Lupe Fiasco Drill Music In Zion (Discussion Thread)
- Thread starter Chip Skylark
- Start date
Nero Christ
Sniper out now on all digital platforms brev
vinyl came in today from Get On Down
Just started going through this.
Still AOTY imo
Still my AoTY
Precious Things, Kiosk, Ms. Mural, On Faux an Em, Seattle, etc.
Really the whole shyt is
Precious Things, Kiosk, Ms. Mural, On Faux an Em, Seattle, etc.
Really the whole shyt is
I defend myself in court
Lupe is at least top 10 all time after this. His discography is up there with the best ever
Animal House
Superstar
Drill Music in Zion opens with a spoken word piece by Lu’s sister Ayesha, a poet herself. It’s here where you get the most direct interpretations of what the album is all about, and the title’s many meanings - the way hip-hop simultaneously lifts up African Americans while breeding violence and shallowness, as well as the need to educate yourself and work (run drills, rather) in order to better the world. As you know with Lupe, there are numerous other valid interpretations which are crammed into every subsequent bar, but it is that cycle of success and destruction which prevails throughout.
On the album’s first single “Autoboto”, we see the return of his Carrera Lu persona. Perhaps the most energetic cut of the album, he spits about the inevitable consequences (rain, in this metaphor) for rappers who find success through violence, while placing himself on trial. There are also what seem to be subtle references to Pusha T and Kanye West, and some might even stretch this as a judgement by God, hinting at the religious metanarrative woven into Drill Music in Zion.
“Precious Things” jumps out for its Elzhi-esque wordplay, in which Lupe makes references to hands in every bar and the way they are able to communicate, caress, kill, and everything in between. This culminates in his own hands lamenting their loss of utility, and the double meaning of a city being left behind by its most successful offspring – the very city and conditions that grant an artist voice are just as easily abandoned or ready to betray. Nayirah features once again for a divine hook, tying the whole project together sonically through a couple appearances.
The next track “Kiosk” is a classic example of Lupe criticizing consumerism and exploitation of black artists. As a jeweler pedals his wares, making the vain case for why a successful young man might need to blow his advance on them, Lupe himself eventually rejects all of the bullshyt to show the higher path he has taken (with a clever nod to The Cool, reminding us he already has a watch). After all of his own experiences coming off the streets and being screwed over by labels, he could never be caught “in the middle of them all (the mall)”.
Drill Music in Zion‘s centerpiece in many ways, “Ms. Mural” is a worthy conclusion to the series and pregnant with meaning. Obviously this interview with an artist is an analysis of the creative process and hip-hop’s status as a fine art itself, but you could further interpret Lu’s painting as a representation of cities being further ruined by rappers’ recklessness, glorification of their lifestyles, and institutionalization. Going even deeper, there are hints that the artist is God himself, discussing his decision making and fickle destruction. While this might not be the slab of bars some expect from a “Mural” track, it was a clever subversion of their themes.
A nerdy, but necessary refrain: Something which might help to better understand Drill Music in Zion are Hindu cycles, but not only of reincarnation as was so prevalent on Tetsuo & Youth. The god of destruction Shiva is framed not as an evil, senseless source of suffering, but one who tears down in order to create new room for growth and prosperity. It is that very concept which is constantly hinted at across Drill Music in Zion, and on no song more than its title track. Full of paradoxes and juxtapositions, we must consider how rappers can ever really leave the generations of inherited trauma and behavior behind; how they can lift the hood up with them; how a benevolent god or superstar could allow senseless hate and suffering to continue. As tangential as all this is, Lupe is the type to study this stuff and it works as a great lens to listen through.
The next song “Naomi” is one of the album’s more pleasing on the ear, with Lu really getting bouncy with his flow. It’s one of the tracks that you can tell was a product of the quick recording, as he gets in the booth and just puts on a technical clinic. This Soundtrakk beat really bleeds the Chicago sound as well. As we approach the album’s conclusion and its most powerful moments, we get another fun, more upbeat cut with “Seattle”. With some borderline pop sensibility, Nayirah’s hook is an absolute earworm and the flows here are infectious. It gives the sense that no matter where he goes or what happens, Lupe’s heart stays at home in Chicago.
And finally, there’s “On Feaux Nem”: Instantly one of Lupe’s greatest works, not for density or complexity, but for its frank emotion. The first “verse” obviously speaks for itself (and has sadly already become this sub’s “Rap Snitch Knishes” for memorial threads), but the quiet which comes after is simply gut wrenching. As Lu croons and dives further into the prison industrial complex and the tragic posturing required to survive in the hood and the rap game, it all invokes the classic “Hurt Me Soul”. In this case, all the world’s ills sit on 12-inch LPs.
