Joyner Lucas

Why he matters

Gary Lucas Jr. was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, and started rapping at ten. He went through a few names first: G-Storm, then Future Joyner, in a group called Film Skool Rejekts with his cousin Cyrus tha Great. After the rapper Future blew up, he dropped the “Future” and settled on Joyner Lucas. He’s filed under Boston here because it’s the nearest scene on the map, but Worcester is its own city, and his career was built online more than in any local club circuit.

Three self-released tapes built the base. “Ross Capicchioni,” from Along Came Joyner (2015), got him noticed online and into the BET Hip Hop Awards cypher, where he was moved from the web-only cypher to the broadcast on the strength of his verse. Atlantic signed him in 2016 and released 508-507-2209 the next year, titled after what’s presumably his phone number.

That November, “I’m Not Racist” went up on his YouTube channel. One verse speaks as a white man, the other as a Black man, over a sparse beat. It went viral, went gold, and was nominated for the Grammy for Best Music Video. Around the same time he became known for remixing other people’s hits, like Lil Pump’s “Gucci Gang,” and in 2018 he landed a verse on Eminem’s “Lucky You.”

He left Atlantic at the end of 2018 and put out his debut album, ADHD, in 2020 through his own Twenty Nine Music Group. It peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200. He also co-founded the music tech platform Tully in 2015 with his manager, Dhruv Joshi.

What a working rapper can take from it

Write from two chairs. “I’m Not Racist” works because each verse is a fully committed character, not a strawman. Giving the other side its best case makes your side land harder. Try writing a verse as the person you disagree with, then answer it. The verse-writing guide has the point-of-view drills.

Remix the conversation. Joyner’s remixes put his verses on songs people were already searching for. When nobody knows your name, attach it to something they’re already playing. Pick records that fit your strengths, and make your verse the reason to share it.

Take the reach, then take the label. He used a major deal for the visibility, then released the album that charted highest on his own label. If you go independent, own the release process from the start; the single-release guide walks through distribution and metadata.