Bobby Shmurda hit The Party Starters Podcast and had high praise for Joyner Lucas, dubbing him the “Master P of Our Generation.”
Bobby contextualizes the remark during the conversation by shedding background on Joyner’s career as an independent musician and estimating that Joyner makes about $250,000 per month in revenue by owning all of his music.
Bobby wonders why Joyner, who has recorded platinum and gold-certified hits including “ISIS,” “I’m Not Racist,” “Stranger Things,” “ADHD,” and “Your Heart,” among others, doesn’t get more attention. According to Bobby, if the industry celebrated his accomplishment, record companies would lose all of their negotiating power.
“I’m going to talk about that nigga in every interview,” Shmurda said. “He’s like a Master P in our generation. He’s up off only giving up 20% of his music off distribution. They don’t want to talk about Joyner Lucas becuase they don’t want a bunch of Joyner Lucas.”
Bobby and Joyner collaborated on the “Shmoney Challenge” earlier this summer, offering $25,000 to an independent artist who joined Joyner’s Tully platform, downloaded the Shmoney track, and uploaded the harshest rhyme over the instrumental.
In the midst of his anti-Pete Davidson campaign last month, Kanye West took great pains to bat back criticisms that minimized his issues to him being “crazy.” In fact, he’s taken issue with that particular label ever since revealing his bipolar disorder in 2018. Now, he’s got a new defender in the form of Joyner Lucas. Hate him or love him, Lucas goes out of his way to try to find creative angles for many of his releases, from the “both sides” argument of “I’m Not Racist” to the chameleon-like special effects on “Will.”
Joyner keeps that tradition going with his new single, “Ye’s Not Crazy,” which he shared with a video in which he again takes on the likeness of one of his heroes to reproduce some of Kanye’s more iconic moments of the past couple of years, including his Donda listening events. A Kanye lookalike — insomuch as you can look like someone who’s been wearing masks for the past year and a half — dances in the background as Joyner compares himself to Kanye and explains his interpretation of Kanye’s outspoken philosophy.
Of course, Joyner’s been known to leap to the defense of some pretty terrible people in the past, and defending Kanye only excuses his offputting and childish behavior, so the song itself has received a mixed reception. At least it gets folks’ minds off of Joyner’s own recent meltdown, during which he berated Lollapalooza Festival for booking the objectively more popular Machine Gun Kelly as a headliner, and which he later blamed on Russian hackers.
Watch Joyner Lucas’s “Ye’s Not Crazy” video above.
Earlier this week, Joyner Lucas fired off a lengthy Twitter rant that was directed at the lineup for Lollapalooza’s upcoming festival in Chicago. Lucas’ gripe with the festival seemed to be their decision to place artists, which Lucas called a “bunch of random n****z that nobody heard of,” above him on the festival’s flyer. “I’m the biggest independent artist period with the exception of my n**** tech [N9ne],” he said. “How is it that these festivals keep tryna bunch my name up with a bunch of n****z who ain’t on my level?” He used Machine Gun Kelly as an example, calling the punk rocker a “goofy ass n****.”
Soon enough, Lucas deleted all the tweets and gave a questionable reason for the rant. “Them Damn Russian hackers dun hacked my phone yesterday smh,” Joyner wrote in a tweet the following day. It’s unknown if he was joking or being serious, but today, Joyner took a moment to actually apologize for his rant and for dissing Machine Gun Kelly as well.
a lot of people saying things about me “crying and complaining” when shit don’t go my way. Lot of comments telling me to “work harder and stop being emotional”… you know what? You right… I have a history of being upset at certain things and taking it to social media. I own that
Part of being a man is admitting when you fucked up. I be getting frustrated when I feel like I’m the underdog all the time. Maybe I ain’t put in enuff work. maybe I think I’m a bigger artist than what I actually am. Maybe you right. I own that. Real nigga shit
“A lot of people saying things about me ‘crying and complaining’ when shit don’t go my way,” he wrote. “Lot of comments telling me to ‘work harder and stop being emotional’… you know what? You right… I have a history of being upset at certain things and taking it to social media. I own that… Part of being a man is admitting when you f*cked up. I be getting frustrated when I feel like I’m the underdog all the time.” He added, “Maybe I ain’t put in enuff work. maybe I think I’m a bigger artist than what I actually am. Maybe you right. I own that. Real n**** sh*t.”
