Lucki, the Rapper Moving in His Own Direction
The Chicago artist is creating progressive drug rap like no other.
I was introduced to Lucki back in 2013 when he was the popularly known as Lucki Eck$. He intrigued me with his first project, Alternative Trap, which is a fun and slightly depressing through a teenager who has a lot of talent and plenty of wits.The project contained drowsy, compelling lyrics about drugs and finessing. At the young age of 17, he had all the qualities required to make a good rap song. Back in that year, I was a huge fan of Chance The Rapper’s Acid Rap as it was my initial introduction to drug related music.
Drugs have been popularly conceptualized for quite some time now, but that doesn’t fully describe Lucki’s niche. He is a poet over slow, often melancholy instrumentals. As a Chicago native, he purposely avoids the drill sound that was made popular there. The was effective as it set him apart from artists like Chief Keef, King Louie, and Lil Durk. At the same time, it distanced him from fellow Chicago artists like Chance, Vic Mensa, and Mick Jenkins. To me, he is in the middle of the spectrum. It is really hard to put in a box which makes his such an interesting subject. There is no sign that he has reached his peak.
Lucki’s latest project, Watch My Back, is an enthralling escapade of internal discovery and slight self deprecation. He floats flawlessly on instrumentals. His voice of the bulk of the tracks is slow paced and his lyrics are confessional. As slow as his goes the beats increase your heart rate as if you are on drugs yourself. Lucki and Danny Brown have this gift where they can make you feel high out of your mind while you are completely sober.
Watch My Back is indicative of what makes him so interesting. He often slurs his words but it brings curiosity of the listen. It not about what he is saying as it is how is he feeling. Lucki brings his emotions to life on a track that barely makes any noise. After hearing the quiet intro song “Miss Me,” I had to repeat it to fully understand the aura he was trying to summon. Lucki is artist where at surface it feels like he’s giving you a little, but if you look deeper you hear and feel the message he is trying to convey. He writing style is unique. He’ll repeat a simple line the will take a swift turn by saying something specially clever or devastating. About every tape of his I’ve listen to has been full of surprises, but the long-waited Watch My Back is most certainly his best work to date. It features heavy production from Plu20 Nash, Lucki’s go-to producer. As stated before, it’s a good album sober, it would give any inebriated person an unforgettable journey. Not many artists captures the high out mind feeling as well as Lucki. On the atmospheric “Miss Me,” he is deliberate and blunt with impactful bars. He recites them at slow tempo but is consistent. The whole album is about consistent, but it is by far not every song sounds the same. He doesn’t only rap over 8O8s. He can go from boom-nap drums to subtle guitar strings. He commands every instrumental with a monotonous, attention-grabbing tone. Over several different beats, he remains the star of the show.
However he chooses to use his voice, it certainly grabs the listeners attention. On the jazzy track “Waiting On,” he illustrates every that makes him so appealing. Mumble rap has demonized and discredited the new era we are in. You have to understand that “mumble rap” is a considerable art form. Some rappers certainly perform it better than others. Most rappers do it to fill meaningless time on a track. Lucki does it to emphasize the effect of the song to another level. This is similar how Future wants to project a drugged out feeling. The difference is Lucki is far more honest.
“No Wok” is a one minute track that has more than 500,000 SoundCloud plays. A lot other SoundCloud have that short song that has a shitload of plays but usually, they are fast paced and involve screaming. Pouya and XXXtentacion come to mind. Lucki’s song contains neither of these features. This is just one of the things I admire. He doesn’t conform and allows himself to grow as artists without copying his contemporaries. He gets really dark and since on the closer track “Over” where he says “I don’t wanna die but I don’t feel like fighting.” That line summarizes his emotions. I presume that he was speaking on his drug use. He knows he has a very bright future ahead of home, but he has little desire to maintain his health until then.
SoundCloud is full of wannabes and copiers. It would be a crime if someone took Lucki’s style and gotten more exposure. His music isn’t made to break into the mainstream like Uzi or Carti. Instead, I believe his cult following will lead him to whatever he needs to be.
