Earlier this summer, Lupe Fiasco dropped off his eighth studio album, DRILL MUSIC IN ZION, which contained 10 songs and additional appearances from Ayesha Jaco and Nayirah. The Chicago wordsmith returned over the weekend to contribute two tracks to Chill’s Spotlight, Vol. 3 – Dak’s Playlist. The songs, “Ohh Oh” and “The Pen and the Needlz,” are from Fiasco’s archive, and on the latter track, he raps with expertise about his humble beginnings:
Grew up in Chicago, West side, gang lifestyle, the drug scene, the whole, it’s like one whole universe of insanity/ Before I start, like to make sure I’m smart, gather my composure, rather my swagger and my culture/ 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/ A night of the living passed away, can you dig it? Why emcee? Hey, I do it for my village
Elsewhere on the aforementioned Chill’s Spotlight, Vol. 3 – Dak’s Playlist are tracks by Shayla G and Gemini. The previous volume was released back in February.
There’s a lot going on for the veteran emcee these days, as he is currently prepping his syllabus for his very own hip hop course at MIT while simultaneously hitting stages across the U.S. on tour. The tour is in celebration of the 15th anniversary of his sophomore album, The Cool. That project also recently received Platinum certification from the RIAA. There are only a few tour dates left, with one show in San Fransisco on Sept. 30 and the grand finale show in Los Angeles on Oct. 1.
Be sure to press play on Chill’s Spotlight, Vol. 3 – Dak’s Playlist down below.