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Published on July 22nd, 2015 | by Dr. Jerry Doby

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Catching up with Joyner Lucas

When The Hype Magazine introduced Joyner Lucas to our readers last year, the emerging artist was just beginning to make his mark…now he’s moving at the speed of sound so to speak. Joyner dropped a new video as well today for his single “Long Way” which is a full service joint with all the bells and whistles…

As you see yourself, who is Joyner Lucas?

Joyner Lucas is creative, innovative and always searching for new ways to do something different. I never try to be anything I’m not, under any circumstances. I have to be true to myself all the time. It’s not hard for people to gravitate towards my music because it’s not familiar. I speak for every person out there who has it hard or had it hard. I try to create an emotional connection with my music to pull people in and give it replay value. Music is art to me. It’s not about bragging and telling everybody how cool I am because I have this that and the third. I don’t make music to fit in or be cool. That’s not what Joyner Lucas is about at all. A lot of it is wisdom and lessons I’ve learned translated into a song.

What brought you to the entertainment industry and music specifically? 

I grew up in a music household. My father was a producer/ artist & engineer who never made it for many reasons. He taught me how to structure bars at 7 years old and by 10 I had my first album that never came out. It was practice. I’ve been practicing up until I was 21 when I was ready to show the world who I am. Part of the reason I do this is to fill that void of everything he never accomplished. I do it for both of us. What really drives me is my family. Changing the generation and giving my family something to be proud of. That mixed with the passion of sending a message in every record I create.

What and/or who influenced the sound you bring today?

There are too many artists to count. I’m influenced by the most random artists you can think of. From Michael Jackson to R. Kelly, from Pink to Maroon 5, from Eminem to Nelly, from Jay Z to Lauryn Hill, from Taylor Swift to Kanye West. (Laugh out loud) I listen to everything and take different elements and study it.

What’s happened in your career that makes you feel this is the industry for you?

The emotional connection people feel towards certain songs. My song & video “Ross Capicchioni” definitely gave me clarity on the fact I’m heading in the right direction. The fan messages and love I received from that one record alone ranges in the thousands. It touched a lot of people. People telling me I saved their life and how I’m their idol and all that. A lot of this talk is coming from females which is crazy to me because that wasn’t even a female record. Makes me feel like this industry is definitely for me.

What was the biggest obstacle in getting to your current career phase?

Something that is still a obstacle is trying to figure out the best way to come up as an independent artist. Without any major label push it’s 100 times harder because you have to create the perception and do everything on your own. You have absolutely no help. You’re spending your own money and making huge mistakes dealing with people who said they could do all these things for you. Lots of money and time wasted. We learn from it and keep moving because failure isn’t a option.

Your body of work has been controversial but based on real world experience, what do you want people to get from your music?

I love controversial material because it gives people something to talk about. Eminem was the greatest at this. I feel like some consumers try to pick apart art or even Hip-Hop too much. Almost all of my material is based off real world experiences. Some people love it and some people will try and criticize it but that’s just the game. I’m ok with that. As long as it translated and made a connection to most people then I did my job.

Tell us about your “Along Came Joyner” mixtape and what it means to you?

“Along Came Joyner” was definitely a solid body of work with a lot of cuts. The way it was constructed was the first time I ever pieced together a project in that way. It was a concept album. I wanted to make it interesting so I added a lot of elements I feel like are missing from today’s albums. Comedy, storytelling, real life experience, hard records and chick records all in one. I’ve always been really into UFO’s and extra terrestrial beings and I used that as the back story behind this project. Sometimes I feel like my music is out of this world and often feel like I’m not from this planet. I gravitate towards the phenomenon behind UFO’s and extra dimensional beings. I felt it was a good moment to introduce that to the world through music. Then “ALONG CAME JOYNER”– this new artist nobody has ever heard before.There’s millions of rappers now. Everyone raps now. Everyone. Even Jared from the Subway commercials (laugh out loud). I’m sure he has a Hip-Hop song coming out soon. The Hip-Hop world is cluttered. I often wonder what people are thinking when they hear about me. ‘Oh another rapper?’ This album is my sarcastic way of saying ‘here comes another rapper’… ‘along came joyner.’

Discuss for us your mindset on the single “Long Way.”

It was really the frustration of me going through life on the bottom. I had a lot of low points in my life where I struggled. Financial stress is no joke. It hinders people from really LIVING. It makes the difference between living and just existing. I wasn’t living. I had thoughts of doing anything to come up. Even if that meant taking from someone else. It’s crossed my mind a lot. That record was made out of frustration. I lived in Tampa, Florida which has the highest unemployment rate in the whole U.S. Finding a job was like hitting the lottery. I had flashbacks of the days I slept under a bridge because I couldn’t find a job. That’s where that record came from. I wanted the world to hear my frustration coming from a kid who graduated high school with no criminal record. I STILL couldn’t get hired even under those circumstances. So when my back was against the wall then the mindset of “by any means necessary” comes into play. That was my mindset.

If you had to choose an “introduction” song from your body of work to a first time listener, what would it be and why

My Introduction song would probably be “Ross Capicchioni” just because of how well it was executed. From the storyline to the sound effects in the record, to the video and all. That record and video is flawless. I choose that song hands down.

Last but not least, HYPE wants to know…What’s your CRAZIEST “Where they do that at?!” moment.

(Laugh out loud) I had a class called “DARE” in elementary school where a police officer teaches the class about drugs and such. They brought out all these drugs and told us about them. The topic of weed came up and they talked about it for a half hour and basically said that you die from it. My dad smoked weed at the time. He smoked a lot. I had no idea it could “kill people.” (Laugh out loud) They made it sound like heroine or something. At the time my dad worked for the public schools as a teacher’s aid. I pretty much got scared for his life when the officer said that and snitched on my father and told them he smoked weed. (Laughing my ass off!) They called him at the school and when I got home my father beat my ass and called me a snitch for three years after that. Hahaha I’ll never forget that sh*t.

Get Social:

Twitter: @RealJoynerLucas

Official Web site: http://www.joynerlucas.com/

 


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About the Author

Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.


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