Joyner Lucas: On The Come Up

Joyner Lucas details his beef with Logic, "Mask Off" remix and more in "On The Come Up."

BYAron A.

Joyner Lucas has been on a streak for the past few years. Considering the sound that dominates hip hop, Lucas is a unique voice in the game and hasn't compromised that to succeed. Mixing his wit, lyricism, story telling and clean flow, Lucas has been an emcee to keep an eye on since he began to bubble. Last year, he penned a deal with Atlantic Records and has since released his major label debut, 508-507-2209Needless to say the rapper has built his own career from the ground up and is slowly starting to reap the benefits of his labor. Joyner recently caught up with us for our latest episode of "On The Come Up" to chat his album, working with Boi-1da, his issues with Logic and much more.

Lucas has made it known that he's not a fan of Logic, previously calling him "corny." He gave us a bit of insight as to why he's not a fan of him.

"I see a lot of references to me and Logic. You can't compare me and Logic." Lucas said, "There was a lot of behind the scenes stuff that happened with Logic that I really wasn't a fan of."

Joyner also gave us the back-story to the inspiration behind "Mask On." His "Mask Off" remix caught major waves after it dropped. The freestyle came as a surprise, considering that his style contrasts Future's. Nonetheless, he caught a body with it and explained to us the inspiration behind it.

"I always wanted to rap on that beat and I wanted an excuse to do it," Lucas says. His manager was the one that initially pushed him to do the remix. He asked his manager, Dhruv, what to call the song before he decided to flip the title to "Mask On." "So what if I call it 'Mask On' and just start going ham. And, I put the mask on."

Along with discussing the remix, he also gave us insight on Boi-1da's involvement on the project. 

"I got Boi-1da involved halfway through the project, after I was already about to put it out." Lucas says, "I reset, revamped. You know, started working on his production as well as production I already had. From that point on, it was an easy process."

Aside from Boi-1da's involvement on the project, he also tells us what inspired the phone theme to his project, saying that it first clicked with him once he did the first voicemail on the project. 

"Why don't I just give people my number and let them call me," Lucas said, "I can feel closer to the people, to the fans and people that rock with me and have a close, personal relationship with them."

Joyner Lucas gives us deep insight to his career and the progress he's made over the years. Check out our latest episode of "On The Come Up" with Joyner Lucas above.


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About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.