— Rapper Lupe Fiasco surprises his listeners with the release of 2 early 2000’s archival tracks, “The Pen and the Needlz” and “Ohh Oh.”
Weaving dense webs of wordplay, Lupe Fiasco has been blowing minds with his incisive pen for the better part of two decades. Now, coming off the release of his eighth studio album, Drill Music in Zion, the proud Chicago native shares “The Pen and The Needlz” and “Ohh Oh“ — two new songs from his vast archive. Officially released on streaming as part of the new 1st & 15th EP Chill’s Spotlight 3, the two unearthed tracks hail from Lupe’s 2005 mixtape Fahrenheit 1/15.
Produced by Needlz, who later found pop success producer for artists like Bruno Mars, Drake, and Cardi B, “The Pen and The Needlz” is a showcase for Lupe’s twisty turns of phrase, the product of a then 23-year-old rapper strutting his stuff and proving that he could spit with the best in the game as he raps,
“Pivot my fitted, then begin to rivet, with a change of lyric
In other words, I reposition how I sit it
Then make you feel it like I mispronounced ‘filet’
On second thought, I can’t make you fill it
Like you digging your own grave, unless you can Kill Bill it.”
The second song, “Ohh Oh,” is another lyrical exercise, as Lupe unfurls a torrent of no hook bars as he navigates a soulful vocal sample with skillful internal rhymes and wry humor rapping,
“What’s in your pockets my profits
Foxes pick me up like chopsticks, this hotness
They wanna put me in boxes like chocolates
That’s nonsense.”
The two newly-released singles follow in the footsteps of “Hustlaz,” a never-before-heard circa-2005 gem that dropped earlier this year.
The Chicago native is currently on tour on a series of shows celebrating the 15th anniversary of Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool, recently certified Platinum by the RIAA. Beyond music, Lupe recently launched his “LFT” program, a new NFT program that allows fans to get closer than ever to Lupe. Unlike many NFTs, which solely exist in the digital space, the “LFT” program offers token-holders an array of online and offline benefits. The benefits start with a generative art profile pic–each LFT holder gets a unique digital artwork inspired by Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool, which celebrates its 15th birthday this year. Beyond music, Lupe continues to focus on the community organizations he founded, including We Are M.U.R.A.L, The Neighborhood Start-Up Fund, Society of Spoken Art, and his cross-cultural content venture, Studio SV.
With his latest album, Drill Music in Zion, Lupe starts another chapter in his illustrious career, but he’s not done growing.
“Your whole life you’re physically growing, and as an artist, I feel like I’m taller now,” says Lupe. “Not that I’m at a higher place of morality, it’s that my vantage point and perspective is higher. I can see further.”
Drill Music in Zion is available on all digital platforms via 1st & 15th/Thirty Tigers, and available for purchase on vinyl at local record stores, Amazon, and anywhere else vinyl is sold. The exclusive Vinyl Me Please pressing is currently sold out.
Listen to “The Pen and the Needlz,” “Ohh Oh,” and the rest of Chill’s Spotlight 3 right here. Also, be sure to follow Lupe Fiasco on Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date on what he’ll be up to next.