 2 is called Mumble Rap. Obviously when people saw the title “Mumble Rap” in 2024, we all thought it was a little peculiar. A few people were probably expecting it to be trash for the title alone, but I think most of his fans knew it was the kinda thing that would make more sense once it was listened to in the full context of the album. From what I can tell, it seems that the title is inspired by the nature of Lupe’s singing on the hook. A lot of people would refer to what he’s doing as “mumbling” I guess. He’s just doing it in a jazzy way with no autotune, so no Rap purists are gonna be writing it off as mumble rap. Anyway, the song’s incredible. Lupe sounds perfect rapping over this instrumental. He’s operating in peak condition here. Something about his performance—particularly on the first verse—reminded me a lot of Homeboy Sandman. I don’t know if that was intentional, but I do know that Lupe is a big fan of him, so that’s cool. I think it’s just the intonation of his vocal delivery that reminds me of Homeboy Sandman. Anyway, the storytelling about Amy Winehouse becoming a rap lyricist is masterfully executed.

She found herself drawn to the vibe of his remarks
The resonations called her like blood to a shark
But as she got closеr, she felt something dark
Knеw she made a mistake, but before she could depart
He reached up and grabbed her, sent her pulse off the charts
Said "Everything you do will now be in another art"
Then vanished like Superman abandoning the planet
But this was similar to finding land in the Atlantic

The rapping just gets better and better as the song progresses to be honest. The way the third verse ends is so goddamn good.

Don't get hit by the split-second Smith & Wesson lips
Full of hollow tips, please, tell the best on your list
That is death with a kiss
And they gotta swallow fire if they tryna follow this
With a style similar to ridin' around look for an arrest to resist
Ain't no rest for the wit, nor recess for the gift
It's like I don't do it for the check or the chip
I protect and predict what the next going to flip
I address then I rip, get respect then I dip
I don't live in the past, I finesse and forgive

The song is amazing, and it has only grown on me in the days since the album’s release. I love it. The following track is called Cake, and it was released as the second single from the album.

This is the only track on the album that I don’t really return to. I don’t think it’s bad, but it’s just not really for me sonically. It’s the hook, man. I do not like thIat hook. I like every other sung hook on this album, but this one did not work for me. It sounds way too poppy. I saw a few people say it sounds like an Eminem song, and I kind of agree. I don’t think it sounds like something Eminem would do in 2024, but it does kinda give Recovery vibes. I can definitely imagine Skylar Grey singing it. I also am kind of indifferent towards the instrumental. Thankfully, the rapping is pretty mesmerizing to listen to on a technical level. I also would understand if someone disliked this due to it being way too lyrical-miracle-spiritual-individual-in-a-swimming-pool.

Ominous as a monster is
Underneath your Posturepedic, possibly in the closet
It's an Acropolis, scary how I'm optimistically obstinate
Ain't no domino in my dominance when I'm dropping this
Janis Joplin droplets, it sound like the apocalypse
Mixed with Christopher Wallace's topics on top an obelisk
It's a Kabbalist novelist inside of my esophagus
Rhyme is prime and it's Optimus
And this shit tastes like chocolate cake

Thankfully the second verse is significantly better than the first one, although it still does carry that same type of vibe.

If you a ship on a trip, don't hit on the tip of my glacier
Swim with the fish and flippers, I finish my pictures
This is what didn't get it, gettin' hit and hittin' the different differs
Well, did he do it or didn't she? Who are you mentioning?
Lu will duel a dual identity, dueling enemies
Do it to 'em, chewin' through 'em without doing it dentally
Superhuman, flew 'em without refueling engines with energy
This chemistry can it be, they Googling endlessly
Even computers losing memory, bending mentally
When they interface with the lyrical ability

The best way I can get across how I feel about this track is by saying this: that ain’t the style, man. This shit just is not my style at all. It does not sound like something I would listen to or want to be seen listening to or associated with. If someone was introducing me somewhere and they played this as my walk-out song, I would be upset with them. With that said, I don’t think it’s a bad song at all. It’s just not something I enjoy. It’s followed by Palaces, which was my favorite song on my first listen of the album. In fact, I was ready to call this my favorite song of 2024 after I heard it for the first time. The main thing that stood out about this song to me so much was honestly the production. The piano-driven instrumental here is so beautiful that it becomes hypnotizing. Everything about Lupe’s performance over it is perfect to me too. The vocals on the hook sound absolutely angelic, and his delivery on the verses is amazing. He just sounds so goddamn good all over this track. I love his melodic delivery on the first two verses, and the writing is of course spectacular. As I said before, the way he expresses things while rhyming is just a blast to listen to. There’s a marvelous beat switch for the final verse of the song, and this is where Lupe switches to a more traditional, less melodic vocal approach.

Lord, please bless my palace of bones
My soul call my skeleton home, it's on the phone
Give the receiver back to Tyrone
We made a pact, nigga, I'm goin' back home
Yeah, pack my bags, stagger back to the zone
With a back full of daggers I've thrown
I'm like my own masochist, slash my wrist with a poem, and when I'm gone
Don't tamper with or sample my songs unless you strong

There really isn’t a rapper out there who can hook me with their lyrical syntax as much as Lupe. Black Thought has a similar appeal for me. Pretty much everything I said about this song applies to the following track, No. 1 Headband, as well.

This is definitely a top 3 track on the album. The jazzy production is superb, and Lupe’s singing on the hook sounds fantastic. I’m not sure who that additional vocalist in the background is, but they also sounded very good. Same goes for the saxophone. Lupe’s flow on each verse is effortlessly smooth.