As far as the @machinegunkelly shit Goes,, homie ain’t have nothing to do with my rant. Jus got caught in the cross fire of one of my bitter moments. Def sum sucka shit to come at him for nothin. I own that & I apologize. Real nigga shit. I ain’t perfect. Im growing everyday
I cant deny that sometimes i come off like a jealous asshole But that aint the case. Im a fan of these niggaz. I think I been the underdog for so long, shit made me feel like I deserve certain shit. But who tf am I to determine what i deserve? Sometimes I gotta check myself
He continued, “As far as the @machinegunkelly shit Goes, homie ain’t have nothing to do with my rant. Jus got caught in the cross fire of one of my bitter moments. Def sum sucka sh*t to come at him for nothin. I own that & I apologize. Real n**** sh*t. I ain’t perfect. Im growing everyday.” He added, “I cant deny that sometimes i come off like a jealous asshole But that aint the case. Im a fan of these n****z. I think I been the underdog for so long, sh*t made me feel like I deserve certain sh*t. But who tf am I to determine what i deserve? Sometimes I gotta check myself.”
Lot of artists or people in general are afraid of checking themselves. I check myself all the time. I cant throw a Tantrum and shoot at niggaz for nothin. @machinegunkelly did absolutely nothin to me to deserve that lame tweet. If u readin this, I apologize dog. real nigga shit
Lucas concluded his message with one final note, “Lot of artists or people in general are afraid of checking themselves. I check myself all the time. I cant throw a Tantrum and shoot at n****z for nothin. @machinegunkelly did absolutely nothin to me to deserve that lame tweet. If u readin this, I apologize dog. real n**** sh*t.”
Rapper Joyner Lucas came with the smoke for Lollapalooza and their headliner Machine Gun Kelly. Then he sucked that smoke right back down his throat. Lollapalooza previewed their lineup for this year’s concert and Joyner Lucas was not too pleased to find his name was at the microscopic level, while Machine Gun Kelly’s name was […]
After going on an anti-MGK rant against Lollapalooza for putting his name in the small print, Massachusetts rapper Joyner Lucas is now blaming the tweetstorm on outside influences, claiming that his account was taken over by Russian hackers after deleting the tweets in question. Lucas’ tweets mystified, befuddled, or outright amused fans yesterday when he unexpectedly burst out with slams against the Chicago-based festival.
“These festivals is gon stop playing with me like I ain’t that n****,” he wrote. Putting my name next to the names of a bunch of random n****z that nobody heard of and offering me a weak ass . Then I say no to the offer and these hoe ass n****z put me on the flier anyways. @lollapalooza.” Later in the rant in question, he took a jab at one of Lollapalooza’s headliners, Cleveland rapper-turned-punk-rocker Machine Gun Kelly, posting a photo of Kelly and writing, “Then you got this goofy ass nigga headlining? Smh how sway?”
Today, though, all of those tweets disappeared, replaced by a new one. “Them Damn Russian hackers dun hacked my phone yesterday smh,” Joyner claimed.
Them Damn Russian hackers dun hacked my phone yesterday smh
Look, we’re not totally sure why Russian hackers would want to hack Joyner Lucas’ phone, of all people, just to diss Lollapalooza and MGK. It doesn’t look like fans are buying it either, finding it more likely that Lucas’ tweets got a different reception than perhaps he was expecting — or that the Lollapalooza bag is indeed undeniable. As an independent rapper, Joyner has fewer bridges to burn so maybe this is a way for him to save face — either that or those Russian hackers are getting really good at doing pissed-off rapper impressions.
Lollapalooza might find itself looking for a new artist after Joyner Lucas took to Twitter, accusing the festival of printing his name too small on fliers before throwing shade at Machine Gun Kelly.
In a series of tweets, the ADHD rapper aired his grievances with the festival as well as other artists, namely MGK. His first tweet expressed his displeasure with the other artists whose names were surrounding his on the flier.
“These festivals is gon stop playing with me like I ain’t that n****. Putting my name next to the names of a bunch of random n**** that nobody heard of and offering me a weak a** [money bag emoji]. Then I say no to the offer and these h** a** n**** put me on the flier anyways.”
He then took the opportunity to address the disconnect between his perceived current state of success and his position on the flier.
“N***** is on gon start putting respek on my name. For years I been getting these weak a** offers like I’m some lil n****. Then n***** who ain’t even on my level or doing my numbers is getting put in BIG LETTERS while they write my s*** hella small on the flier.! How sway?!!”
“I’m the biggest independent artist period with the exception of my n*** tech. And I got the numbers & the fans & the [money bag emoji] to back that statement up. How is it that these festivals keep tryna bunch my name up with a bunch of n****who ain’t on my level?. n**** I’m JOYNER LUCAS. [emoji face with raised eyebrows]”
He then definitively let his followers know that he will not be playing at this year’s Lollapalooza.
“All I know is @lollapalooza better take my f***** name off that flier. I ain’t agree to that lineup and I don’t want that weak a** [money bag emoji] n***** tried to give me. Next thing I kno the flier goes out and they gon put my name in some tiny a** letter like i ain’t me. F*** outta here!”
