Clash

Clash is a music and fashion magazine that has headquarters in London, England, and Dundee, Scotland. It was founded by John O'Rourke, Simon Harper, Iain Carnegie, and Jon-Paul Kitching in 2004, launching their first issue that same year. In 2024, they interviewed Lupe Fiasco for his ninth studio album, Samurai. They spoke over Zoom sometime in July, either on the 10th or 17th.Smith, Naill (July 23, 2024). "Lupe Fiasco Conquered Rap – And Now He's a Samurai". Clash.
== Critical reception ==
Album 	Rating	Author 	
Drill Music in Zion	 	Ath'e Zihle 	
Samurai 	 	Jazmin Kylene	
== Interview ==
 	
Lupe Fiasco	When it came to rap, I was either going to make it or die. For me, rap is personal. Even if I'm talking about something abstract or doing random word flips, that's the product of dedicating my whole life to the craft. To me, it doesn't get more personal than that.
 	
Lupe Fiasco	Conceptually, boom bap is something I really like. I've done all kinds of records throughout my career, but recently, as I've been exploring and experimenting, that boom bap sound has really stuck out to me. That 80 to 95 BPM range with laid-back, jazzy layers is where I'm at.
 	
Lupe Fiasco	The sequence of the record is all Chilly. Even though Chilly wasn't there in the studio over the years, whenever there was a phone call, he'd hear the music I was working on and give advice. As great as Chilly's feedback was in prison on my previous records, it was limiting. For 'Samurai', I mentioned other songs [to Chilly], but he insisted that eight is enough. That's an executive producer decision. He sequenced and organised it in a way that works and flows. He believed it was deep enough for people to get a full experience and make you want to listen even more. The philosophy of a shorter album has its merits. But I still like big-bodied albums with a lot of songs – ones with 20-plus records.
 	
Lupe Fiasco	When I started 'Samurai' back in 2020, it began as this one portrait inspired by an Amy Winehouse quote. Then I thought it was a dope idea to tell the story of Amy Winehouse as a battle rapper. At the time, it was just one song, the title track. Then, the idea evolved, and I started asking myself more questions. How did Amy get her battle rap powers? That became another song. I'd start a new track with each new idea, building out the project. Each record needed a specific vibe and a way of pushing the narrative forward.
 	
Lupe Fiasco	The song 'Palaces' was the only record I did completely in the studio with Chilly, Soundtrakk, and the crew. I always had the chorus. It was one of those records where I heard the beat, and the chorus came out immediately. The song sat with no verses for four years. I completed 'Palaces' when I got into the studio to finalise everything. It was the missing link.
 	
Lupe Fiasco	Early on, I kind of wanted and pushed for this project to be a collaboration between Nas and me.
 	
Lupe Fiasco	Soundtrakk sends me batches of beats all the time. The batches are categorised by sound, production date, and the equipment used. I still have folders of beats from 2012 from Soundtrakk in the vault.
 	
Lupe Fiasco	For me, rap is my life. I decided at 14 or 15 that I wanted to be a rapper. By 16, I said I'm going to be a rapper or nothing. I didn't look at college courses, do prep exams, SATs, or anything – I burned those bridges.
 	
Lupe Fiasco	It's less about creating a character in the vein of Michael Young History and more about this concept I call resurrectives. Even 'The Cool' is a resurrective record. It's about bringing something back from the other side, bringing something back to life. You see that across 'Drogas Wave' on 'Jonylah Forever' and 'Alan Forever'.
These records try to resurrect things. The 'Samurai' project falls into that lane, too. It's about taking something, bringing it back, and putting it in a new light. It's more about my focus on bringing things back to life rather than creating a character like in 'The Cool', where you can visualise it. So, it's more about the resurrection concept. To me, it's less of a world. You had to build a world because you tell the story so that the world will happen regardless. I could have done more detail to flesh the world out, but where we left the album felt right. The resurrective angle is engaging.
 	
Lupe Fiasco	So, we have projects that are just sitting, things that are in various modes, but then there's also the possibility to just do something completely new based on either the reaction to 'Samurai' or how we want to move from there. I think we're going to let 'Samurai' breathe a little bit, even though I'm still working and have other material in the clip. We'll just see what's best for you all.
What do you all want to see next? I have a bunch of party records ready to go…
== Gallery ==
File:Karl Ray - Lupe Fiasco (4).jpg|Photo by Karl Ray
File:Clash - Lupe Fiasco 2024.jpg
File:Karl Ray - Lupe Fiasco (2).jpg|Photo by Karl Ray
== References ==
Category:2024 interviews
Category:Magazines