Samurai - Lupe Fiasco (Album Review)

Released 2024.06.28

‘Samurai’ is an album by Lupe Fiasco, produced published by 1st and 15th and Thirty Tigers. This album uses intricate poetry as it does not follow the modern style but rather uses the creativity of hip hop. The inspiration for this album was Amy Winehouse and his vision for this was telling her story of becoming “The greatest battle rapper of all time”, but also him being able to express his feelings and emotions on the impact he has had on the hip hop community.

A huge part of the album was the first song ‘Samurai’ which sets the scene on what the listener should be expecting throughout the album, he introduces a character that is constantly trying to perfect their craft almost obsessively affecting the world around them. The next track ‘Mumble Rap’, possibly my favorite track on the album, has a very discomforting tone. This track talks about Amy Winehouses encounter with a mysterious old man who says “Everything you do will now be in another art” implying that he gave her some type of ‘power’ most likely the power to battle rap. The theme really goes well with this beat, and I love the dark element of ‘selling your soul’ or making a deal to receive something in return. An example of this is when Lupe says “That’s from earth or maybe from not, maybe she just received a curse or maybe the plot” as a listener this bar just matched the theme so well.

The next track ‘Cake’ talks about no one in the rap game being able to put together pieces like him. I personally don’t mess with this song, but I still think it’s an alright listen not very important to the album though. The next song ‘Places’ this song is calmer and chill the beat is smooth and the song overall just flows. To me this song represents the gifts and talent that rap really has to offer and how rap isn’t just singing it’s more like an art to express yourself. ‘No. 1 Headband’ follows this same calm beat it’s not very aggressive. This song is a reference to the popular anime ‘Afro Samurai’ the No. 1 headband in the show is a representation of being the strongest of the best. The chorus for this song “Imma be the one Imma be the one” means that Lupe is striving to be the best at what he does like how the Afro Samurai became the best fighter in the world.

‘Bigfoot’ the next song is just Lupe explaining how it feels to be an artist on stage in his own words. The song itself isn’t anything special, it’s more of a calm song you would listen to while studying. The second to last track ‘Outside’ is another good song that describes how quickly your life can be taken over the pursuit of money and fame. To wrap up this album, the last song ‘Till Eternity’ summarizes everything in the album with Amy’s story. This album is a good listen, and I think there are lots of lessons you can learn from Amys story that Lupe points out throughout the album. Overall, this album for me is an 8/10. The detail Lupe put into this album was just amazing, and this is one of the reasons Lupe Fiasco has solidified himself as one of the all time greats in this genre of rap.

Article by Fisayo Ariyo