"When it comes 2 lyrics (which is the ONLY thing I care about) you’d be very hard pressed 2say I’m not one of the best ever #TBE for real," Lupe wrote on Twitter last week. "I have nearly every accolade there is to have in the music business the only thing left is to be the GOAT Lyricist & that’s the pace I’m on."
Following the comments, Lupe has released new music that once again puts lyrics first. On "Black Power L Word," the Chicago rapper takes on a dusty sample, filling his verses with metaphors, similes, and complex rhyme schemes.
Lupe experienced tension with his (now former) record label Atlantic over the last few years. According to a speech Lupe gave to fans at a show in May, his last project DROGAS LIGHT, was also compromised by his Atlantic deal, but it will be the last of that era. "DROGAS Wave, which is the next album after DROGAS Light, you'll get like -- I ain't even gonna talk about this shit," he said. "Just trust me. I'm not even saying this to sell records and get you all hyped up. I've heard shit. Shit is amazing. Shit is gonna be fucking crazy. From DROGAS Wave on, you'll be getting the fully complex, fully involved Lupe Fiasco. And the best thing about it is it's already done."
In September, Lupe told fans that they would not be getting any more albums in 2017. "Promise broken. No more albums this year," he wrote on Twitter. With that being said, Fiasco has been releasing loose tracks throughout the year. Last week, he shared "All While Doing A Rubik's Cube One-Handed," a freestyle over Jay-Z's "Marcy Me" that was inspired by the Rolling Loud incident where Lil B was jumped by A Boogie and his crew. "Protect Lil B at all costs," he says on the track.
Quotable Lyrics:
Zombie, I need brains
Right on time like high speed trains
Pull up real slow like tai-chi cranes
That's an excellent Karate Kid reference
But I'm leave it there like negligence
To focus on the dead
That I said in my very first testament