Who Is Chicago Rapper Lucki & What You Need To Know

Lucki has come a long way since his debut in 2013 and has been working his way up to an “underground legend” status of sorts. His music is some of the most personable that the industry has gotten out of Chicago ever since Chief Keef’s rise on the scene. As Lucki continues to put out more and more music, there is no doubt that he will make his way to the top! Growing up, he always had a feeling that he would be something special. To this day, he still prides himself on being made just “for the music” so to say. 

Lucki was born Lucki Camel, Jr. on May 30th, 1996. Born to a 19-year-old mother in Chicago, IL, he was initially treated just like a little brother by his mom (apparently, she always wanted one). Their mother and son experience has been described as “growing up together.” Lucki was an only child, which often lead to him being selfish. As he grew older, however, he began to develop close friendships with the people around him, including Chance The Rapper (another Chicago legend). He was reckless as a youngin’, robbing people in his area and tagging public places (all eventually pushed to the side as he began to get deeper into music). Some of his musical influences were Chief Keef, Earl Sweatshirt as well as Future. Once he got serious about his career, he managed to build a friendship with the Earl and Keef. 

He first gained attention (from the underground) after releasing his debut Alternative Trap project in 2013  under the name Lucki Eck$. This project featured fast bars that came in one after another, backed by beats that sound like, you guessed it, a mix between alternative and trap. This showed just how much influence Chance The Rapper had on him! Although the choice of beats was different, it was obvious that Lucki’s flow was extremely similar to Chance’s vibe. This quickly changed with each project release sounding different from the last.

As Lucki began to progress in music, his sound started to evolve and elevate. When he first started, he rapped with the typical ‘old-style’ Chicago cadence, often featuring quicker boom-bap bars with a 2000s rap and trap element on the beat. As Lucki’s sound continued to evolve, he started to use harder trap beats, rapping with quicker bars that were often prevalent around 2015-2017. This style most likely took hold since he was around other rappers such as A$AP Rocky and Playboi Carti. Today, Lucki uses more melodic trap beats, with sharp hi-hats to further help complement his soft, slow voice. His current sound is straight-up different from everybody else’s, and he’s not willing to change his style for anyone. He’s come into his own and is hella comfortable with the music he is putting out there.

The evolution of Lucki’s sound can be heard throughout all of his projects. Following Alternative Trap, Lucki dropped Body High in 2014, X in 2015 along with Freewave (followed-up by Freewave 2 in 2016). During all of this, Lucki began to develop a crippling addiction to Xanax, sometimes taking eight bars a day. Incredibly, he was still able to release his Son of Sam EP around this time. His addiction caused him to take a break from music in late 2016, around the time he welcomed his first child into the world. The birth of his son along with the mental health issues he was dealing with battling drugs led Lucki to quit Xanax and return to music eight months later.

He made his return in 2017 with three projects: Days BE4 Storm, Freewave 2 and Watch My Back, the third inspired by fellow rapper Future. In an interview with Pitchfork, Lucki described his experience by saying “getting high really affected my music and relationships, and Future helped me understand what I was going through.” This led to Lucki putting a bigger emphasis on his personal perspective, something that he also learned from Earl Sweatshirt, who told him “your perception is what you rap, your album should be outtakes of your life.” Although Lucki has been personal in his raps, it was more prevalent in his music after the hiatus.

On his 2018 project Days B4 II, his sound became more melodic, while still maintaining the personality that made fans fall in love with Lucki in the first place. This continued into Freewave 3, which he released during the first half of 2019. His most recent project, Days B4 III, dropped in October 2019 and became yet another fan favorite. On Twitter, Lucki stated that Freewave 3 was better than Days B4 III, telling fans “ok FW3 is better than DB43 but that’s ’cause that hurt was so real Lmfao & for DB43 I was just happy & wanted to express that with still a little aftershock of hurt.” That hurt was from a breakup due to his bad drug habits, something that he has since tried to cut down on. 

Lucki’s path in music has been a long one! Along the way, he built a fanbase of die-hard supporters. His music has saved the lives of many and continues to do so. There are plenty of songs to choose from if you want to get into his music, especially “Switch Lanes,” “Beverly Hills to the 35th,” and “Nascar Dashcar.” His sound stands apart from everyone else, with his selection of melodic trap beats to complement his quiet and soothing voice. If he continues down this path, he will without a doubt break his way into the mainstream and rise to the top.