Irrespective of what the profession or form of expression may be, there is always an ecosystem to the industry. For as long as there will be untouchable successors, the jesters of the industry will co-exist. With each new iteration and movement within hip-hop, a handful of artists assume this mantle, often, as I find, obliviously. Few artists fit the bill as harmoniously as Joyner Lucas. Whilst I understand an artists growth and direction is determined by their own will and drive, one must assume that the wealth of criticism and negative reception would correlate with a new direction, yet Joyner never seems to learn his lesson. Perhaps he is oblivious, but I struggle to believe that someone who is so historically hellbent in proving his wokeness, through medium and personna alike, would refuse to heed warnings.
Irrespective of what the profession or form of expression may be, there is always an ecosystem to the industry. For as long as there will be untouchable successors, the jesters of the industry will co-exist. With each new iteration and movement within hip-hop, a handful of artists assume this mantle, often, as I find, obliviously. Few artists fit the bill as harmoniously as Joyner Lucas. Whilst I understand an artists growth and direction is determined by their own will and drive, one must assume that the wealth of criticism and negative reception would correlate with a new direction, yet Joyner never seems to learn his lesson. Perhaps he is oblivious, but I struggle to believe that someone who is so historically hellbent in proving his wokeness, through medium and personna alike, would refuse to heed warnings.
Though it feels a tad overdone to deem Joyner corny at this point in his career, he truly does himself no favours on his latest release ‘Evolution’. Presented as his first person exposé on the state of society, I can’t help but roll my eyes as Joyner once again feeds into this narrative where he believes he is the chosen one. Packed with plenty of eye rollers, his hollow societal observations and introspective explorations of the influences that made him the Joyner we know today feel just as performative and disingenuous as ever. Where his previous body of work, ‘ADHD’ had me praying things would change, seeing as things could only go up, ‘Evolution’ feels like its natural spiritual successor. Improved solely by a shorter run time, and existing as a bland counterpart, the saving grace of ‘Evolution’ is just how forgettable it all is.
Despite being marketed as an EP, this thing well and truly enters, and even exceeds album territory. With 13 tracks, this elongated format works to the detriment of the LP. Joyner wastes no time in exposing just how substanceless the project is with the titular track. Concerned with your run of the mill rags to riches tale, Joyner’s braggadocio sees him on an even playing field to the contemporaries he so often preaches of being above. Sonically, Joyner is just as forgettable. Where I’d expect a delivery full of starry-eyed admiration and appreciation, Joyner just feels sluggish and unanimated. I get the idea that Joyner speculated his introspective tale of success to ignite this interest within listeners, but given just how subpar it all is, it feels more like a foreboding case of jeopardisation.
I find it ironic that the EP titled ‘Evolution’ demonstrates anything but that. It is painfully obvious that Joyner remains fixated on proving his talents through his worshipping of the Eminem branch of lyrical miracle rap, and no track highlights this more than ‘Zim Zimma’. Obsessed with proving his brutish exterior and lethal demeanor, Joyner drops bar after bar of shallow threat and petty name dropping. If this all sounds familiar, it’s because Joyner is so painfully derivative of contemporaries such as Eminem it becomes distracting.
The lazy imitations don’t stop there, as Joyner joins the deluded ranks of rappers convinced they have what it takes to hold their own as r&b crooners on ‘The Problem’. Though kept short and sweet, relative only to the chorus and the outro, I’m scarred by his efforts long after the song’s conclusion. With his vocals slathered in these hideous synthesisers, what can only be described as a dollar store Ty Dolla $ign brings this truly nauseating and unpalatable sound to Joyner’s ode to an otherworldly woman. What is perhaps most baffling, is that Joyner tried the exact same shtick on ‘ADHD’, but to no avail, and whilst I had hoped he’d improve in an avenue he very clearly wishes to explore, his efforts on ‘Evolution’ are just as devoid of positive merit.
The aforementioned idea that Joyner dons this sage-like role as an outlier within the system, a figure who isn’t so easily manipulated by society is a common thematic practice of the album. But beyond the confines of just ‘Evolution’, it is this magnetic personna that has attracted the hoards of criticisms labelling Joyner as this sess-pit of cringe, deservedly for years. Ignited on ‘Tattle Tales (Skit)’ – an anything but subtle stab at 6ix9ine – and immediately on its predecessor, ‘Snitch’, Joyner verbally chastises those who disobey the brotherhood code. It’s one thing having the stone-cold, menacing voice of 21 Savage demoralising those who snitch on their brethren, and another to have the nondescript and indistrcipt Joyner ride the bandwagon. With no edge, lyrically, sonically, or instrumentally, ‘Snitch’ is first and foremost playlist fodder, with a second hand agenda to catapult Joyner into some greater commercial conversation.
