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Joyner Lucas

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Gary Maurice "Joyner" Lucas Jr. (born August 17, 1988) is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Lucas first 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. In November 2017, Lucas released his single "I'm Not Racist", which quickly went viral, gaining him further mainstream attention. The video was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 61st Grammy Awards. Lucas is signed to Griselda Records, Which is a label he's been signed to since 2019. 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 in 2020.

Outside of music, Lucas co-founded the music technology platform, Tully in 2015, with manager Dhruv Joshi.

Early life
Gary Maurice Lucas Jr. was born on August 17, 1988, in Worcester, Massachusetts. He began rapping at the age of 10 and attended South High Community School in Worcester.

Career
2007–2017: Early beginnings, record deal, and 508-507-2209
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. 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.

2018–2020: ADHD, and Evolution
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, "Fall Slowly" featuring Ashanti and "Snitch".

2021–present: Upcoming second studio album
On April 30, 2021, Lucas released the single "Ramen & OJ" with Lil Baby as the lead single from his upcoming second studio album. It was accompanied by a music video. Lucas contributed a song titled "Shoot My Shot" to the Space Jam: A New Legacy soundtrack.

Artistry
Lucas has cited several artists as influences in his music, but he cites Eminem as his biggest musical influence. Eminem himself actually considers Lucas to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. 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.

Personal life
Joyner Lucas shares a son named Joyner Messiah Lucas (born February 20, 2016) with Carmen Julissa Ayala, with whom he had an off and on romantic relationship. 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, bullying other classmates, failing classes, and get sent to an alternative school after expulsion.