DRILL MUSIC IN ZION

Prior to the end of last month, it’d been almost four years since Lupe Fiasco released an album. His last project came back in 2018 with Drogas Wave. That project arrived with 24 songs and multiple features from Nikki Jean as well as contributions from Damian Marley, Simon Sayz, Crystal “Rovel” Torres, Elena Pinderhughes, and Bishop Edgar Jackson. Last month, Lupe returned with Drill Music In Zion, which delivered a ten brief songs with Ayesha Jaco and Nayirah. Now that the album has been out and available to enjoy for some time, Lupe took a moment to explain the project’s title during a sit-down with SiriusXM.

“What I can say, and this isn’t to get you to listen to the album by any means,” he said. “The best definition of the title was actually from my sister. My sister does the opening record on the album, Ayesha Jaco. She did the opening on my first two records, Food & Liquor and The Cool.” He added, “I gave the title to her, and it’ll make sense when we get into it because I did this record in three days, and I didn’t have time.” He continued:

There’s a scene from Matrix 2 where they’re in Zion, so everybody knows the name of the little sanctuary where the humans were able to live in the Matrix movie is Zion. That place is a sanctuary away from all the agents and other stuff. But there’s a scene in there and the whole arc of the movie the robots have found a way to drill down in Zion. So they finally found it and maybe it’s Matrix 2 there’s a scene where they’re all standing in Zion and it’s all quiet then all of a sudden you see pieces of the ceiling fall and it’s this whole epic scene. So that one scene in the film became the whole inspiration from the joint.”

Lupe also noted that a line in a freestyle also sparked the idea to call the album Drill Music In Zion and said that he was forced to commit to it at that point.

You can check out Lupe’s interview with SiriusXM above.

Ahead of his upcoming album, Drill Music In Zion, Lupe Fiasco has revealed the album’s title track. Contrary to its title, “Drill Music In Zion” features Fiasco delivering his brand of conscious rap over a jazz beat — not a drill beat.

On “Drill Music In Zion,” Fiasco examines humankind’s transactional nature and how people’s love of money and material objects drives and ultimately corrodes them.

“Position jostlers monitor hegemonics / Robots make the robots that solder electronics / Nostradamus couldn’t bother to keep a promise / Logic’s on a rocket, where profit defeats the conscience.”

In an interview with Financial Times last month, Fiasco says that he plans to rap until he dies. He also says he’s at a point in his career where he’s no longer driven by numbers.

“I care about rap, but I don’t care anymore about the business side or selling records,” he said. “I’ve always been a storyteller. When I was in the third grade, I wrote a play about a warring cat and mouse. I will be rapping right until the day I die.”

Check out “Drill Music In Zion” above.

Drill Music In Zion is out 6/24 via Thirty Tigers. Pre-save it here.

Lupe Fiasco is a Warner Music Artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

2022 has been a strong year of music releases from younger stars and seasoned veterans, and another one of the latter is looking to throw his name in the ring. Lupe Fiasco shared some additional information on his upcoming eighth studio album Drill Music In Zion, confirming it will release on June 24 plus the accompanying cover art which incorporates some elements of 2015’s Tetsuo & Youth.

The Lasers artist’s engineer Craig Bauer wrote in an Instagram story “The new @lupefiasco record is Rap Album of the year” before correcting himself and saying “Nah. Decade. If you don’t feel something after listening to this…. You may want to check your pulse.” Bauer previously worked on Kanye West’s Late Registration (2005) and Graduation (2007), plus Fiasco’s Food & Liquor (2006) and The Cool (2007).

Lupe is more focused on how it compares to his catalog, tweeting back in October 2021 “It’s my best album. Calling it now…may pull back later but for now it’s #1.” Fiasco hasn’t released an album since 2018’s Drogas Wave, but has maintained a presence through Twitter, freestyles, and a podcast with Royce Da 5’9″. Lupe has also ventured into television, making cameo appearances on Beat N Path and Empire.

Check out the Drill Music In Zion announcement above.