Lucas received widespread exposure and critical acclaim after the release of his single "Ross Capicchioni" in 2015. In June 2017, he released his fourth mixtape, 508-507-2209, which was his first on a major label. On November 28, 2017, Lucas released his single "I'm Not Racist", which quickly went viral, gaining him further attention and praise. The video was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 61st Grammy Awards. Lucas was formerly signed to Atlantic Records, until he announced his departure from the label in December 2018.
Since 2016, Lucas has also become known for remixing popular hip hop songs like "Gucci Gang" by Lil Pump, "Bank Account" by 21 Savage, "DNA" by Kendrick Lamar and many others. In October 2018, he announced his debut studio album ADHD, which was released on March 27, 2020. He began rapping at the age of 10, and attended South High Community School in Worcester.
Gary Maurice Lucas, Jr. was born on August 17, 1988, in Worcester, Massachusetts to a black father and a white mother. He began rapping at the age of 10, and attended South High Community School in Worcester.
Joyner Lucas first started rapping under the name G-Storm, but by 2007 had changed his stage name to Future Joyner and started working with his cousin Cyrus tha Great, forming a group called Film Skool Rejekts. That year they released Workprint: The Greatest Mixtape of All Time. Lucas released his first solo mixtape, titled Listen to Me, in 2011.[citation needed] After rapper Future came to prominence, Lucas dropped the "Future" from his name and continued as Joyner Lucas. He released his first mixtape under this new moniker in 2013, titled LFO's (Low Frequency Oscillators). His next mixtape, Along Came Joyner, was released on April 5, 2015. This mixtape contained his critically acclaimed "Ross Capicchioni". Following the success of the song, Lucas was featured in the 2015 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher. Originally intended to appear in the online-only cypher, he was later promoted to rap as part of the live broadcast cyphers based on the strength of his initial performance.
Lucas signed to Atlantic Records on September 21, 2016. Lucas went on to release a project titled 508-507-2209 on June 16, 2017, with Atlantic Records. The mixtape charted at #7 on the Heatseekers Albums chart on Billboard and contained the singles "I'm Sorry", "Ultrasound", "Just Like You" and "Winter Blues". Ever since 2016, Lucas has also become known for remixing popular hip hop songs.
On November 28, 2017, Lucas released the single "I'm Not Racist" via his YouTube channel. The music video quickly went viral and gained critical acclaim. The controversial song is about race and society, and race relations from the perspectives of a white man and a black man. The video was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 61st Grammy Awards, but lost to Childish Gambino's "This Is America". Lucas and Chris Brown announced a collaborative project titled Angels & Demons on February 25, 2018, with the project's first single "Stranger Things" releasing the following day. On April 1, 2018, Lucas released the single "Frozen", a song focused on different forms of reckless driving. The second single from the Angels and Demons collaborative mixtape, "I Don't Die", was released on May 2.
On July 31, 2018, Lucas announced that he was forced to cancel appearances in the Australian and European legs of his I'm Kind of a Big Deal tour due to hoarseness and laryngitis. A month later, Lucas was featured on "Lucky You" from Eminem's tenth album, Kamikaze. The song debuted at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Lucas' first top 10 entry on the chart. On October 12, 2018, Lucas announced that he would be releasing his debut studio album entitled ADHD. He also announced a single from the album that would be released the following Wednesday. The song, entitled "I Love", was released as the lead single from ADHD, which was released on March 27, 2020. It was preceded by nine singles from October 2018 to March 2020, the time before release.
On August 17, 2020, Lucas announced the release date of his debut EP, Evolution. It was released on October 23, 2020. It was preceded by two singles, "Snitch" and "Fall Slowly" featuring Ashanti.
Lucas has cited several artists as influences in his music, but he cites Eminem as his biggest musical influence. He also revealed he was influenced by Will Smith in his song "Will", which he would release a remix of featuring Will Smith himself on May 15, 2020. He cites Jay-Z as one of his influences too.
Joyner Lucas shares a son named Joyner Messiah Lucas (born February 20, 2016) with Carmen Julissa Ayala, whom he had an off and on romantic relationship with. Lucas tells the story of his son's conception in his song "Forever" on his mixtape 508-507-2209. Joyner Messiah Lucas is loved and adored by his father and referenced in many of his songs. He has also made cameos in his father's music videos. Most recently he played Will Smith's son Jaden Smith in the video of "Will".