I turn letters to rhetoric
Turnin' feathers to fetishes
Dispersin' treasure like turkeys in the ghetto
Gather 'round, you receptors
Come and look inside of these walls like metal detectors
If they could talk they would probably say it's soft
Them is just my thoughts, go off
Even if it's off, but never caught

I think I’ve said in multiple reviews at this point that I could listen to Lupe rap forever. There just aren’t many rappers I love listening to as much as him. My favorite part of this song is the last half of the final verse. His flow is just so unbelievably catchy during that part.

I'm the number one headband wearer
Walk it like I talk it, never false it like Farrah
Headphones on the train, headbanging to the snare-a
I'll put it in your range, let it wang like Vera
For everyone, stereo feel like steroids to carry
Heavy shit to pick up, but you could barely lift
Now you Larry Wheels, done
So bring it back to the flex
Just flip it over, put it back in the deck

It’s just quintessential Lupe Fiasco music in my opinion. There’s little to no chance that any diehard fans didn’t fuck with this. I love it. The song’s incredible. The following track is called Bigfoot. I absolutely adore the comforting, warm production on this track. It gives me the same vibe as Cloud Envy‘s Me & My Mama or Kanye‘s Family Business. I love it. I also love Lupe’s rapping on the first verse. His flow and vocal performance sound excellent. The one thing that I don’t love about this track is just the hook. A lot of times when I hear people from the United States use patois, I find it very cringeworthy. Unfortunately, this track was not an exception. I mean, it wasn’t horrible. It was just kinda distracting. It sounds pretty goofy to me, which is funny because I actually didn’t mind it on DROGAS Wave at all. Anyway, the rapping on the second verse is absolutely incredible.

Is there a standard to differentiate between the offerings?
Or am I just church steps to an orphan and I take whatever they tossin'?
Or be more like Andre Dawson when they obfuscate the losses? Gloss over the cautions
Overlook the awful and emphasize the gains, and they underplay the pain

His performance here is just a blast to listen to. I kinda struggle to call this one of my favorite songs on the album because of that hook, but every single other facet of the track is amazing to me. I love it. The penultimate track is called Outside, and it’s another one of my favorite songs of the year. Every single aspect of this song blows me away. The production is incredible, and Lupe’s rapping here is mesmerizing.

Post-battle love, daps and hugs
Raps can plug up holes unless their holistic souls dove off a nudge
And throwed off from shoves had from one God from above
To below, or kicking and screaming, and drug to the show
Were you entertained not from robbing Nottingham plots?
Jauntily hip-hopping haunting bodyslam drops
From diction and calculation, put up your share of the taunting
Plus a thousand allowance payments, I'll be patient

The rhymes and flows just sound so good, and the song just gets more interesting as it progresses. The parts where he’s kind of pondering “good” vs. “bad” musical qualities are really cool.

It's like the wacker the rhyme, the more I'm drawn like a Tex Avery baby
To think maybe the genius in it is that it's not really good
Maybe it could be, would he have only suggested X and Y and Z
And various other advice to him from me
To animate the chains to the level of Mister T
And I get his gangsta boo like Memphis, Tennessee

The final verse is kind of funny to me. He’s basically rapping directly to the listener, but it’s framed as if he’s walking back up to you outside of a bar after you’ve been waiting for him for half an hour.

I didn't forget about you, that conversation just went longer than I expected
I reckon all kinds of structures to flesh it
Sometimes we send mixed messages like dyslexic texts
And get socially indebted via manners to carry on long after what's needed got completed

It’s just humorous to me because I’m imagining him saying that in the aforementioned scenario. If he came up to me and said that shit I would just be like…

The song is amazing though. I absolutely love it. The closing track is another major highlight called ‘Til Eternity. This is another contender for my favorite song on the album. Bro, this fucking beat… Soundtrakk is a genius, man. This beat is fucking incredible. Same goes for the opening verse. The lines about striking down opponents with his rhymes are so fun to listen to.

Beehive survived in a wreck
I carry knives like samurais on a quest
That I drive in the chest like it's a riot in the treasure
He lost the game and cried in his checkers
Lost his name and now signs with an X
I just wanna commit crimes in Tibet
Turn and say something divine and then climb in a jet
Contrived, but correct, bеsides and direct
During nos, I tell liеs to the left
And meditate on the upsides of a "yes"
P.S., I destroyed everything you tried to protect

Each verse is better than the last. The closing verse in particular is absolutely one of the best on the album, not only because of the performance itself from Lupe, but also because of the way the production evolves around it. The sung hook is actually really beautiful too. I actually didn’t think it was Lupe the first time I heard it because it kinda sounds like a Rock vocalist. I really love it. The song’s dope as fuck.

^{Lupe is my favorite rapper, and this is one of his most acclaimed projects ever, so it should come as no surprise at all that I think this album is amazing. I think it’s as fantastic as everyone else seems to. However, I just want to make something clear… Even if I had no idea about the Amy Winehouse connection, I would love this album exactly as much as I do now. It didn’t really affect my enjoyment of the music at all. I thought it was a very cool factoid about the inspiration behind the record, but I think its level of importance is being somewhat overstated. This is actually on the more straightforward side of the spectrum of Lupe’s catalogue in my opinion. The beats are amazing, and the rapping is elite. There was one track that I didn’t like musically, but even that one wasn’t bad. I have zero consistent gripes with this album. This is the kinda shit that reassures me of Lupe’s status as my favorite rapper ever. This is absolutely one of the best projects I’ve heard in 2024, and for a while I thought it might be number one. I will admit that I fell slightly out of infatuation with it after a few weeks, but overall I still think it’s beyond exceptional.}