Sep 6, 2020 To start I’d like to shine a spotlight on one of the most creative minds out of Chicago in the last decade: Lucki (also know as Lucki X, or Lucki Ecks) The aspect I most appreciate about Lucki is his stylistic progression, which began in the early 2010s when drill and the counter culture jazzy backpack rap were the two main sounds coming from Chicago (I understand “counter culture” may be a misnomer for the cities inhabitants but in the larger picture, Chief keef had more impact back then than Chance.) Lucki sat somewhere nestled between these two, not purely drill/trap but not falling neatly into any backpacker sub genre either You may recognize a vastly more appropriately utilized “lil xan” flow, which is rly derivative from this era of Lucki’s work. To those who haven’t clicked the song yet— please do not turn away— xan’s music is a pale imitation in both rapping and production. To those who did click, and maybe aren’t entirely engaged, please continue along. The best example of this mashup between two different spheres of Chicago hip hop can be heard in 2014’s Stevie Wonder, when he pairs a Chance feature with a Young Chop beat. This combination of styles, the drugged out psychedelic rap of early Chance mixed with the raw, gutter energy emanating from trap-influenced Chicago production, would prove to be a very good hint of what to expect from his later work. The best way I could describe his current music like if Chief Keef adopted the thematic musings of Juice Wrld or Future, succumbing to a lonelier outlook on everything from fame and success to addiction and isolation. This current era has produced the best music by far in my opinion, both singles and projects. IF THERE IS ANY SONG YOU PEEP, IT SHOULD BE THESE TWO If you like what you hear from the earlier work, Id suggest his album Alternative Trap. For his later work, I’d suggest Days B4 III. Let me know what y’all think! Debating doing my next thread as an all encompassing thread on “emo rap” and how it covers guys from Lucki to Bones and Lil Peep to Boogie to f---in Oliver Tree.
Sep 6, 2020 brother, this is an exceptional writeup - appreciate you turning us onto him. looking fwd to more editions ayy
Sep 7, 2020 4 the betta, no wok, count on me 1 & 2, hearts, cocaine woman, nascar dashcar, glory boy could go on and on
Sep 7, 2020 d--- this brings back memories lol. I remember downloading Lucki Ecks “Alternative Trap” back in 2016 when I was searching for new rappers to listen to. 17 year old me got pretty bored by his delivery cause he was a restless trap head. After listening to couple songs rn I’m liking it a lot. This was definitely lil Xan’s foundation although lucki does it better and with more diversity too. Shoutout @skip for still having impeccable taste in music.
Sep 7, 2020 ty king. I forget which sphere of underground rap I was hearing him in around then but I’m pretty sure he was on some Robb banks or Denzel or sum like that? But yeah I also didn’t pick up on him until his newer style and ended up retroactively appreciating what he did.
Sep 7, 2020 Robb Banks - Phone Sex. Bruh you got me nostalgic Year Of The Savage was an underground blassic
Sep 7, 2020 Alternative Trap is still exceptional. Alternative Trouble might be my favorite song off the project and it sampled Youth By Daughter (most prominently at the end of the song) which also gives me goosebumps everytime.
Sep 7, 2020 Awesome thread @skip and couldnt have picked a better artist to highlight. Alternative Trap was a game changer and I still get regular spins out of Freewave 3. What did everyone think of Almost There?
Sep 7, 2020 Vintage Skippy writing, so happy to have you back fam! We used to bump the h--- out of Lucki in those Plug.DJ sessions few years back, this dude showed staggering potential and only got even better with every year. Big asterisk on better, since Lucki's personal life has only gotten more complicated and his music descended into even darker territory, it's in that same concerning depressing range as Earl Sweatshirt these days. Both are so good at using so little to describe their angst and feelings, poetic sparsity at its best.
Sep 7, 2020 Solid Tape. Sonically more experimental but bery good, lyrics and style stayed the same but his flow adapted well to the production. Mixing was kinda off on some songs and the project felt a little bit unfocused but it's just a mixtape after all.
Sep 7, 2020 bro I found out about the daughters song from this and ever since then it’s been one of my go to soul crushing songs lmao
Sep 7, 2020 Was also featured in the end of the Life Is Strange videogame. s--- had me cryin, such a good song
Sep 7, 2020 ty king, and before I speak on Almost There just wanna say all the freewaves are goat but I actually rly love the first freewave, that opener w the three six sample goes too hard. as for Almost There I tend to cycle back to my favorite songs so much that my opinion is no where near complete on it (on top of me realizing I’m way better at expressing my thoughts once I’ve given them plenty of time to stew) but it is, at the very least, an extremely well rounded mix of singles. I feel like that’s undercutting it tho, it’s a lot more cohesive than that. He and his crew do a great job of curating tracks (I say crew because days b4 3, my fav, wasn’t even curated by him) and his incorporation of little piano and wind instrument melodies into that weird hazed out production style which I don’t quite have the words to describe atm rly lend themselves to his newer style
Sep 7, 2020 love this descriptor Ya didn’t know if it was just my jeeps blown out speakers but some songs did seem super off.
Sep 7, 2020 Great writing as always bro! Brings me back to us passin the bong and you being like “ever heard of Lucki?”. One of my favorite artists you’ve put me on to. Runnin With and Go Away are still in constant rotation. Looking forward to more artist spotlights!