Lupe Fiasco Announces New Album ‘Samurai’ | News | Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews

Lupe Fiasco has unveiled plans to release a new album next month. ‘Samurai’ will be the Chicago legend’s ninth studio album, and is inspired by battle rap, Japanese culture and Lupe’s swordsman-like approach to his craft.  “The word ‘samurai’ means to serve,” explains Lupe. “My relationship to that word has always meant that you need to be at the service of other people, either in the overall community, or in this instance, the rap community at large that I’ve been a part of for years.” The announcement comes with a Chris & Blaq-directed visual for the album’s title-track which combines storytelling with analysis of the awkward relationship between hip-hop culture and high brow culture.  — [embedded content] “I sometimes get tagged by my fans as not doing personal records,” Lupe says, ”But I always tell people there’s me in there if you listen closely enough. This album is one of my more personal records to date. It’s not a full biography, but my personal experiences are tied up in all of my music. A lot of the records are me. Some are from the POV of a character, and some are me. The album weaves things from my life as...