The year may be young, but rap has seen a consistent stream of new releases by some of the game's biggest figures, and Lupe Fiasco is just the latest to unveil a new album.

After threatening retirement on several occasions and hinting that the public may only get the pleasure of hearing three more studio albums from him, Lupe has returned to the fold with his DROGAS Light album, which has been anticipated since first being announced over a year ago. His first release since his 2015 album, Tetsuo & Youth, DROGAS Light is yet a reminder that the Chicago native is near the top of his class when it comes to mind-bending wordplay, intricate flows, and dives into the conceptual abyss.

Featuring a tracklist that includes appearances from Rick Ross, Big K.R.I.T., Ty Dolla $ign, Simon Sayz, RondoNumbaNine, Salim, Jake Torrey and other talent, DROGAS Light has its share of guests, but Lupe remains in control of the ship, running roughshod over production by the likes of Soundtrak, StreetRunner, Simon Sayz, Floss & Flame, and BSides. Early highlights from DROGAS Light include "NGL," "Jump," "Tranquillo" and "Wild Child," the last of which is radio-ready and has hit record written all over it.

Lupe Fiasco has become a lightning rod of sorts in hip-hop due to his socio-political commentary and polarizing views, but one thing is for certain, and that's his ability to rap circles around more high-profile lyricists in the game, with ease. Now that we've had the chance to take in Lupe's latest and give it a few spins, we've picked out 20 of the more impressive couplets from DROGAS Light that are sure to catch your ear.

  • "Dopamine Lit (Intro)"

    Lupe Fiasco

    "Cartagena, serve snacks at the cockfight/Need new batteries for the Glock lights/Put the mix on the oil 'til it lock tight/'Cause they gave it to all the young niggas/Drogas dedicated to all the drug dealers/Find out how, now ya'll gon' come kill us"

  • "Dopamine Lit (Intro)"

    Lupe Fiasco

    "Denzel put the money in the bandos/For the esés, shower posse with the SKs/For the haters that be hatin' on the Hefes/Half-naked hoes, they be dressin' just like X-rays/Rated, all the way through, don't like nothin' play this/Simps think they got cool, I'm just stickin' to the basics"

  • "Made in the U.S.A."

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Bianca Sings

    "And I was like raised in that fuckin' ghetto/Made in that fuckin' ghetto/You ain't where I'm from bitch/You ain't on my fucking level/And the whole world want my swag/Bloods and Crips and shit all up in my flag" - Lupe Fiasco

  • "Jump"

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Gizzle

    "Gold medals, them my role models/Rollin' old models, lowered old schools/Flowin' cold and goin' gold follows/Flower bearin', call it petals to the floor/Power sharin', call it devils to the door/Power, power, 'til ain't no devils anymore" - Lupe Fiasco

  • "Jump"

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Gizzle

    "Said, "I saw that thing the first time, you don't gotta do it twice/But I need a lil' more info on exactly what I write/Some details 'bout a female, 'bout your life and what you like"/She said, "My life is like a bitch, and I'm just like my life"/Then pow-pow-pow-pow-pow, yeah them niggas started bussin'/Like that boycott was over and that we had overcome it" - Lupe Fiasco

  • "City of the Year"

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Rondo

    "My city look pretty in the summer/6th grade, moved out to the hundreds/Prolly wouldn't have made it hangin' 'round my mama's/Harvey World, made my come-up, Bishop was a BD, dope claimed lord/Cliqued all up, put it all on CD/Neutron don, but I prolly been a GD" - Lupe Fiasco

  • "High (Interlude)"

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Simon Sayz

    "What's that I came to say?/Get it wet like Training Day/With no drain away, you with it yet/They ain't related/Lupe got him an H and K and handle that/Heckler, Kramer way/Rain delay/Aight, nigga, put the game away" - Lupe Fiasco

  • "High (Interlude)"

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Simon Sayz

    "It's like sayin', look, Duval too tall/Or the cue ball is too small/I make two fall in the pool hall/And my new car I carpool/You all finna carnival/Through balls, think about to fall/Get a new doll to my boo, aw" - Lupe Fiasco

  • "Tranquillo"

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Rick Ross and Big K.R.I.T.

