Lupe Fiasco is set to release his new album Tetsuo & Youth on Jan. 20 via Atlantic Records, but ahead of that he's shared another new song called "Adoration of the Magi" featuring Crystal Torres. The horn-driven DJ Dahi-produced track is about a boy who is trying to grow old too fast for his own good.
"Why you ready to die? / You just a baby / Why them tears up under your eyes? / You just a baby / Keep your head up in the sky / You just a baby / Quit chasing money, never mind / You just a baby / Why you wanna be born again? / You just a baby / Why you playing in the streets / You just a baby," Fiasco and Torres sing on the hook.
Tetsuo & Youth is his final album for Atlantic and will feature appearances from Ab-Soul, Trae That Truth, Fam-Lay, Glasses Malone, and more. He previously released the singles "Deliver" and "Madonna."
He told Rolling Stone in October that the album would be a "shock" for some people because he for once made a conscious decision not to explore politics on the record.
"If you want to hear my political spiel or some psuedo-intellectual Lupe, go listen to [2012's] Food & Liquor II. From here on out, I'm just making music," he told them.
He also said that the album was partially inspired by his upbringing in Chicago's Westside. "The content of it is like, 'Oh sh*t - I didn't know Lupe could talk like that. I didn't know Lupe knew that guy. I didn't know Lupe was affiliated with that."
The sound of the album steers clear of current hip-hop trends, he explained. "My mind is a time capsule of the late Nineties and early 2000s."
As for those who are unsure about the rapper's new direction, he promises, "You're gonna feel this sh*t, trust me."
Tetsuo & Youth Tracklist:
01. Summer
02. Mural
03. Blur My Hands feat. Guy Sebastian
04. Dots & Lines
05. Fall
06. Prisoner 1 & 2″ feat. Ayesha Jaco
07. Body of Work feat. Troi and Terrace Martin
08. Little Death feat. Nikki Jean
09. No Scratches feat. Nikki Jean
10. Winter
11. Chopper feat. Billy Blue, Buk Of Psychodrama, Trouble, Trae Tha Truth, Fam-Lay, and Glasses Malone
12. Deliver
13. Madonna feat. Nikki Jean
14. Adoration of the Magi feat. Crystal Torres
15. They.Resurrect.Over.New feat. Ab-Soul and Troi
16. Spring