There are few other rappers who are able to match Lupe Fiasco on a bar-for-bar basis, let alone the album spanning metaphors and allusions which mark his recent work as true masterpieces. Drill Music in Zion is yet another timely, much needed analysis of the woes plaguing the black community today (maybe enough to make you think twice before cutting on Leeky G Bando), but with a much more approachable sound and structure.
On the album’s first single “Autoboto”, we see the return of his Carrera Lu persona. Perhaps the most energetic cut of the album, he spits about the inevitable consequences (rain, in this metaphor) for rappers who find success through violence, while placing himself on trial. There are also what seem to be subtle references to Pusha T and Kanye West, and some might even stretch this as a judgement by God, hinting at the religious metanarrative woven into Drill Music in Zion.
“Precious Things” jumps out for its Elzhi-esque wordplay, in which Lupe makes references to hands in every bar and the way they are able to communicate, caress, kill, and everything in between. This culminates in his own hands lamenting their loss of utility, and the double meaning of a city being left behind by its most successful offspring – the very city and conditions that grant an artist voice are just as easily abandoned or ready to betray. Nayirah features once again for a divine hook, tying the whole project together sonically through a couple appearances.
The next track “Kiosk” is a classic example of Lupe criticizing consumerism and exploitation of black artists. As a jeweler pedals his wares, making the vain case for why a successful young man might need to blow his advance on them, Lupe himself eventually rejects all of the bullshyt to show the higher path he has taken (with a clever nod to The Cool, reminding us he already has a watch). After all of his own experiences coming off the streets and being screwed over by labels, he could never be caught “in the middle of them all (the mall)”.
Drill Music in Zion‘s centerpiece in many ways, “Ms. Mural” is a worthy conclusion to the series and pregnant with meaning. Obviously this interview with an artist is an analysis of the creative process and hip-hop’s status as a fine art itself, but you could further interpret Lu’s painting as a representation of cities being further ruined by rappers’ recklessness, glorification of their lifestyles, and institutionalization. Going even deeper, there are hints that the artist is God himself, discussing his decision making and fickle destruction. While this might not be the slab of bars some expect from a “Mural” track, it was a clever subversion of their themes.
A nerdy, but necessary refrain: Something which might help to better understand Drill Music in Zion are Hindu cycles, but not only of reincarnation as was so prevalent on Tetsuo & Youth. The god of destruction Shiva is framed not as an evil, senseless source of suffering, but one who tears down in order to create new room for growth and prosperity. It is that very concept which is constantly hinted at across Drill Music in Zion, and on no song more than its title track. Full of paradoxes and juxtapositions, we must consider how rappers can ever really leave the generations of inherited trauma and behavior behind; how they can lift the hood up with them; how a benevolent god or superstar could allow senseless hate and suffering to continue. As tangential as all this is, Lupe is the type to study this stuff and it works as a great lens to listen through.
The next song “Naomi” is one of the album’s more pleasing on the ear, with Lu really getting bouncy with his flow. It’s one of the tracks that you can tell was a product of the quick recording, as he gets in the booth and just puts on a technical clinic. This Soundtrakk beat really bleeds the Chicago sound as well. As we approach the album’s conclusion and its most powerful moments, we get another fun, more upbeat cut with “Seattle”. With some borderline pop sensibility, Nayirah’s hook is an absolute earworm and the flows here are infectious. It gives the sense that no matter where he goes or what happens, Lupe’s heart stays at home in Chicago.
And finally, there’s “On Feaux Nem”: Instantly one of Lupe’s greatest works, not for density or complexity, but for its frank emotion. The first “verse” obviously speaks for itself (and has sadly already become this sub’s “Rap Snitch Knishes” for memorial threads), but the quiet which comes after is simply gut wrenching. As Lu croons and dives further into the prison industrial complex and the tragic posturing required to survive in the hood and the rap game, it all invokes the classic “Hurt Me Soul”. In this case, all the world’s ills sit on 12-inch LPs.
There are few other rappers who are able to match Lupe Fiasco on a bar-for-bar basis, let alone the album spanning metaphors and allusions which mark his recent work as true masterpieces. Drill Music in Zion is yet another timely, much needed analysis of the woes plaguing the black community today (maybe enough to make you think twice before cutting on Leeky G Bando), but with a much more approachable sound and structure.
Grand Prix Black Crewneck
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This joint is fire
Grand Prix Black Crewneck
PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS A 5-7 DAY FULFILLMENT TIME Orders of this item are expected to ship 5-7 business days from when the order is placed, regardless of shipping method chosen. You will receive tracking information as soon as your order ships from our warehouse Mid Weight Black Crewneck |...shop.lupefiasco.com
This joint is fire
yeah thats tough.
The Truest
A nikka talkin sh*t
I be spending too much money on that damn site