Lupe Fiasco - Samurai - Exclusive Uncut Album Reaction
Added 2024-07-10 14:42:09 +0000 UTCA lyrical masterpiece, as per usual, and a head-nodder at that.
Honestly some of these tunes are going to take a lot of listens to unpack, but super listenable and really succinct.
Btw - Bad Cameo fans - expect the reaction early next week! All is not lost.
Comments
I thought this is the healthiest balance Lupes found since his first couple albums, where you can still enjoy the records without knowing all the meanings. I felt a few of his other albums its the other way around, I don’t mind either approach as a hardcore Lupe fan but this felt old school in the best way.
wadecohen28
2024-07-16 08:03:09 +0000 UTCOrganik and Ars is also a reference to battle rap people. Organik runs King of the Dot and ars is short for arsonal the battle rapper
Cody Vaught
2024-07-11 15:10:36 +0000 UTCMan just wanna comment about how much I appreciate you doing these, because you talking about how wearied you are mentally after going through Lupe's albums really clicked for me. As the fans, or myself personally, I get to do my 1st listen just vibing out and jamming and slowly piecing together different components of the music with multiple listens, Genius, social media, and reactions like yours. But there's this pressure on you doing this to break down things every song, and get the overall theme, and that's a lot to process, especially for Lupe, while also enjoying and critiquing the musicality. Much love Jon. I was shocked when you said No 1 Headband was your least favorite musically haha, because that was my MOST favorite musically and actually made me get up and dance to the music on 1st listen a bit. But different tastes obviously, and all the songs on here I think hit musically. Favorite line/message on here has to be the second verse of Outside and seeing Lupe talk about how he, and potentially Amy Winehouse would structure their songs together. First the judgment of quality (great Koala-tee catch, I can't believe I never got that) being an odd and controversial way to go through music especially creation. Then the various chains of checks he goes through while making his music to make it ethically sound and commercially viable, but then also noting how sometimes the weirdest/oddest rhymes and ideas (like an Amy Winehouse POV battle rap album?) draw him in and he wants to make it work. Great insight to his creative process and something that's stuck in my mind awhile.
Maadhav
2024-07-10 21:16:50 +0000 UTCI thought it was super interesting when you were talking about the arc of an artist on palaces because I think that’s what’s being sketched out in the verses. Verse1- the castle of sand is when you are still “fighting for your spot” it’s ephemeral, it’s a series of stops and starts, but by doing things right and not skipping parts you can do it. The mansion of cards-is the precarious heights of fame. Obviously we have now traded our more martial castle for a peaceful representation of wealth. But it’s not just the wealth, it’s the attention and pressure; You have to be careful now because “they even keep cameras on mars” the “sparks can chase demons away for a while(dark)” but eventually fire “burns blackens and scars” and it takes a very careful set of thinking to avoid the collapse. And then the palace of bones is what the artist is left with after the fall, when they are gone. Just your body, soul and legacy. There is also a parallel to Amy winehouse going from being the jazz singer on the outside, to international star, to “burning out” and going back “home” (soul’s home; palace of bones is clearly applied as deathly imagery) Just a beautiful track about the impermanence of the present and the conflict with being able to leave lasting legacies in art and communities despite that lack of permanence on an individual level. Of course all of this could be bullshit and wrong because Lupe.
Support Basic Science Research
2024-07-10 19:16:22 +0000 UTCCan't believe how little attention this album is getting, very solid neo soul tribe called quest esc beats with modern production Lyrically it is beyond 95% of what current rap artists can produce! Mad world 🌎
M
2024-07-10 15:51:11 +0000 UTCIt's ironic that you mentioned "serving" a few times in your reaction because the word "samurai" in Japanese means "to serve"; and as the "Samurai", Lupe is serving not only his fans with his art, but all of hip hop. It's a central theme of the album that is touched on especially in "Bigfoot" where Lupe, in the face of soulless capitalism in the music business, posits if music is "a piece for hearts to rest, or rest in peace to art...". It's a really awesome concept that definitely shines through the more you listen to the album. Anywho, awesome reaction as always 🙏🏾🤘🏾
Eli Soto
2024-07-10 15:38:35 +0000 UTC🐐🐐
Ben Browning
2024-07-10 15:21:26 +0000 UTC
