die

I wish that you were lying to me, oh, oh, oh

Yes, I do

I wish that you were lying to me

I hope none of that comes true

Both the chorus and first verse are a foreshadowing to the tragedy and violent realities he outlines in the successive verses,

Yeah, silent reflection was the first verse’s mission

I ain’t want to water it down with a whole bunch of conditions

Just give it to you raw how a nigga really feelin’

“Rappers get shot too much” probably has a lot more precision

But that was the decision, and with that, I’ma stick

I don’t really support niggas ‘cause the shit be making me sick

Look at what we say in this bitch just to get rich

Shoot a nigga right in the head, don’t even flinch

He doubles down in the interlude with a directness and focus around the state of rap and the communities that he is a part of.

“Nah, nah we can’t, we can’t talk about that

We gotta talk about something else

I mean, because it’s hypocritical, nigga, you got guns

You surrounded by gangsters and killers, all your niggas

Like, the fuck is you talkin’ about?

Nigga, talk about something else, talk about something else

Nigga, talk about something else”

The imagery and juxtaposition in the third verse, of flying in the sky above a prison that is next to the launch pad of his plane, creates a high/low contrast that continues the theme of the song,

I’ve admired many cities through the

Windows Of Hotels

From the window of a plane, I’ve seen the window of a cell

The plane started to fly, the rain started to fell

That’s LaGuardia and Rikers, an airport next to a jail

I took a picture looked like my window was crying

‘Cause it was sad that all they saw every day was somebody flying And they was trapped, this shit is wack

Lupe’s direct lament continues.

How does that transpire

To be so damned by God, you want your friends to be goddamned liars?

All we talk about are our goddamned priors

Shiny metal boxes on top of goddamned tires

I’m goddamned tired

If I say I didn’t indulge, my pants would be on goddamn fire

‘Cause I’m a part of the problem

Sometimes the P-, sometimes the -roblem

Fame, all in the name of martyrdom

(Yeah)

I wish that you were lying

What’s the difference between a posthumous album

And a life insurance policy? Spotify

A dollar’s worth what a dollar buy, go monetize

For the majority of the song, to this point, he’s laid out his feelings on what the rap industry and the conditions inside the hood has done to his people, and as has been consistent throughout his albums, he doesn’t leave himself blameless in the chaos. The fourth and final verses again reference him breaking the fourth wall in his two bar opening verse, and thinks about his mortality and his legacy.

Giving you a fourth, wanna make up for the first

Only ‘cause I know that you can take another verse

Want the Quran to be a lie ‘cause Hell sounds like it hurts

Also want it to be real ‘cause Heaven sounds like it’s turnt

Wear my conscience like a condom ‘cause I don’t wanna be burnt

Wear my dharma like its armor ‘cause I don’t wanna return

To the wheel of the quivering meat conception

Sometimes I hide inside Kerouac for protection

From the Thanksgiving where bears attacking the dressing

Like Tekken, just lean back and tear into that refreshment

Sometimes real life parallaxes in depression mikal amin lee

Even when Lupe zags, twists, turns and warps language, leaving easter eggs and bread crumbs to deeper truths, he maintains a directness and a grounding that sometimes leads to more straight ahead songs like "On Faux Nem", but Drill Music in Zion in some ways does feels like his opus, as he combines many of the aesthetics and techniques that he’s used throughout his catalog onto “Drill” that feels both cohesive and fluid at the same time. Rap, that is more just a statement.