Lucas has revealed that the title of his album ADHD comes from the fact that he was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. He explained that people surrounding him, including his own parents, made him feel like he was not normal and treated him differently as a result. Eventually, he would act out and get sent to an alternative school after expulsion.
Feuds
Logic
According to Lucas, when he was on Tech N9ne's tour bus, he heard some records from Tech's album The Storm. Lucas expressed interest on collaborating with Logic on the song "Sriracha" and felt that he could add to the display of fast-flow rapping, and Tech acquiesced. Logic was originally slated to be the only feature on "Sriracha", but when he spent over six months to deliver his verse, Lucas hopped on the track to offer his own. Joyner stated that when they got the record back, he could tell that Logic was not "too happy" about him being on the track once he heard it. On his remix of Future's "Mask Off", Joyner, unhappy by the work Logic turned in after taking nearly half a year to edit his verse, directly addressed the disappointing display. Both he and Tech N9ne were upset with Logic for not emulating the style of quick flow on the song.
After Logic's hit song "1-800-273-8255" peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, Joyner Lucas immediately took offense and argued that the track was named in order to bring direct competition to his project, 508-507-2209. In a later interview, he called Logic "corny" and in another incident, he said that he thinks that Logic "can rap" but feels like "he tries to prove that he's black too much for me." With both Logic's single and Lucas' mixtape dealing with the issue of mental health representation and resource allocation, Lucas was careful to not slam the track too hard.
When Logic dropped his song "Yuck" from his mixtape Bobby Tarantino II in March 2018, the veiled diss inside the song was quickly spotted by Lucas and his fans, despite Logic saying that there was no diss in the song. Seemingly nonplussed by the insult, Lucas dared Logic to call him out directly on Twitter. That same month, Joyner took aim at Logic's song "44 More" and his album Everybody on his remix of BlocBoy JB's "Look Alive".
In 2019, the two rappers ended their feud, which was revealed when Logic made a guest appearance on Joyner Lucas' song "ISIS", the third single from ADHD. Lucas kept the name of the collaborator a secret until he released the song.
Hopsin
In September 2018, when a fan asked Los Angeles rapper Hopsin on Twitter who would win in a rap battle between him and Joyner Lucas, Hopsin replied, "That's a dumb question that I'm sure you already know the answer to." Not long after, Lucas commented, "Hold up. @Hopsin wtf is that supposed to mean???" In his response, Hopsin stated that he would "b[r]eak his soul" and also dissed Logic in the comment. This dispute would prove to be short-lived, when in less than two days Hopsin shared a screenshot of a FaceTime call with Lucas, indicating that they finally made peace, but still wanted people to consider who would beat the other in a rap battle. While the majority favored Hopsin, Lucas was adamant without arguing.
Tory Lanez
Joyner Lucas' feud with Canadian recording artist Tory Lanez began over matters similar to his beef with Hopsin. On November 19, 2018, Lanez claimed that he was a better rapper than Joyner Lucas on an Instagram Live session. Incredulous, Lucas immediately responded by inviting Lanez to a battle rapping challenge and telling him to let the public decide who is better. The next day, Lanez dropped a freestyle over Eminem's "Lucky You", of which Lucas made a guest appearance on. In less than 24 hours, Joyner responded with his freestyle over "Litty" by Meek Mill featuring Tory Lanez, also targeting rapper Trippie Redd, who joined Tory's Instagram Live and slandered Joyner's name as well. Shortly after, Lanez retaliated with his own freestyle of "Litty", titled "Litty Again", taking shots at Joyner's collaboration with Eminem. Lucas' answer song was a freestyle of Kodak Black's "Zeze". On the track, he mentions Tory's being accused of plagiarism in 2016, when listeners noticed that the ending of Lanez's song "4am Flex" was similar to Kendrick Lamar's "The Art of Peer Pressure". Joyner also accuses him of copying rapper Don Q's flow on his 2017 Funkmaster Flex freestyle. On November 23, Tory posted on Instagram a video of him declaring victory in the feud and celebrating. Displeased, Lucas reposted the video with his own comment, with a reference to Lanez as a singer.