Despite ‘Evolution’ housing some of Joyner’s most consistently underperformed and underwhelming work to date, there are a scarce handful of highlights, no matter how few and far between, that make the final cut. ‘Things I’ve Seen’ feels like a beacon of hope, not only within the context of the album, but additionally as an awe-inspiring black anthem. Built upon a spine of extravagant, painstricken vocals, there’s this air of desperation and weakness. Feeble and haunted as a result of oppression, Joyner feels like a lone warrior. In his most impassioned hour, Joyner feels as if he is on the brink of insanity, a hulking force who has dedicated his life to rewrite the wrongs inflicted on his people. It’s such a shame that we don’t have more tracks as topically focused and well-intentioned as it feels like Joyner truly rises to the occasion to serve the gripping sentiment justice.
Yet another salient point of merit in an album that otherwise feels dull, is the work of Joyner’s contemporaries. Like an unintentional blessing in disguise, it is the external influences I find the most redeemable as they feel like a place of refuge from an otherwise monotonous listen. We have ‘On This Way’,which boasts a particularly moving performance from The Game. It’s as if he bears the weight of the world on his shoulders, concerned with overcoming stereotypes, amounting to something greater and potent BLM material, it’s simply jaw dropping just how much in-depth substance he manages to condense into such a short appearance. Yet another refreshing highlight is Rick Ross on the lavish ‘Legend’. Husky and raspy in tone, amongst the luxurious vocal sampling and suggestive imperial stature from the regal keys, Ross sounds like a kingpin, the end result of the message the pair preach.
What is perhaps most offensive about ‘Evolution’ is just how generic and homogenous everything is. In an attempt to blur the line between album and EP, I really feel as if Joyner has shot himself in the foot. Had he trimmed back the fat and stuck to the blueprint, I get the idea I wouldn’t have come away from this so venomous in my critique. We have the naked and bare boned ‘Legend’. Joyner really sells us a dream, only to criminally underutilise that raunchy, indulgent sax refrain. Substituting it with a bog standard instrumental is simply phase one in his colourless depiction of luxury.
That same blank-canvas dullness bleeds into subsequent tracks, including the EP’s lead single, ‘Fall Slowly’. Nothing sticks, it is all just so by the books and watered down. Admittedly, I had my suspicions prepared for Joyner’s next project regardless of whatever the promotional material or subsequent releases suggested, yet ‘Fall Slowly’ made my worst fears a reality. Virtually nothing about ‘Fall Slowly’ sticks out, and it certainly doesn’t scream lead single material. I get the idea that I’d struggle to recite even a smidgen of the track, even if my life depended on it, given just how unremarkable the arrangement is. It is that consistently subpar formula that is one of my biggest gripes with ‘Evolution’. At the end of the day I’m left in dismay as I feel forced to split hairs in order to differentiate the quality of work between one of the industry’s hard hitters and something that would float it’s way onto the amateurish scapes of SoundCloud.
Despite it’s supremely underwhelming presentation and derivative hollowness, Joyner finds a voice of his own on the EP’s final stand, ‘Like A River’. It’s a particularly moving moment, and a truly emotionally potent final message. Joyner confides in us about the absence and neglect of his childhood father figure and how he is determined to actively rewrite the wrongs in his stint of parenthood. We get this picture of Joyner’s childhood naivety wearing, as the cold truth and harsh realities of abandonment set in as the track’s narration progresses. It’s brought to life with these sobbing, poignant synths, Joyner’s most solemn and reserved performance on the album, and these ghostly heartache stricken vocals from Elijah James. It feels like a real statement and testament to the man Joyner is, and ends the album on a genuinely heartbreaking note.
‘Evolution’ simply comes too soon after the career low that was ‘ADHD’. I get the idea that Joyner thought this would be his unfiltered redemption arc, but it all just feels so rushed. As embarrassing as it may be, ‘Evolution’ feels like a collection of leftovers and B sides, that somehow trumps ‘ADHD’ by virtue of being less offensive in practically every department. I suppose my greatest worry is just how unclear I am on where Joyner could go next. With each release, it feels more and more apparent that Joyner has exhausted his creative outlet, and is simply a one trick pony. With this EP, sure Joyner flaunts his technical ability, a skill he never allows us to forget that he possesses, but to no complimentary purpose. I am constantly left questioning what else he has in his arsenal, and what exactly he adds that a myriad of his contemporaries can’t do to a significantly higher pedigree.
Evolution – Joyner Lucas – 3/10
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