Lucki Camel Jr. (born May 30, 1996), known mononymously as LUCKI, is an American rapper and record producer from Chicago, Illinois. Regarded as an influential figure in underground hip-hop, he initially came to public attention in 2013 after releasing his debut mixtape, Alternative Trap. He followed with a number of projects, including his debut studio album Freewave 3 (2019); he later followed with the mixtapes Days B4 III (2019) and Almost There (2020) after signing to record label Empire.[1]
Lucki went on to achieve mainstream prominence with the singles "New Drank" and "Super Urus"; The latter served as the lead single to Lucki's second studio album Flawless Like Me (2022), which debuted at number 12 on the Billboard 200.[2] Lucki's third studio album, S*x M*ney Dr*gs (2023), went on to debut at number 15.[3]
Early life
Lucki Camel Jr. was born on May 30, 1996, in the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. He listened to Erykah Badu, Prince, and The Notorious B.I.G. growing up[4] and cites Chief Keef, Future, Kanye West and Babyface Ray as some of his current inspirations.[5] Lucki started rapping in his first year of high school after praise from his close friends. Soon after, he dropped out of Proviso East High School at the age of 16 to pursue music full-time because the pressure of the high-school fame went against his will to study.
Career
2012–2013: "Untouchable Lucki"
Initially known as "Lucki Eck$",[6] his debut single and music video "Untouchable Lucki" was produced and premiered by music blog Elevator.[7] Lucki's music was first brought to Elevator co-founder Bryan Zawlocki's attention by Lucki's friends Antoinne Bryant and Kevin Wright Jr, who at the time were interns for Elevator. Elevator subsequently produced Lucki's first two music videos "Untouchable" and "Everything Outside", both directed by Bryan Zawlocki, alongside Antoinne Bryant and Kevin Wright Jr.
2013–2014: Alternative Trap
With his friend and producer Plu2o Nash and other producers, Lucki released his first project, titled Alternative Trap at the age of 17. Lucki garnered attention from multiple music blogs including Fake Shore Drive, Elevator, Complex and Noisey, because of his distinct flow and cadence, most prominent on his lead single "Count on Me", which garnered over 700,000 views on YouTube.[8]
After receiving attention from music blogs for his self-proclaimed "alternative trap" music, Lucki started receiving attention from other music artists as well. In July 2014, FKA Twigs collaborated with Lucki on a song titled "Ouch Ouch"; the collaboration was a celebration of Twigs' recent visit to Chicago, as she tends to collaborate with local artists when she travels.[9]
August 2014 saw the release of his second project, Body High. Later on that month, Red Bull Sound Select released a track titled "Weightin' On", featuring Danny Brown, whom he met at SXSW when they both played Red Bull's Sound Select showcase.[10]
In December 2014, Lucki collaborated with fellow Chicago musician Chance the Rapper and released a song titled "Stevie Wonder".
2015–2017: X, Freewave EP, Freewave 2, Watch My Back
After releasing his first single to his third project titled X, Lucki continued to drop more songs from the mixtape in 2015; the other singles were "Lowlife" and "What I Wanna". Lucki released X on May 30, 2015, his 19th birthday.
A few months later, Lucki started releasing freestyles to his extended playFreewave EP. At first, they were single songs, but soon announced they were to be a part of the upcoming EP; he first released "Freewave Freestyle" and "Back Home", and soon followed with "Freewave 3, 4, 5, and 7". The EP consisted of ten songs, the tenth song titled "Rumors" was added a couple of weeks later.
In January 2016, Lucki announced his name change from Lucki Eck$ to Lucki when he released the first single to his then upcoming project, @ MIDNIGHT, titled "Deja Vu", featuring fellow Chicago rapper Joey Purp. Lucki claimed that the Eck$ moniker was "childish" and that he has "grown" from the name. On August 15, 2016, he released the Freewave 2 mixtape. This was followed by Watch My Back on December 1, 2017, which was supported by the popular single "Sunset".
2019–2021: Freewave 3, Days B4 III and Wake Up Lucki
Lucki released his debut studio album Freewave 3 in February 2019 and notably included the song "More Than Ever".[11] This was followed by Days B4 III on October 25 which had the popular song "4 The Betta".[12] It was his first charting project, debuting at number 188 on the Billboard 200. His fifth EP Almost There was released on May 29, 2020, acting as a placeholder for fans until his next project.[13][14] On February 12, 2021, he released the single "Greed" with Lil Yachty. On November 18, 2021, he released the song "Neptune V.S Industry" as the lead single to the collaborative album with producer F1lthy, Wake Up Lucki, which was released on December 3, 2021.[15][16]
2022–present: Flawless Like Me and S*x M*ney Dr*gs
Throughout 2022, Lucki began releasing a number of singles, including "Super Urus", released February 18, 2022, "Y Not?", released June 14, 2022, and "Coincidence", released August 19, 2022, which was accompanied by a music video directed by Cole Bennett.[17] After many delays, Lucki released his second studio album, Flawless Like Me on September 23, 2022, and included guest appearances from Future and Babyface Ray. It became his highest charting project, debuting at number 12 on the Billboard200.[18]
On January 20, 2023, he had a guest appearance on Trippie Redd's Mansion Musik album on the track "Die Die".[19] On April 27, 2023, Lucki released the track "Leave Her".[20] He then released the single "No Bap" on his 27th birthday.[21] Lucki announced his third studio album, S*x M*ney Dr*gs on July 5, which ended up being released on July 7, 2023.[22] The album marked the highest number of Spotify streams he had received in a day.[23] On March 23rd, 2024, Lucki released a single titled "All Love".[24]
Discography
Studio albums
List of studio albums, with selected chart positions
