It has almost been one year to the day that Lupe Fiasco put out his eight-track project, Samurai. It was inspired by a voicemail left by Amy Winehouse for her producer, Salaam Remi, as caught by her 2015 documentary, Amy. In that voice message, she talked about a certain time in which she kept pumping out "battle raps" during her studio sessions.
"I keep coming out with all battle raps — they’re just pouring out of me. Wu-Tang stuff — really neat, very beautifully alliterated little battle raps. So next time you wanna come for me and have a battle rap-off, I’m gonna kill you because I’m a samurai."
Lupe Fiasco took that idea and ran with it, dropping some of his best rapping performances maybe ever. But going back to that anniversary point, the Chicago wordsmith has decided to rollout a deluxe version of it. He's starting it today with remixes to the opening title track and "Palaces."
The beats and inclusion of singer and songwriter Troy Tyler on both are the most obvious changes. For example, "Samurai" features darker and moodier production than the original. Moreover, Lupe adds a new verse, extending the track's runtime by over a minute.
For "Palaces" though, it largely remains unchanged.
Lupe will be dropping the deluxe to Samurai on August 22 in digital and physical formats. In total, there will be three remixes and two brand-new recordings. The physical copies will also include instrumental versions of those five cuts.
Lupe Fiasco "Samurai + Palaces"
Quotable Lyrics From "Samurai":
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 (Uh)
A couple dollars in the band jar buys a half a turkey sam
