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"Samurai" is a song by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, the lead single and track from his ninth studio album of the same name. It was released on May 17, 2024, through 1st & 15th Entertainment and Thirty Tigers.[1] The accompanying music video was directed by Chris & Blaq of Impakt Studio.
In the lyrics, Fiasco directly references in the hook what Amy Winehouse told record producer Salaam Remi in a voicemail: "I keep coming out with battle raps, and they're just pouring out of me. Like Wu-Tang stuff, but really neat, very beautifully alliterated little battle raps."[2]
Critical reception[]
Sputnikmusic wrote, "impressively able to capture the spirit of the best in the world at death's door, its earworm of a lead line somehow blurring the lines between a triumphant battle entry and a funereal bagpipe march."[3]
Personnel[]
- Abel Garibaldi – mixer
- Crystal Torres – trumpet, flute, flugelhorn
- Greg "GregB" Brookshire – bass guitar
- Jameel "JProof" Roberts – saxophone
- Joey Fernandez – masterer
- Kush Baby – co-producer
- Maxwell Steger – assistant mixer
- Rudolph "Soundtrakk" Lopez – producer, drum programmer, sampler, arranger
- Wasalu "Lupe Fiasco" Jaco – engineer
Music video[]
The official Chris & Blaq-directed visual dropped the same day as the single and was filmed at Ping Tom Memorial Park in Chinatown, Chicago.[4] Fiasco wears a blue Nishigawa baseball cap and shirt. He is seen either standing on top of a rock in the pagoda-style pavilion, under the bridge with murals (distinguished as "All as One," "Between the Mountains and the Water" and "Be Like Water") behind him, or crossing the bridge pathway. His friend, Riic the Jeweler, makes a cameo appearance.
On July 4, 2024, the music video reached one million views. He noted of this milestone, "Appreciate the support. We haven't done that in a while."[5]
Gallery[]
Lyrics[]
[Intro]
(And they say, and they say, and they say, say)
What they say, what they say now? (They say, they say)
Uh-huh, uh-huh (They say, they say, they say-ay-ay-ay)
I'd like to welcome everybody out to the Samurai
(They say, they say, they say)
Indeed, indeed, indeed, indeed, baby
Here we go, one time, yeah
[Hook]
I got these, really neat (Really neat, really neat)
Very beautifully alliterated (Very beautiful, uh)
Little battle raps for you (Little battle rap, little battle rap, yeah)
I got these, really neat (What you got? Huh, uh)
Very beautifully alliterated (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Little battle raps for you (Talk to 'em like, c'mon)
So come on through
[Verse 1]
Big eyes looking like skies in binoculars
Two nights live, singing by the opera house
But not in it, just by it
Someone alongside it, a long silence
A strong, vibrant meditative song of guidance
Designed to raise eyelids of blind men, saved assignments
With warm regards and age kindness for today's climate
And the vain of gang violence meets the gangs's demises
And it— bangs! Rises like wings on a plane
Plus a pilot who can fly it into the eye of Hurricane Iris
Stylish, same shoe in different sizes
With evidences of the mileage and the growth
Top hats and coats
Tuxedos and throats, where the bowties posts
Folks look past the lower-class blower of the notes
And tell unspoke jokes as they approach
Which she'd never be inside, but she hopes
[Hook]
I got these (Yeah) really neat (Really neat, really neat)
Very beautifully alliterated (Very beautiful, uh)
Little battle raps for you (Little battle rap, little battle rap, yeah)
I got these, really neat (Really neat, huh)
Very beautifully alliterated (Wassup, wassup)
Little battle raps for you (Yeah, uh, uh)
So come on through
[Verse 2]
The unamplified, fantasize land
Of the soon-to-be fans of the samurai
Smile wide, got the panorama camera vibe
If you analyze, she's a one-woman gala, glamorized
Just without the glamor or the gala ties
Met 'em all live with the jazz guys
Eating piano pies at the Vanguard
She's a artist and starved
A couple dollars in the band jar buys a half a turkey sam
Organic and it's hand-carved and ours
If you ask for a piece, freshly laugh for singing jazz in the streets
And the staff ask for police (Damn)
Crashed at a friend's flat for a week (For a week)
Felt as home as a raft on the beach (On the beach)
Lit a fag, took a drag, took a tea (Took a tea)
Read a book, took a bath, went to sleep
[Hook]
I got these, really neat (You know what I'm sayin'? Yeah)
Very beautifully alliterated (Very beautiful, uh)
Little battle raps for you (Little battle rap, little battle rap for you)
I got these, really neat (Really neat, really neat, ay)
Very beautifully alliterated (Very beautiful, yeah)
Little battle raps for you (Little battle ra-a-a-a-a-ap)
So come on through
[Outro]
I'd like to welcome everybody out
Yeah, to the Samurai, Samurai
Uh-huh, to the Samurai, uh
References[]
- ↑ Castro, Danilo (May 17, 2024). "Lupe Fiasco Sounds Cool as Ever on His New Single "Samurai"". HotNewHipHop.
- ↑ Cowen, Trace William (June 28, 2024). "Lupe Fiasco on Imagining Amy Winehouse's 'Battle Raps' for 'Samurai' Album: 'What Would Those Raps Sound Like?'". Complex.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco - Samurai Review". Sputnikmusic. June 28, 2024.
- ↑ Diaz, Angel (May 17, 2024). "Lupe Fiasco Announces New Album, Debuts New Video for 'Samurai'". Billboard.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. July 4, 2024.