    "'Cause I got chillin' by the million, Tranquillo by the kilo, nigga, nigga/And I got kilos by the speedboat/And I ain't talkin' 'bout them drugs, I'm talkin' 'bout that love/For myself and all my niggas, all my bitches and all my thugs" - Lupe Fiasco

  • "Tranquillo"

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Rick Ross and Big K.R.I.T.

    "I got bitches on bitches, all my dreams and my visions/I remember me fishin' out of canals in the trenches/Now a nigga be flossy, Rolls Royce lookin' glossy/Quick to put down a demo to get these haters up off me" - Rick Ross

  • "Tranquillo"

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Rick Ross and Big K.R.I.T.

    "Buried your partner just the other day knowin' he was too young/Had a tool, tryna roll on the folk, let it go on the folk, but he wasn't down to shoot one/Though the time dead and gone, is YOLO what we on?/I heard different, it's never too late to listen and be reborn" - Big K.R.I.T.

  • "Law"

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Simon Sayz

    "Now you all business, started up yourself small business/And we all in this, no half-stepping, we high heel/All inches, high yield, small interest, hell yeah/That’s a loan and we owe some/But we pay the bank back out the same sack, same money we just stole from" - Lupe Fiasco

  • "Law"

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Simon Sayz

    "She don't want no soft nigga, she just don't want no false nigga/Daddy can be a gangsta, just can't be no lost nigga/If you a senior, be a senior, don't be runnin' around like some frosh niggas/Snapback is great, but you about to graduate, take your hat off nigga" - Lupe Fiasco

  • "Pick Up the Phone"

    Lupe Fiasco

    "Now every ring's a sting and everything I taught ya/Is coming back around to me, just like revolvers/And every single click is just hammering it home/Who knew Russian Roulette involved answering the phone?/Until my signal dwindles or my channel is in roam/Or my cellphone dies or it's cancer in my dome"

  • "Pick Up the Phone"

    Lupe Fiasco

    "We were like, if a tree falls in the forest and/No one is around, does it really make a sound?/That's romantic and profound, but now/We're like lumberjacks holding the axes that brung it down/So I'm now on your message, talm 'bout 'Remember?'/Silence in return, that sound like 'Timber!'"

  • "It's Not Design"

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Salim

    "What if I said, love was a lie though/It was more like hate with a eye closed/And the other eye had the eye rolled/That's contempt and ignorance, I know/But what do I know?/Only thing that I seen was the inside of a blindfold/And you just as blind as me/So how I look? Asking you where do I go" - Lupe Fiasco

  • "It's Not Design"

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Salim

    "Hard to find spare arteries these days/In decent shape, and know things decay/And at these rates you're gon' need to be paid/Like 3D wage just to see D. Wade" - Lupe Fiasco

  • "It's Not Design"

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Salim

    "And in the futuristic love will be reduced to physics/Computer digits made by robots/That use statistics, algorithms, and group logistics/The mood-resistant downloadable thing that's used specific/Easily updated with few commitments/Can find it's way home if you forget it" - Lupe Fiasco

  • "Wild Child"

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Jake Torrey

    "Meditate away the drama or I'ma just go bananas/Life's a beach but no Bahamas, I just wanna wear pajamas/Whole life I been fightin' on piranhas/With katanas inside of my hand" - Lupe Fiasco

  • "More Than My Heart"

    Lupe Fiasco Featuring Rxmn and Salim

    "Yeah, now some mamas might be your confidant/Some mamas just good for shoes/Some mamas might be your drinkin' buddy/Some mamas might not be cool/Some mamas might wait 'til you get home/Some mamas might come up to your school/And fuck you up in front of your friends/'Cause you don't make the rules" - Lupe Fiasco

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