Joyner Lucas, the man behind the viral and equally controversial, "I'm Not Racist" music video has recently come out with another track that's been attracting major attention on the Internet. This time, he calls out the new wave of rappers with his remix of the newest mumble-rap anthem, "Gucci Gang," by Lil Pump. As bad as it may sound, I have to say I'm a bigger fan of the original version.
Make no mistake, Joyner is, without a doubt, superior to Lil Pump and his contemporaries in terms of lyrical content. Furthermore, his flow works quite well with the beat. However, this remix is a textbook example of an artist trying to stretch beyond his artistic bounds and achieving mediocre results.
For starters, the fact that Joyner Lucas is trying to convey a message causes the lyrics to clash with the instrumentals. In the actual song, the beat is meant to be accompanied by Pump's lyrics, not the other way around. On the other hand, Joyner works adeptly with minimalistic beats that take a back seat to his message. If you try to combine the best aspects of each party--the hard-hitting beat of "Gucci Gang" and the rapid-fire delivery of Joyner--we find that the two start trying to overtake one another, resulting in a noisy mess.
If Joyner's gonna sap the fun out of an ignorant banger, he better be able to compensate with some insightful interpretations of the climate of rap. Unfortunately, he doesn't really tell us anything new on this front either. He opens up with a couple of lines talking about how the new wave of rappers is repetitive and glorifies drug use. It had the potential to be interesting.
However, Lucas then moves on to spit lines about his rise to fame and eventually starts rapping about generic rap things. He's very explicit in calling out the "xan" rappers, going so far as to name-drop Lil Pump in the hook. But it feels more like a statement than a creative means of sending a message.
This, to me, is Joyner's biggest weakness on this track. His flow and delivery isn't fun enough to compare to Lil Pump's version and his lyricism isn't strong enough to offset his lack of charisma. Put another way: try comparing this remix to Kendrick Lamar's "HUMBLE." Both tracks are trying to convey the same message--that they don't need drugs to kill the rap game. But, while pretty much all of Kendrick's verses are filled with quotable lines, Joyner's lyrics are underwhelming and forgettable. That's not something you can cover up by rapping as fast as possible.
Joyner Lucas is an interesting character; it's clear he has a lot of passion in his lines, especially on his album "(508) 507-2209," but it's obvious he needs to steer clear of the party tracks.
