Albums

Joyner Lucas Is A Rhyme Animal On ‘The 508 Project’

blame it on Shake June 16, 2017

Ever since Joyner Lucas made his DopeHouse debut with a dizzying display of wordplay and rhyme skills on “Back Words” in 2014, we’ve been championing the Worcester, Massachusetts native every chance we get. And for good reason, too—the man really is a wizard with the words.

In 2015, Lucas released his Along Came Joyner mixtape, which received rave reviews for tracks like “Ross Capicchioni,” where he detailed a real-life, near-death, gang shooting of a Detroit teen in one verse, and then told the same story from the shooter’s perspective on the second verse. From there, he went feature killing spree with show-stealing guest appearances on tracks with Busta Rhymes (“Jumanji“), Jarren Benton (“Tec In The Church” with Locksmith), and Tech N9ne (“Sriracha” with Logic), and proceeded to put his whole entire leg in Desiigner’s “Panda” and Future’s “Mask Off” instrumentals.

All of this led to Joyner Lucas landing a deal with Atlanta. And earlier this year, he announced 508-507-2209, or The 508 Project for those (including me) who can’t remember phone numbers to save their lives.

The announcement came with a video for the intro track, “Ultrasound,” that found Joyner breaking rules with a random elderly white lady. From there, “Just Like You” arrived with Joyner rhyming from the perspective of young kids who aren’t with the f*ckery their parents are involved with and don’t want to grow up to be just like them. And “Winter Blues,” that detailed the personal and financial struggles he endured at a darker time in his life.

Now, with more eyes on him than ever before, Joyner Lucas strikes while the iron is hot and releases his debut album. Executive produced by Boi-1da, the project extends 16 tracks with features from Mystikal, Snoh Aalegra and Stephion Don.

Check it out below and cop on iTunes.

On top of the album, Joyner also released a video for “Keep It 100,” where he breaks down the life of a $100 bill.