Joyner Lucas certainly isn’t coming to play with his first single of 2023. This New Music Friday (March 10), the clever lyricist made a bold return with “Devil’s Work 2,” a follow-up to his 2020 track of the same name. Throughout the five-minute-long song, the 34-year-old reflects on some major losses the culture has faced in recent years, from Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna’s tragic deaths to the untimely murder of PnB Rock in Los Angeles a few months ago.
While promoting the song in an interview with Billboard, Lucas explained, “We all have heroes, and we never want to see them suffer.” He later added, “As a culture, we all wish that we could turn back time and reverse events that traumatized us, so I wanted to take that concept and share it in my own creative way.” Thus far, the Massachusets native appears to be receiving the positive and impactful reaction he was searching for.
Joyner Lucas Reflects on the Culture’s Recent Losses in “Devil’s Work 2” Visual
Aside from the tragic losses we’ve faced, Lucas also rhymes about some major pop culture moments. Among them are Chris Rock and Will Smith’s infamous “Slapgate,” as well as the lengthy stint Brittany Grinner spent in a Russian prison for most of 2022. Additionally, he called Candace Owens a “bitch,” calling her out over her The Greatest Lie Ever Told documentary, which attempted to twist the death of George Floyd at the hands of police into a story about a Black man’s drug overdose.
“Lord, forgive me for my language and these bad words / But that Candace Owens bitch get on my last nerve,” he angrily expresses. “How you gon’ tell me that what we witnessed on TV wasn’t murder when we watched n*ggas turn his ass into Casper? / George died from asphyxiation and that’s a factor / Fentanyl or not, he’d had never died and his last words were, ‘I cannot breathe’ / So really she gotta chill or maybe they should trade places so she could see how it feel.”
The insightful single is due to appear on Not Now, I’m Busy, Joyner Lucas’ forthcoming album. Earlier this week he unveiled the artwork, generating plenty of excitement amongst his fans. Stream “Devil’s Work 2” on Spotify or Apple Music below. Afterward, tell us your thoughts on the emotionally loaded track in the comments. Make sure to check back later this weekend for more release recommendations on our Fire Emoji playlist update.
Quotable Lyrics:
But Lord, listen, this shit urkin’ me
How You take PNB? That shit absurd to me
So many questions ’bout that shit and it’s disturbin’ me
Like n*ggas can’t eat waffles without security?
And n*ggas can’t work hard and go buy some jewelry?
That one hurt to see
[Via]