Lupe Fiasco has revealed that his new album Samurai is a full-length tribute to one of his “favorite” artists.
Less than a week before the release of his next project, the Chicago rapper took to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday (June 23) to tell fans that the body of work is an homage to the late Amy Winehouse.
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“Samurai in 5… A loving & living portrait to and of one of my favorite artists, Amy Winehouse,” he wrote.
“I’ve done many portraits of people I admire over the years. Some public and some private. This one took on a life of its own and became an album. Looking forward to sharing it.”
Samurai in 5…
A loving & living portrait to and of one of my favorite artists, Amy Winehouse. I’ve done many portraits of people I admire over the years. Some public and some private. This one took on a life of its own and became an album. Looking forward to sharing it.
🌪️
— “SAMURAI” Now Playing (@LupeFiasco) June 23, 2024
Lupe Fiasco first revealed that he was working on an album inspired by Winehouse in 2020.
“It’s funny how he brought that up — that’s exactly what I’m doing right now,” he said on Instagram Live. “Like, this song, it’s a whole fucking project … I’ve been working on this for like three [years], maybe, let’s call it a year.”
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During another Instagram Live session, Lupe shared more details about the project, explaining that it’s a concept album about Amy Winehouse becoming a battle rapper.
“The story on this album, she becomes a battle rapper going around battling muthafuckas,” he said. “It’s a full story, so the whole album’s a story … Each scene in the story has its own song. Just so n-ggas ain’t confused.”
The concept of the album derives from a clip from the 2015 documentary Amy, in which Winehouse leaves a voicemail for producer Salaam Remi about the battle rap-style lyrics she had been writing, calling herself a “samurai.”
“Hello doll, it’s Amy,” she said. “Salaam, yeah, I keep coming out with all battle raps and it’s pouring out of me, like Wu-Tang [Clan] stuff. But really neat, very beautifully illiterated little battle raps.
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“So, next time you wanna come for me and have a battle rap off, I’m gonna kill you because I’m a samurai. Before you ask yourself, ‘Is she drunk? Is she high? Has she been out? What’s she been doing?’ Yeah, I’m fucked up. I’m fucked up in the head.”
She added: “But I keep coming out with all this stuff all the time. All these lyrics, I don’t know why. But I realise, it’s for the next album. So come on, Sensei. Let’s do this. Love you, bye.”
Lupe channeled these quotes into the hook on the title track from Samurai, rapping: “I got these/ Really neat/ Very beautifully alliterated/ Little battle raps for you.”
His new album is set to be released on Friday (June 28), with frequent collaborator Soundtrakk producing the entirety of the project.
