'Mumble Rap' Breakdown - Lupe Fiasco

A masterful performance in the art of storytelling.
0:00 intro
0:12 context
1:25 verse 1
3:41 chorus
4:20 verse 2
7:02 verse 3
8:49 conclusion

[@corcko]

Also I just realized, Amy Winehouse died in her sleep from alcohol poisoning, the alarms at the end represent her waking up instead of dying, which connects to the last line of the verse “don’t make me resurrect up on this”. Lupe changes her fate, similar to how he does so in Jonylah Forever and Alan Forever. more...

[@corcko]

Salaam Remi is a famous rap producer (he produced some of Nas’s stuff as well as Amy Winehouse’s). Before she passed away, Amy wanted to move into the rap genre, hence her voicemail to Remi. This is what inspired Lupe to create a concept album not only about Amy Winehouse, but also he imagined how she would have wrote it, which is reflected across many of the songs on his album “Samurai”; most prominently on this track “mumble rap” which tells the story of her resurrection, allowing for her to achieve her dreams of becoming a ‘samurai’.

[@corcko]

If you want further breakdown while I make my videos, I would recommend checking out Professor Skye's breakdown. It gives a great overview of the whole album.

[@VZAAGE]

This is dope. I hope you go on to break down the rest of the album. Heck, why stop there? You've got potential to make something big here. Keep going!

[@corcko]

Thanks man! I love your videos

[@VZAAGE]

@@corcko Right on, man!

[@kingzingo]

Great breakdown, we should get every song on this album ? :)

[@corcko]

Thanks for the support! If I get enough engagement on this post maybe I’ll do another analysis?

[@corcko]

Subscribing would be much appreciated 🙏

[@bmillersince92]

This reminds me of the page timesnuroman, very dope I’ll looking forward to more

[@SIKICIBIRKANAL]

This vid is actually too fire, waiting for the next upload

[@corcko]

@@SIKICIBIRKANAL coming soon…

[@KIMRK-ie9gd]

Appreciate the work friend

[@munoz_io]

Smith and Wesson could also be a reference to "Smif and Wesson" - aka "Cocoa Brovas" who are an underground hip-hop group.

[@corcko]

Wow, how does Lupe do this stuff??

[@legendoda5218]

Definitely a gun. He foows up with the hollow tip bar right after

[@DonMcThrill]

Thank you. This video helped me understand a lot. So cool he is breaking down the essence of battle rapping by describing Amy’s new ability to lyrically rap. An ability the current mumble rappers are missing. Lupe also demonstrates this with his rap style on verses and chorus while telling a classic rap story about wine house (life after death). This song a is a triple entendre conceptually. Very creative stuff

[@corcko]

Glad I could be of assistance! Thanks for watching

[@santinoagustinzaccara780]

GREAT VIDEOOOOOO, splendid analysis and excellent video from start to finish

[@corcko]

@@santinoagustinzaccara780 thanks!

[@essentialsofcool5546]

very well done breakdown. Thanks for this!

[@corcko]

Thanks for watching!

[@ChuckLeeMBM]

AMAZING!! Thanks for this!

[@corcko]

Thank you man! I really appreciate the support

[@corcko]

Also, seeing that you’re a big creator, do you have any advice for small creators?

[@ChuckLeeMBM]

@@corcko Im still trying to figure it out myself, but I think one of the biggest things you can do is collab with other people who make similar videos. I think youve really got a grasp on this though and see great things for you in time. Took me 3 years to monetize so dont be mad if it doesnt happen overnight, and keep it fun and as consistent as you can.

[@corcko]

@@ChuckLeeMBM alright thank you! I’ll definitely keep this in mind as I go.

[@MannyMuskets]

Listening to this it seemed pretty obvious to me the old man was "the spirit of hip-hop"

[@corcko]

interesting! I never thought of it that way. I also heard people saying that it could represent Lupe himself

[@SIKICIBIRKANAL]

Similes like ''Superman abandoning the planet'' i think this song and most of the album's lyrics was helped by TextFX software that Lupe covered on his own channel.

