Devils Work, Part I - Respecting Honesty
“I'm staring at this Bible as I keep glancing
Dear Lord, I got questions and I need answers
Tryna understand your vision, all I see is damage
Just a bunch of dead bodies in the street camping
A bunch of lost souls on their feet standing
We supposed to be your children, I thought we family
You're supposed to be my Father, bruh, I need answers”
- Joyner Lucas
A few weeks ago, Joyner Lucas, a rapper out of Worcester, Massachusetts, dropped another instantly viral single called “Devil’s Work.” If you haven’t checked out the video yet, do that first here and then come back to finish reading. I wouldn’t call myself a Joyner Lucas fan, but I most definitely respect his creativity when it comes to creating concepts and visuals that beautifully illustrate his lyrics. Dude is dope, no doubt about that. There is A LOT happening in this video and song, so much that it’ll be hard to hit everything that I want to get off my chest in this one write up. So I will have a couple other blogs to follow this one. Anyway, about the song and video:
In the video, Joyner Lucas is walking through a Catholic Church in his hometown, holding a bottle of Hennessy and a Bible. Throughout the whole video, Joyner is having a conversation with God, asking him why the good and innocent must die while the crooked and guilty can walk freely. Asking God if he can bargain lives with Him; trading Tupac, Biggie, and Xxxtentacion’s life for the lives of Trump, Tomi Lahren, Laura Ingraham, and a few others.
What I like most about Joyner as a creative is that he doesn't shy away from being one hundred percent honest. You will always get the raw, authentic, uncomfortable, righteous and ratchet energy that is Joyner Lucas. He doesn’t care how anyone will feel or perceive him. As someone who wants to always create out a place of honesty, I really respect Joyner Lucas.
To be continued...
By Aubrey Barnes