The end of this rivalry was made public on August 8, 2019, when Joyner Lucas and Tory Lanez collaborated on their remix of "Suge" by DaBaby.
The Grammy Awards are held annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Joyner has two Grammy nominations altogether; one for Best Music Video for “I’m Not Racist” and one for Best Rap Song for “Lucky You” by Eminem.
Mansion
JOYNER LUCAS Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I wasn't sposed' to be broke for this long, dammit what a bitch
and my manager told me nigga you gon' be rich
That was last year, now I'm living in the ghetto with the crack heads
Working at McDonalds as a god damn cashier, aint this a bitch!
Liquor got me lightheaded, sip it till the light red and
I aint go to college, I aint good at nothing else
so if this don't work out then I wonder where my life headed, I aint got shit!
Living in hell thats a heaven full of bitches and
I'm scared to fall in love but I never will admit it
Shit I never could've dated, call me to the door, I gotta leave
Real cocky to them hoes that say hi to me,
Like I'm the best thing you heard bitch don't lie to me, don't you lie to me
Trying to play the lottery, maybe I could hit the powerball
Got fifty fly cars and then drive em all
Just so I can feel like a rich nigga, got it all (this nigga got it all)
Bitch you aint shit and these broads ain't loyal
Hoes wont relate but these songs aint for you
and the game aint the same so along came Joyner
Standing around like you aint get the fucking picture
let me paint it for you, I aint playing with you
awaiting for illuminati just so I can get a cheque,
heres my soul lemme trade it to you
Coz what I gotta do to go and buy me a mansion huh? Fuck is this
I wasn't sposed to be broke for this long god dammit, what a bitch
I said my manager told me nigga you gon' be rich, yeah right
I need a mansion on the water and a yacht for my momma
Throw a party while we're bumping bare white
Nigga I just want a mansion
What the fuck I gotta do to go and buy me a mansion, huh? Fuck is this
I wasn't sposed to be broke for this long god dammit, what a bitch
and my manager told me Joyner you gon be rich, a year later
Now I'm living in the ghetto with the haters,
Working at Dennies as a motherfucking waiter, nigga aint this a bitch
Liquor got me light headed, sip it till the light red and
I aint got no back up plan, so if this aint work out, then I wonder where my life headed
I aint got shit, Im tired of being broke, gotta get it all
Plus a nigga need drawers gotta hit the mall
aint no cameras in the mall so I bend the law, I gotta bend the law
Point me to the door, I'm winning now
Yeah I'm trynna get some head, bitch it's been a while
and dont be acting brand new coz your friends around, coz your friends around
Trynna hit the lotto 30 million in deposit or
Cop a mansion with a safe and a (?)
Just to feel like a rich nigga got it all, this nigga got it all
It's all paranoia, got a call from my lawyer
I should've went to prison but the bars aint for ya
and the game aint the same so along came joyner
Standing around like you dont get the fucking picture
let me paint it for you, I aint playing with you
Awaiting for illuminati just so I can get a break
Heres my soul lemme trade it to you
Coz what I gotta do to go and buy me a mansion huh? Fuck is this
I wasn't sposed to be broke for this long god dammit, what a bitch
I said my manager told me nigga you gon' be rich, yeah right
I need a mansion on the water and a yacht for my momma
Throw a party while we're bumping bare white
Nigga I just want a mansion
The lyrics of Joyner Lucas' song "Mansion" describe the struggles of being broke and the desperation to escape poverty. The song discusses the frustration of working a dead-end job as a cashier at McDonald's or as a waiter at Denny's, all while dreaming of wealthy status symbols, such as a mansion and a yacht for his mother. Joyner Lucas talks about being paranoid and terrified of falling in love. Instead, he prioritizes his music career as his only chance to escape poverty.
Lucas also touches on his quest for fame, describing his desire to be at the top of the industry and the price he's willing to pay to get there. The illuminati references exemplify this aspiration to have wealth, and he adds to this by trading in his soul to achieve his goal.
