Gary Maurice "Joyner" Lucas Jr. (born August 17, 1988) is an American rapper. Lucas first gained exposure online with his 2015 single "Ross Capicchioni". After three self-released projects, he signed with Atlantic Records to release his fourth mixtape and major label debut, 508-507-2209 (2017). That same year, his political single, "I'm Not Racist", quickly went viral, received gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and was nominated Best Music Video at the 61st Grammy Awards. His remixes of then-popular SoundCloud rap songs, such as Lil Pump's "Gucci Gang", have also gained recognition.
His 2018 single, "Stranger Things" (with Chris Brown), marked his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, and that same year, he guest appeared on Eminem's single "Lucky You", which peaked within the chart's top ten. He parted ways with Atlantic to self-release his debut studio album, ADHD (2020), which peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200. His second and third album, Not Now, I'm Busy (2023) and ADHD 2 (2025), both moderately entered the chart and witnessed overall critical declines.
Outside of music, Lucas co-founded the music technology platform Tully in 2015, with manager Dhruv Joshi.
Gary Maurice Lucas Jr. was born on 17 August 1988, in Worcester, Massachusetts. He began rapping at the age of 10, and attended South High Community School in Worcester.
2007–2017: Early beginnings, Along Came Joyner, 508-507-2209 and record deal
Joyner Lucas first started rapping under the name G-Storm, but by 2007 had changed his stage name to Future Joyner and started working with his cousin Cyrus tha Great, forming a group called Film Skool Rejekts. That year they released Workprint: The Greatest Mixtape of All Time. Lucas released his first solo mixtape, titled Listen to Me, in 2011. After rapper Future came to prominence, Lucas dropped the "Future" from his name and continued as Joyner Lucas. He released his first mixtape under this new moniker in 2013, titled LFO's (Low Frequency Oscillators). His next mixtape, Along Came Joyner, was released on April 1, 2015. This mixtape contained his critically acclaimed "Ross Capicchioni". Following the success of the song, Lucas was featured in the 2015 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher. Originally intended to appear in the online-only cypher, he was later promoted to rap as part of the live broadcast cyphers based on the strength of his initial performance.
Lucas signed to Atlantic Records on September 21, 2016. Lucas went on to release a project titled 508-507-2209 on June 16, 2017, with Atlantic Records. The mixtape charted at #7 on the Heatseekers Albums chart on Billboard and contained the singles "I'm Sorry", "Ultrasound", "Just Like You" and "Winter Blues". Since 2016, Lucas has also become known for remixing popular hip hop songs.
On November 28, 2017, Lucas released the single "I'm Not Racist" via his YouTube channel. The music video quickly went viral and gained critical acclaim. The controversial song is about race and society, and race relations from the perspectives of a white man and a black man. The video was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 61st Grammy Awards, but lost to Childish Gambino's "This Is America". Lucas and Chris Brown announced a collaborative project titled Angels & Demons on February 25, 2018, with the project's first single "Stranger Things" releasing the following day. On April 1, 2018, Lucas released the single "Frozen", a song focused on different forms of reckless driving. The second single from the Angels and Demons collaborative mixtape, "I Don't Die", was released on May 2.
On December 24, 2018, it was announced that Lucas departed from Atlantic Records.
On July 31, 2018, Lucas announced that he was forced to cancel appearances in the Australian and European legs of his I'm Kind of a Big Deal tour due to hoarseness and laryngitis. A month later, Lucas was featured on "Lucky You" from Eminem's tenth album, Kamikaze. The song debuted at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Lucas' first top 10 entry on the chart. On October 12, 2018, Lucas announced that he would be releasing his debut studio album entitled ADHD. He also announced a single from the album that would be released the following Wednesday. The song, entitled "I Love", was released as the lead single from ADHD, which was released on March 27, 2020. It was preceded by nine singles from October 2018 to March 2020, the time before release. The album featured appearances from Logic, Young Thug, Chris Brown, Timbaland, Fabolous and King OSF as well as appearances from Chris Tucker and Kevin Hart who both appeared on skits.
On August 17, 2020, Lucas announced the release date of his debut EP, Evolution. It was released on October 23, 2020. It was preceded by two singles, "Fall Slowly" featuring Ashanti and "Snitch". The EP featured appearances from The Game, iyla, Ashanti, Rick Ross and Elijah James.
2021–present: "Ramen & OJ", "Your Heart", The Family Plan, Not Now, I'm Busy, and ADHD 2
On April 30, 2021, Lucas released the single "Ramen & OJ" with Lil Baby. It was accompanied by a music video. Lucas contributed a song titled "Shoot My Shot" to the Space Jam: A New Legacy soundtrack.
Throughout 2021, Lucas released a number of singles, most notably "Your Heart" with J. Cole, which was released on September 24, 2021, and accompanied by a music video. Lucas also collaborated with other notable rappers, including Lil Durk on the song "Rambo", released on December 3, 2021, Lil Tjay on the song "Dreams Unfold", released on August 25, 2021, and Ty Dolla $ign on the song "Late to the Party", released on October 8, 2021, and accompanied by a music video. Solo singles "Duck Duck Goose", released on October 29, 2021, and "My Escape", released on December 17, 2021, were also accompanied by music videos.
On April 1, 2022, Lucas released a tribute song to Kanye West entitled "Ye Not Crazy", similar to his earlier tribute song to Will Smith entitled "Will". However, due to the backlash of West making antisemitic remarks, Lucas removed it from streaming services months later.
On June 4, 2022, Lucas uploaded a photo to social media of him in the studio with the caption 'Working on new album....'. That was interrupted however by the announcement on October 29, 2022, that Lucas would be shooting a movie with good friend and fellow Boston native Mark Wahlberg. The film's title was later revealed to be The Family Plan, which was released by Apple TV+ on December 15, 2023. Lucas plays the role of Coogan in the movie.
On March 8, 2023, Lucas uploaded to social media, announcing that the cover art for his upcoming studio album would be released soon with a single released on March 10, 2023, called "Devil's Work 2", the sequel to the original song from his debut album ADHD. On March 9, the artwork was released, revealing the album's title to be Not Now, I'm Busy.
One month later on April 3, 2023, Lucas announced another single called "Blackout" featuring Future which was released on April 7, 2023. Both singles were accompanied by music videos. Lucas released a further five singles in 2023, those being "What's That?", released on May 9, "Cut U Off" featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again, released on June 9, "Broski", released on June 23 and accompanied by a music video (starring Rotimi), "Seventeen", released on September 8 and "24 hours to live", released on October 27, both accompanied by music videos.