After a brief hiatus, Lupe Fiasco has returned with a new project called House with Kaelin Ellis. The five-track project features Virgil Abloh, Crystal Torres and Graham Burris.
The project’s lead track, “Shoes” featuring Virgil Abloh, touches on recent events. The record uses the design of shoes to discuss the death of Ahmaud Arbery.
“Air Ahmaud, Air Arbery/What color are these shoes? The upper of these shoes/Maybe white, maybe black, pick your favorite/But, you know, the world’s black and white anyways/So might as well limit the whole color palette to that/Signed, Virgil Abloh, in quotes of course,” Abloh said.
The artwork also touches on a matter of importance. Inspired by jazz record covers like Charles Mingus’ Mingus Ah Um, the cover features “The Glass House” painted by Peter Gellatly. Lupe’s friend and Gellatly’s son, Sky, eulogizes his father, who passed away from COVID-19, through the album. He tells the story of how his father sold a boat to the Nicaraguan government and rode back through Central America and built their first house with the money he made.
Check out Ellis and Fiasco’s House project above.
