Drugs, Rock N Roll, and Lucki: Why LUCKI is Rap’s Real Rock Star (Dead or Alive)
Written by Greg Harris
As far as projects are concerned for 2017 so far, it’s easy to say that LUCKI has crafted two of the most honest, gravitating, and compelling pieces of music that have been released. Seeing a preview of the in-depth amount of content he has on his project, “Days Be4 Storm” with records such as “Sunset” and “Don’t You Love Me”, where goes off talking about not reaching his level of being high, Xans locking up his chest, comparing his sweetooth for Hi-Tek to Buckwheat’s love for candy, and more. The shortage of quotables were zero to none and it continued with a deeper story on “Watch My Back”.
From the art direction coming from Papikodone to painting the modern imagery of being rap’s Kurt Cobain, LUCKI provides an energy where he truly paints himself as rap’s real last rockstar. The integrity that’s displayed on the 18-track free album shows his battles of his relationships, his reliance on drugs, being beyond his peers when it comes to generating an organic style of music, and most importantly, never forgetting his past to influence his future. The pattern of expressing his behavior and feelings on drugs is more than what you hear at the surface but it’s clever honest statements that are hard to find in today’s time from other budding artists. Yes, it is a thing where we hear young artists overindulge in the matters of codeine, Xanax, liquor, and more but it’s not necessarily a storyline that embodies the trip that these artists are taking. It’s more so of a fad to say on the record, whereas LUCKI comes from a place that’s similar to purgatory and he judges the actions/motions where the drugs are taking him and how it affects the journey of his mental mindset on a deeper level. He voices this on records such as “Komfortable” where he shares that
“Molly whispering to me saying I can’t fuck with you”,
it’s another sentiment on “Poker Face” where he says
“Trust In Wockhardt, Baby Rock Hardt, I feel like a Wock Star / I don’t fear a thing but a cop car, Underground king fuck your top chart / Aye Woah, tell me you don’t fail me, Lie to Me again hope the medics kill me / You don’t wanna friend you just want the real me, She my favorite sin I hope she don’t kill me.”
It continues on records such as “Bprint" as well
"I don't politic with children
I chewed a million milligrams
Why he popped the seal then
Can't buy it, it might not be him
Who gon' get my deal then
Since they all scared of drugs and kids
Nigga where's the fun in this, I don't got no life to risk
Dead boy status I'm just here so they can tape this shit
Tape her if you dog her these hoes lying 'bout some sacred shit
(Traded) Mother and her daughter and my sister for a basic bitch
Gave a hoe my all and still complainin' 'bout some basic shit”
The fact one can find lyrics that can carry so much weight in the matter of three songs running back to back to back goes to show the listener what kind of artists/person that LUCKI is. The Chicago native bounces off of topic that revolves around death, drugs, and rock n roll (figuratively), a state of mind that a lot of rappers in the past year or two want to embody. The Hendrix, The Kobain, The Sid Vicious contemporaries that rap has birth recently gave light to what sense of rebellion that both genres share in common and as they are very natural state of minds, one can tell who’s genuine and who’s "faking the funk" so to speak. To be frank, it’s a lot of rapper’s whole don’t live out the “rockstar” image they portray so much on social media and you see the forcefulness in their direction, but LUCKI’s takes a more laxed approach with his material and this what makes his lyrics believable. It’s impressive how he is sharing these stories in a shorter formatted piece (the duration of these songs are typically ranging from 2-3 minutes, but exact such as 2:35 or 2:26) allows himself to speak his truth in a rawer tone whereas other artists may you use a full hook to express why "All their friends are dead” to score an excellent hook. This difference shows why he’s in a class of his own, and it makes it a hard case for him to draw any comparisons to others artists in his genre.
The only thing that one can get close to is the influences he derives his music from, and these were the artists such as Sid Vicious and Kurt Cobain who lived by their own rules, impacted the world with their vices, rage, and soul, and it seems as if LUCKI is on the same path with his recent body of work. Any artist who can express their absolute vulnerability with such an elaborate description of life that doesn’t occur in a sober state of mind is quite impressive, and this serves as the clear explanation of why LUCKI is rap’s last rockstar, whether he lives to see his potential or not.
Listen to his project here, and follow him here.