The overall message of this song is about staying motivated and never giving up on the ultimate goal, even if the odds are stacked against you. It reflects the struggles of individuals who want to improve their situation but feel trapped by their current circumstances.
Line by Line Meaning
What I gotta do to go buy me a mansion, huh? Fuck is this
I'm frustrated with being broke for so long and want to know what it takes to be able to afford a mansion.
I wasn't sposed' to be broke for this long, dammit what a bitch
I didn't expect to struggle financially for so long and it's frustrating.
and my manager told me nigga you gon' be rich
My manager promised me that I will become rich.
That was last year, now I'm living in the ghetto with the crack heads
However, it's been a year and I'm still living in a poor neighborhood surrounded by drug addicts.
Working at McDonalds as a god damn cashier, aint this a bitch!
I'm frustrated with working a minimum wage job at McDonald's.
Liquor got me lightheaded, sip it till the light red and
I'm drinking alcohol to cope with my frustration and stress.
I aint go to college, I aint good at nothing else
I didn't go to college, and I don't have any other skills or talents to fall back on if my music career doesn't work out.
so if this don't work out then I wonder where my life headed, I aint got shit!
If my music career doesn't work out, I don't know where my life will go and I have nothing to fall back on.
Tired of being stranded, I got to go and get it
I'm tired of being stuck in poverty and I have to work hard to improve my life.
Living in hell thats a heaven full of bitches and
Living in poverty feels like being in a never-ending cycle of torture and there are temptations everywhere.
I'm scared to fall in love but I never will admit it
I'm afraid of falling in love but I won't confess it to anyone.
Shit I never could've dated, call me to the door, I gotta leave
I have never had a successful relationship, and I have to move on from my past mistakes.
Real cocky to them hoes that say hi to me,
I act arrogant towards women who try to talk to me.
Like I'm the best thing you heard bitch don't lie to me, don't you lie to me
I believe that I am the best rapper and I don't want women to lie to me about it.
Trying to play the lottery, maybe I could hit the powerball
I'm hoping to win the lottery, specifically the Powerball, so I can become wealthy.
Got fifty fly cars and then drive em all
If I become rich, I will buy many luxury cars and drive them all to feel successful.
Just so I can feel like a rich nigga, got it all (this nigga got it all)
I want to be wealthy so I can feel successful and accomplished.
Bitch you aint shit and these broads ain't loyal
Women are untrustworthy and they are not worth my time or energy.
Hoes wont relate but these songs aint for you
My music is not intended for women who are only interested in my money or fame.
and the game aint the same so along came Joyner
The rap industry has changed, and I am here to bring my own unique style and perspective.
Standing around like you aint get the fucking picture
People don't understand or appreciate my talent and hard work.
let me paint it for you, I aint playing with you
I want to explain it clearly to those who don't understand that I'm not joking, I'm serious about my career.
awaiting for illuminati just so I can get a cheque, heres my soul lemme trade it to you
I'm willing to sell my soul to become successful, even if it means joining the alleged Illuminati.
I need a mansion on the water and a yacht for my momma
I want to provide a luxurious lifestyle for myself and my family, including a waterfront mansion and a yacht.
Throw a party while we're bumping bare white
I want to celebrate my success by throwing a party and listening to Barry White's music.
Nigga I just want a mansion
All I truly desire is a mansion to live in and feel successful.
Contributed by Kayla K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
nothingmuch*
I can't be the only one back here on a Joyner binge, pls tell
me I ain't alone 😰
J L
Not alone
OPERATION: UP-RISING
Im making a playlist for legends
Ari
You ain't alone..... 2021 and I'm on the binge train
David Messer II
Every day at the gym.
Chauncey Watson
#NOPENEVER!!!!
XiAmFAUSTX
I love your stuff Joyner. I hope you did blow up cause Hip Hop needs you. Fuck these new age kids with their mumble shit.
Anthony Hicks
XiAmFAUSTX don't for Locksmith, Ces Cru, Rittz, Futuristic, there are so many more on this level that never get the respect and exposure they deserve, can't forget Promise NYC, Passionate MC, D. Porter, fuck it everybody with teambackpack!!! And more lol
Subscribe to this channel for literally no reason
YES
abhiboi
Ye dude ur right Joyner is the stuff