DRILL MUSIC IN ZION - Lupe Fiasco: Review

Lupe Fiasco

is a Chicago rapper who has spent the past 15 years delivering some of the most thoroughly conceptual rap albums of his era and becoming known for his impressive pen game and winding lyrical style. DRILL MUSIC IN ZION is Lupe's 8th album following 2022's Drogas Wave and was allegedly recorded in one marathon 72 hour session. 

Review By Lav:

If you knew me when I was 14 years old then you certainly know that I was embarrassingly obsessed with Lupe Fiasco. Even that was just based on his first two albums, around that time Tetsuo & Youth came out and blew my mind all over again. While I wasn't crazy about Drogas Light it didn't take Lupe long to continue impressing me on his next project and I really expected no different from this. 

Going into any Lupe album you know there's going to be some kind of heady concept running through and despite what the title might imply, it isn't a stylistic turn towards drill music. Digging deeper into the record it becomes clearer that Lupe isn't so much infatuated with drill as a style as he is the conditions which create it. While there isn't a moment that specifically lays this out the closest thing to that is the records opening track which goes into detail across a rousing spoken word performance that sets up some of the recurring lyrical themes. 

While I can say I'm higher on both of the singles within the context of the record than I originally was, they're coming from two different places. I wasn't crazy about Autoboto mainly because of the absolutely incessant repetition on the hook. It does feel a bit more welcome on the record proper where sticky hooks are a bit hard to come by and it certainly delivers enough in the lyrics to be worthwhile. The title track on the other hand I quite liked as a single with the start feeling like a great lyrical exercise written with a perfect pen. Even after that it translates into a more proper narrative moment and while the beat fading out here and there is a really weird choice to me all of the great writing and the strong hook still bring it home. 

Lets keep moving through the highlights because that's what's fun. Kiosk is a great track where Lupe puts himself into the shoes of a mall kiosk owner trying to sell jewelry to those with extravagant lifestyles. There's a very Uncut Gems feeling to it especially at the points where the sales tactics can border on harassment. But for the most part it's a creative and poignant song that spends a great third verse attacking the principles of Christian and capitalist culture for their cruelty. Ms. Mural is the third "Mural" song in Lupe's discography which means it has BIG shoes to fill, but boy does it pull that off. The twisting wordplay and insanely deep well of references are so much fun to just marvel at throughout the entire song and there's one witty highlight after another. It's just five minutes of Lupe showing off his insane skills and unique pen game and I absolutely love it. 

I also have to give credit to the closing track On Faux Nem which is a great finish to the record with a particularly memorable opening verse which consists of only "Rappers die too much, that's it, that's the verse" and it actually works. It's a conceptually impressive song that also manages to give a sense of finality to the album wrapping up so many of the key themes. 

Precious Things is a glitzy and dramatic song with a big hook about how precious things are capable of "turning you". The details of the lyrics are a bit more compelling but it's the incredibly straightforward style of the song and instrumental that really make me kind of gloss over the track each time I listen through. In fact there is an instrumental simplicity and reservation throughout this album that occasionally gives Lupe a great platform to excite over, but also occasionally hangs him out to dry. 

Naomi is an exception to this and while there are lyrical highs here like every song I can't shake the feeling that the series of Malcolm X bars are somehow in kind of bad taste. I know Lupe doesn't mean it that way but it does feel a little cheap given the subject matter. While that one sequence certainly doesn't ruin the song on its own when you combine it with the lack of a real gripping hook it starts to add up. Finally there's Seattle which stands out quite a bit on the record with a pop hook that feels pretty out of place. It's also one of the least lyrically impressive moments on the whole record which makes it just generally one of the weakest songs here. 

Despite a lack of truly exciting instrumentals and a few tracks I'm not crazy about I have to say I came away from this record pretty positive. Lupe still has such a unique ability to twist his words around each other and make for both impressive sounding and contextually excellent lyrical passages in a way that makes breaking this record down from a lyrical standpoint such a joy. This may not have the conceptual grandeur of Lupe's best records but his uniquely impressive talents are still in hand and still on display across this album. 7.5/10

Album Cover Review by Tyler Judson:

This is a really simple but effective cover. I love the gallery-esqe framing of the painting that draws your eye straight to the points of the triangle. The colors are popping off the white background and nothing seems out of place. I love the texture that the bubbling adds on the edges of the triangle and I wish there was even more. It gives a 3D feel that breaks up the flat areas and it needs more so the texture never feels boring. There could have been some simple branding of a logo in the white areas but overall it gets the job done. 6.5/10

For more hip hop check out my review of Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers here