Lucki – Watch My Back

The underground king of Chicago is back and better than ever. It’s hard to find an artist who can so easily take you to a certain place with their music and Lucki’s ability to do so is what sets him apart from the competition. The dark, lo-fi production lead by the likes of Plu2o Nash and F1LTHY sets the mood for the honest and point-blank lyrics that brought Lucki to the forefront of the underground.

The songs that came out in the leadup to Watch My Back lend the project its backbone, from the grimey xan-inspired “Komfortable” produced by 6 below, to Lucki’s personal favorite “No Wok”, a window into his lean habit with production from Plu2o Nash and Mayhem Meech. The other singles, “Leave Wit You”, “FUCK EVERYBODY”, “OPTIONS”, and “NEW TO ME”, are some of the stronger songs on the project, although there are plenty of non-singles that pack similar punches.

The whole project is full of drug confessions and opiate ballads, but perhaps the most candid of the bunch is the Ravi produced “BPrint”. Lucki leaves no room for imagination when it comes to his drug use, as the song starts and ends with the line, “I don’t politic with children, I chewed a million milligrams.” The honesty goes even further when he questions the validity of a life without drugs, as well as the need for him to kick his drug habit, “Since they all scared of drugs and kids, Nigga where’s the fun in this, I don’t got no life to risk,” and “Face this shit, I can’t, kickin’ habit, I won’t, It’s bad for me, I do.” Aside from the arresting gravity of the lyrics, the choppy, stop-start flow Lucki has mastered shines on this track, making it one of the best on the project.

Watch My Back might be Lucki’s most complete project yet, a moody and cohesive project, yet with some diversity in flow and production on tracks like “Waiting On” and “BPrint”. There’s hardly a skippable song on the entire project despite it being 18 tracks long. The short length of the songs, with only one being over 3 minutes and many under 2 minutes, allow you to fully take in and appreciate each song.  What impresses most is Lucki’s ability to envelope you with a claustrophobic feeling that’s fostered by the briefness and dark-nature of both the lyrics and production.

Editor’s Picks: “No Wok”, “Miss Me”, “Komfortable”