After ending a brief retirement with the release of DROGAS Light in February, Lupe Fiasco has announced his second project of 2017 to be DROGAS Wave, an LP he's promised is "coming soon." Today, he's shared "Kneelin' On Needles," a perfectly Lupe title that gives way to a densely wordy track backed up by a warm Tek.Lun instrumental. Amongst his dexterous wordplay, Lupe criticizes Trump and shouts out Kendrick Lamar. In fact, it seems the song was recorded sometime between Thursday night and today, as Fiasco says "K-Dot want stretch marks?" making clear reference to a conversation-sparking line from Lamar's new release "Humble."
Kendrick isn't the only peer Lupe is paying attention to, later spitting "Be more like Chance" -- though it's unclear if it's to be taken as advice for other rappers or himself. Whatever he's doing, Lupe sounds like he's perfectly in his element right now.
The artwork for the track reads 7, which could be a reference to its sequence in the Wave tracklist, or perhaps signifying the project as his 7th album. But with Lupe, you never really know.
Quotable Lyrics:
DROGAS Light, DROGAS
And I might drop SKULLS as an art show
K-dot wants stretch marks
I wanna own everything that west of the best parts
KRIT, everything from the legs down
Mickey FACTZ, everything where the neck starts
Necklace, head heart, go, get set, mark, oh