I don’t care what you’re doing. I don’t care if you are at work, school, a hospital, your Grandmothers funeral, it really doesn’t matter. Drop everything and go listen to this new Lucki album. You might be overwhelmed at first, as was I when I saw this project was coming in at a whopping 24 tracks and hovering around an hour long, but it manages to feel like his most complete and best set of songs since Watch My Back.
True “Tuneheads” know this album has been teased in front of us since the mere mention of it on December 10th, 2018. It felt like we were seals at SeaWorld with a trainer hovering a dead fish over our nose and swiping it away at the last second. His fan base was tired of grabbing choppy Instagram live snippets every two weeks to fill the void of waiting for this.
In a weird way, I feel like we have grown up with Lucki. Seeing his transformation into not only just underground stardom, but someone who is very open about his struggles and someone who has become a face for mental health on an individual basis has been a huge inspiration for all of us.
Lucki‘s official debut album further proves his longevity and his dedication to his fans. We got almost every snippet we wanted and some incredible new cuts on this one. The incredibly consistent run we’ve experienced over the past five years should be remembered fondly when we get old and frail.
As for right now, bask in it’s greatness. We will never have a rapper with this level of production, openness in their lyrics, and willingness to adapt to what sound works best for a very long time. Absolutely stacked with production from BrentRambo, Plu2o Nash, Flansie, Cash Cobain, along with many others, the album begins wasting no time with the eerie sample of the phrase “We’d like to congratulate drugs for winning the war on drugs”, and Lucki plays into the intro to prepare you for this hour of feeling like you’re in an apocalyptic spacey hellscape.
He finally did it. After years of manifestation and hard work, he got a Future feature. This feels exactly like when your big brother finally gets that first adult job after college. You always knew they were going to do it, but you are still indescribably proud in the moment. I’m sure this is an “I made it” moment for him as well. The song “Kapitol Denim” itself is incredibly bouncy and Lucki emulated the Future voice and flow perfectly.
The song I was just as excited for was the Babyface Ray feature on “WHITE HOUSE” which is a reference to White House Studios, an incredible creative space in Detroit which has quite literally housed Veeze, Babyface Ray, Los, WB Nutty, WTM Scoob, Brooks, and many more influential Michigan rappers. I couldn’t help but wonder how Babyface Ray would sound on a (I hate saying this phrase) “Lucki type beat” but he absolutely murders it, leaving nothing to be questioned.
Let’s talk production. Other than the intro song “MADE MY DAY”, the moment of serenity I had with this album was the song “13.” The BrentRambo producer tag will always be top 5 for me, not because of the simple name drop, but what he does after. Lucki and BrentRambo connecting on a song together has always gone well. I don’t even know what duo I could realistically compare them to. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen? No. Beavis and Butthead? No. Adam and Eve? No. God and Jesus? Maybe, but still not even close.
Like I mentioned earlier, these beats and Lucki together make for the most insane experience musically I’ve had in a very long time. I can’t even fathom the creative process it took over the past four years to drop this album. What we got in between was still incredible, don’t get me wrong, but there is just something different about this.
It’s still fresh in my brain and I’m really trying to figure it out. Maybe it was the hype behind it? Maybe Lucki has really just surpassed his peers over the past couple of years and this is really just his moment. I really don’t think this is up for debate at this point. Maybe it’s recency bias. I don’t care at all. This is Lucki’s best project ever. FLM is finally here. Enjoy.
8.2/10
