Produced by his longtime collaborator Soundtrakk, Lupe says the project was just supposed to be one song.
It wasnt like we were going to do a whole album.
Lupe tellsRolling Stonethe nine-track project developed over time.
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I got to tell people what the story is about.
Ill have five boom bap ones on there, then Ill have some trap.
I just have everything in there.
If I had to continue working on it, you wouldnt haveSamuraifor another three years.
I dont make managerial decisions, I dont make label decisions.
And if management says, Oh, we done, then we done.
And then I work on things.
Though Amys quote inspired the project, Lupe is clear that hes not attempting to speak for her.
Its not an autobiography or even an attempt to tell Amy Winehouses story.
Thats for her estate and her family and people who are in control of her legacy, he says.
For me, it was literally just that one quote.
Youll see pieces of it on Palaces, youll get pieces of it in Till Eternity.
Youll get pieces of it in Outside.
Its fragmented and broken up in Easter eggs throughout the piece.
But at the same time, too, the artists struggle is the artists struggle.
So I think it tells the story of all artists to a degree.
I channeled RZA with that one, I went Wu-Tang with it.
And then we tried to replay the sample; Chilly didnt like the replay.
It was just a beautiful sample.
Lupe:[I wanted it to] lyrically be a portrait of Amy Winehouse.
And then imagining and exaggerating other pieces and parts.
But it was just meant to serve as if it never turned into an album.
Itd just be like a dope song.
Mumble Rap
Lupe:Samurai starts with that Nineties boom-bap vibe.
It was like, OK, lets continue that, but I need a different version of it.
Like a storytelling bit as opposed to a series of just images or concepts.
And then heres a piece of the battle.
[The hook] is really just a reference that just became the chorus.
And then you go back to it and its like, You know what?
That is the hook.
Thats what it should be.
Its like, No, sometimes its that first or second pass on it.
Fat Booty on it, too.
It was a sample I slowed down dramatically and then put a break on it.
Even if they were from different batches, I was still in my Nineties-style bag during that time.
Lupe:And then thats me on the trumpet, too.
Underneath it was like, Oh, I got this melody on the trumpet.
Let me bang that out real quick and then just lay on top of that melody.
Soundtrakk:[With] Mumble Rap, Lupe arranged the whole beat.
I dont think that beat was finished.
I think it was a loop with the bass on it, a loop without it.
So he arranged the heck out of that one, for sure.
Or Ill do a reference sequence, real heavy-handed in GarageBand or whatever.
I might move certain things.
And then off of that I found a jazz sample, and I chopped it up DJ Premier style.
I gave it to Lupe 70 percent complete.
He mapped the entire song out.
I dont like overproducing stuff anymore because I did that back in the day.
But this one I felt like needed some throw in of big switch, big outro.
So I had to add change-ups and contrast and a bunch.
Lupe:It was meant to be the record after the battle was won.
All right, cool.
Thats like the triumphant, talk-your-shit record.
Thats the purpose it served in the narrative.
Palaces
Soundtrakk:Lupe was in the studio for this one.
He only had the hook.
When we got together it was me, him, and Chilly in the lab in Chicago.
I wanted a 100 percent contrast, so we let them take care of that outro.
Lupe:Palaces was the only record that, from the beginning, all I had was the chorus.
I didnt have any verses for it all the way up until the day we recorded.
And it was the last song on the project.
I had the chorus for three, four years, just sitting there.
I was like, Yo, this is a joint.
This one of them ones.
When I do that, Im very careful about the verse side of it.
I take some time.
Thats why sometimes the projects can take years.
But Palaces is the one that I actually didnt have.
All I had was just that chorus.
I recorded everything in my living room in L.A. on the cheap mic in the GarageBand.
We got this big crazy studio [in Chicago], but I rarely record there.
All the equipment there is super high-end, my shit all cheap.
And that wouldve been No.