[@corcko]

@@SIKICIBIRKANAL really cool, thanks for this!

[@corcko]

What song should I breakdown next?

[@mir1017801]

Til infinity

[@B1aZz305]

Palaces

[@corcko]

@@mir1017801 alright I will try my best it will probably take me a few days.

[@corcko]

@@B1aZz305 sounds good!

[@vl1553]

Bigfoot

[@wvccradio208]

Dope breakdown. Love the Album

[@corcko]

Appreciate the support man 🙏

[@Yuvi2909]

Finally a breakdown of this song 😅

[@corcko]

I gotchu

[@ramay3383]

Great job ! 👏👏👏

[@corcko]

Thank you!

[@khariperkins4243]

Good shiz

[@herbsandamunition8501]

congrats on the vid keep it up my guy

[@corcko]

thanks man!

[@jefjef601]

AmazingBreakdown!

[@corcko]

@@jefjef601 thank you!

[@Xenji5]

Great breakdown, friend.

[@corcko]

@@Xenji5 thank you, friend!

[@LimitNZ]

Good stuff!

[@corcko]

@@LimitNZ thanks for watching!

[@ayyonmichaels9731]

that voicemail should have been the intro to the album...

[@corcko]

yeah... rather unfortunate

[@PrettyMuchBlack]

For your first video? Very insightful. I look forward to see what else you’re passionate about analysing.

[@corcko]

@@PrettyMuchBlack thank you! I will try and improve as I go along

[@MrSwaggernaut83]

@@corcko My advice would be to feel free to borrow views and understandings from others (genius, other YTers, forums, etc.) and try to incorporate those that speak to you! There are so many directions to go with Lupe's stuff for example, and having slightly more accessible holistic videos like yours are a great means to start to understand the depth there. I think it expands his audience and gets more people into it! this is even more helpful for his older works that have been pretty thoroughly dissected online by a variety of people. Kudos and more Lupe please!!!

[@a_ron4]

This is great man!

[@corcko]

thanks! I will be posting more of these breakdowns so subscribe to stay notified!

[@a_ron4]

@@corcko got you

[@libraryofpapel]

Very nice breakdown, and keen for more Lupe Samurai takes. You don’t need to state that the interpretations are your opinion at the end. Maybe just open up the video to say ‘this is my take’. Keep it up, your analysis is quality, and video making will get better for sure.

[@corcko]

@@libraryofpapel thanks for the constructive criticism. I will keep this in mind going forwards

[@RZIRUE]

I just started vid but I feel like Mumble Rap is literally the mysterious spell cast upon Amy Winehouse like a simple named spell or a command based spell literally forcing her to only mumble rap for the remainder of the story.

[@corcko]

@@RZIRUE pretty spot on

[@joshhopkinsmtb5725]

So is Cake the song that was on her heart? It seems like a demonstration of incredible lyrical ability.

[@corcko]

Wait you might be right there! Didn’t even catch that one

[@joshhopkinsmtb5725]

Loving your breakdowns man. Keep going!

[@quanahlecornu478]

pretty good. I had no idea about the winehouse aspect. Where is that even indicated in the album? I mean, i havnt given a genuine listen yet, but where is amy?

[@corcko]

@@quanahlecornu478 Lupe released a tweet a few years ago saying that it was a concept album about Winehouse, and on the opening track ‘Samurai’ he directly quotes her voicemail as the chorus.

[@quanahlecornu478]

@@corcko whoa thanks

[@ID-xq2hl]

Yoga Flame

[@jarenjaren2478]

2:00 are you saying I should listen to this album playlist backward

[@corcko]

I mean you totally can, but I was more so getting at the fact that the song asks to take it to the start, which implies that the start of the song is the end, if that makes sense.

[@necrowithoutc]

bro is that ai voice