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Lupe Fiasco Is 'Not Exaggerating' As He Compares New Album To Nas' 'Illmatic'

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Chicago, IL – Lupe Fiasco set himself the ambitious challenge of creating a 10-song album from scratch in just 24 hours earlier this week.

The Chicago MC, unfortunately, wasn’t able to achieve his goal within the tight time frame, but after taking a day off, he returned to the grind to complete the project.

Having successfully wrapped up his new album, Lupe didn’t hesitate to heap high praise on the record by comparing it to one of the most acclaimed Hip Hop albums of all time.

“It’s my Illmatic…,” Lupe claimed of his new album in a tweet on Thursday (August 12), referencing Nas’ landmark debut from 1994, which was inducted into the Library of Congress earlier this year.

While most rappers would steer clear of making such a lofty comparison to avoid the likelihood of falling short of expectations, Lupe doubled down in his belief of the album’s quality by adding, “I’m not at all exaggerating either…”

In his series of tweets, Lupe revealed the as-yet-untitled project is produced entirely by his long-time collaborator Soundtrakk, who’s responsible for many of Lupe’s most defining songs including “Kick, Push,” “Superstar” and “Hip-Hop Saved My Life.”

The Food & Liquor rapper also teased a sequel to “Mural,” his dizzying, eight-minute lyrical display from 2015’s Tetsuo & Youth.

It’s unclear when (or if) Lupe Fiasco is planning to release his so-called Illmatic. After all, his fanbase is used to getting excited about projects only for them to not materialize (see: his long-delayed “final” album Skulls and the scrapped Roy).

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Luckily, Lupe fans have plenty of material to digest as they await the album’s arrival. The Chi-Town native has released a clutch of freestyles in recent weeks, including flips of classic Kendrick Lamar, Jadakiss, Dipset, Jay Electronica and Cam’ron beats.

Before that, Lupe put out two projects in 2020: the trap-influenced TAPE TAPE EP with Soundtrakk and the jazz-oriented HOUSE EP with producer Kaelin Ellis. His last studio album, DROGAS Wave, arrived in late 2018.