MIT Professor Lupe Fiasco Drops Video for ‘Precious Things’ ft. Nayirah

The Chicago native and MIT Professor Lupe Fiasco investigates hand signals and enters an internet rabbit hole in the latest video from his acclaimed 2022 LP Drill Music in Zion.

Lupe Fiasco weaves his lyrics into dense webs of double meaning, encouraging his listeners to put together the puzzle pieces he teases out with his allusive wordplay. Taking his mythology into his own hands, Lupe shares the video for “PRECIOUS THINGS,” his latest music video. A Soundtrakk-produced highlight from his acclaimed LP DRILL MUSIC IN ZION, blessed with a hook from Nayirah, “PRECIOUS THINGS” finds Lupe speaking on the evolutionary miracle that is the human hand, exploring the ways we use our hands to fight, feel, and communicate: “I asked for ‘Okays,’ I got, ‘Up yours’ and ‘Go aways’/Shoo gestures and throat slicers, the motion’s made/Give me a sign when we can talk through a plan/But my hands was like ‘Fam, you can talk to the hand,’ damn,” spits Lupe.

Produced by Alberto Angelini, the video for “PRECIOUS THINGS” tells a story through screen-recorded desktop applications, with an unseen user delving deep into an internet rabbit hole inspired by Lupe’s lyrics. Guided by fan communities, comment sections, and old-fashioned articles, the explorer researches the origins of Lupe’s hand signals, his linguistic gymnastics, and his esoteric worldview. The user gathers data on academic search engines, looks for clues in articles from websites like HotNewHipHop, scours Google Earth, and even resorts to posting questions on Quora, but the answer to the mystery remains elusive. The video takes full advantage of YouTube’s new “pinch-and-zoom” feature, allowing viewers to zoom in on all the screenshots that make up the video and investigate the mystery with their own hands.

This video is a showcase of end-user tech within the entertainment industry and beyond…of course, Lupe would never be caught one-dimensional and that’s one of the important takeaways from this video in my opinion in addition to the rhyme!

With more music and other ventures on the way, Lupe Fiasco has entered a new chapter in his career, but he’s not done growing.

“Your whole life you’re physically growing, and as an artist, I feel like I’m taller now,” says Lupe. “Not that I’m at a higher place of morality, it’s that my vantage point and perspective is higher. I can see further.”

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Tags: Drill Music in Zion, Lupe Fiasco, MIT, Nayirah, professor

About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.