To further illustrate his point, he attempted to provide a visual description of how small his name was, cracking a joke about needing a microscope and sharing a photo of newsprint with tiny writing and a red circle surrounding words too small to read.
“Bro hit me up today asking me what time is my set at @lollapalooza. I said huh? went and looked at the flier and had to find a microscope to find my name. [emoji face with raised eyebrows]. Disrespectful. They said i had to get my numbers up to be respected. So I went top 10 billboard independently. Still this…. @lollapalooza be like “and if you look real close WE ALSO GOT JOYNER LUCAS on the lineup”…
He also took aim at MGK, who is one of the festival’s headliners, tweeting the following with a picture of MGK showing off a black tongue:
“Then you got this goofy ass n**** headlining? Smh how sway?”
He concluded by referencing Eminem‘s beef with MGK from 2018 in which the two released opposing diss tracks aimed at each other.
“someone said “don’t bring out the rap devil”…[crying emoji] maaaaannnn listen. Lol What my brother Marshall did to this n**** @machinegunkelly is light compared to what’s waiting if he wanna walk down that street wit me. Ain’t nobody worried bout a n**** who paints his nails. [nail polish emoji]. foh”
For reference, the flier is shown here with Lucas’s name circled in red.
Depending on where you stand, Joyner Lucas is either one of the most exciting, lyrically-focused independent rap acts of the past few years or he’s one of hip-hop’s biggest haters. The polarized perception he has among fans will likely remain so with his latest tirade against the Lollapalooza Festival, which he took to task for featuring Cleveland rapper-turned-emo-rocker Machine Gun Kelly in the headlining slot for its upcoming Chicago event.
“These festivals is gon stop playing with me like I ain’t that nigga,” he vented on Twitter. “Putting my name next to the names of a bunch of random n****z that nobody heard of and offering me a weak ass . Then I say no to the offer and these hoe ass n****z put me on the flier anyways. @lollapalooza”
These festivals is gon stop playing with me like I ain’t that nigga. Putting my name next to the names of a bunch of random niggaz that nobody heard of and offering me a weak ass . Then I say no to the offer and these hoe ass niggaz put me on the flier anyways. @lollapalooza
As he continued, he boasted his accomplishments, reminding followers that “I’m the biggest independent artist period with the exception of my nigga tech [N9ne]… How is it that these festivals keep tryna bunch my name up with a bunch of n****z who ain’t on my level?” He then demanded to have his name removed from the flyer, writing, “All I know is @lollapalooza better take my fukin name off that flier. I ain’t agree to that lineup and I don’t want that weak ass niggaz tried to give me.”
I’m the biggest independent artist period with the exception of my nigga tech. And I got the numbers & the fans & the to back that statement up. How is it that these festivals keep tryna bunch my name up with a bunch of niggaz who ain’t on my level?. nigga I’m JOYNER LUCAS
All I know is @lollapalooza better take my fukin name off that flier. I ain’t agree to that lineup and I don’t want that weak ass niggaz tried to give me. Next thing I kno the flier goes out and they gon put my name in some tiny ass letter like i ain’t me. Fuck outta here!
Then, of course, he just had to go there, posting a photo of Machine Gun Kelly with his nails (and tongue) painted black from last year’s Billboard Music Awards. “Then you got this goofy ass nigga headlining?” Lucas wonderd. “Smh how sway?”
Of course, this could be a residual effect of Joyner receiving career support from Eminem, with whom MGK had a short-lived rap feud in 2018. However, since then, MGK’s foray into pop-punk with Tickets To My Downfall landed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, leading to wins at BBMAs and VMAs. Even before that all of his prior releases had debuted in the top 5, with all but Hotel Diablo receiving Gold certification from RIAA.
While it’s not entirely fair to compare an independent artist to one on a major label, it’s undeniable that these accomplishments outweigh Joyner’s; to date, his only studio album ADHD peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 with only five songs reaching the Hot 100 — all assisted by heavyweight artists like Eminem, Chris Brown, J. Cole, Lil Baby, and Logic. Also, not for nothing, the last time one of his songs went viral, it was the exceedingly corny “I’m Not A Racist,” which fans were quick to remind him of on Twitter.
I don’t even know why festivals are approaching you in the first place. Imagine you’re at lollapalooza and Joyner Lucas comes on playing “I’m Not Racist” https://t.co/PkzqfBREyp
Whether it’s a case of just cause or just sour grapes, it doesn’t appear that Lucas will actually be performing at Lollapalooza this year. Somehow, I doubt anyone’s asking for a refund over it.