1 Headband, third verse, the second verse for Cake, and then Palaces.
1 Headband
Soundtrakk:Thats the oldest beat on the album.
I did that in 2016.
I decided on that one to do two different drum-break techniques.
I pulled that technique back out for No.
1 Headband, just to keep it entertaining.
Also, I added a little switch-up.
I pulled in another producer again to add the surprise switch-up on the third verse.
Same person who added the drums on the Cake.
Lupe:I cant remember 100 percent where it was supposed to be.
1 Headband wouldve came after that.
So some of the record was done in different periods for different things.
The idea was the No.
1 Headband fromAfro Samurai,where that was his quest.
It was like, Youre a samurai, so youre on a quest to get the number one headband.
So it wouldve been this final big boss battle, and then she wouldve got the number one headband.
And then the third verse is completely new.
It was the last verse we did for the project.
But that was about it.
So I used No.
1 Headband for that space.
Soundtrakk:The rest of the [beats on the] album are from 2018.
Im somewhere else right now production-wise.
Lupe:I got tons of [beats from Soundtrakk].
Theyre like time capsules.
Trakk will send me a batch of joints from a particular year, [its] almost like wine.
I just let it sit and then open it up once its mature.
Certain things are full songs, maybe written but not recorded throw in situation.
And then Chilly called from jail.
It was like, Man, I need an album.
I was like, I got theSamuraithing.
Hes like, Nah, Im going to do something new.
And so you might see me mimicking certain things or pretending to be a thing.
Bigfoot was less about the battle-rap space and more so just in that opera singer, jazz singer space.
So you could look at it as Bigfoot could come after Samurai.
With all these records, theyre their own records.
You dont necessarily need the concept to be able to enjoy them or process them.
So Bigfoot takes liberties in that space.
Youre just like an artist again.
Youre going through the trials and tribulations.
But it also can serve as an end after everythings over and you come back to reality.
If you listen to the end of Mumble Rap, an alarm goes off.
So the whole thing was a dream.
Youre out of the concept after Mumble Rap and back into the real world.
So you might take liberties to move it around.
Its a little bit more modular.
But that was the piece, that real-world snap back to reality.
Soundtrakk:I was in my piano-chopping mode with that one.
Theres a lot of chopped pianos all over this album.
I had a break.
This ones a slower bpm, more of a slower bounce.
I stopped overproducing stuff and making stuff grand and adding.
This one, I decided to do that.
I brought the whole production team called Open Session.
They helped me out withDrill Music in Zionas well.
But the rest of it is them infused in it.
This is a team-production piece on the album.
I wanted to add a different energy because I dont want the same energy over and over again.
I tried my best to have the energy switch.
I know the album is cohesive and it all ties together.
But I tried my best to give it as much variation as I could with this.
That one involved five different producers.
Outside
Lupe:Lyrically, Outside served as the battle was over.
And then thered been some follow-up banter, and thats what the record is about.
Its like shes talking about who had the best verse.
Im surprised that Outside stayed on the project, to be honest.
Because its the weirdest of the records in terms of the purpose that it serves.
Soundtrakk:It was a weird sample for that one, too.
One of my boys told me it sounded likeMario Bros.on it.
It was a jazz sample I chopped up DJ Premier style once again.
Took a lot of pieces from all over the sample.
I think thats one of the slower records on the album.
Most of the album, we kept it in the 90 bpms.
This ones like 83.
And I added the same person who added drums to Cake on this one.
I had her do some drums and I added new synths.
I translated the sample into some synths and added a change-up that comes in twice in the song.
I really love those parts.
But Chillys genius putting it at the end … its like, Oh, it feels right.
It feels like thats where it should be with the records that exist for it right now.
As a closer, as that final nod.
And it has a lot of closing themes in it.
It was very beautiful to me.
I went for a Kick, Push tempo and groove with the drums.
And then I just arranged it with the same approach as Samurai.
I arranged it once again after I heard the complete song.
