LUCKI

Dubbing his early approach “alternative trap” and riding the dreamy wave of cloud rap in the mid-2010s, LUCKI has become one of Chicago’s most distinctive rappers. Born Lucki Camel Jr. in that Midwest hub in 1996, he scored features from two of his heroes—Future and Babyface Ray—on his 2022 debut album, FLAWLESS LIKE ME, following a name-making run of mixtapes and previous work as Lucki Eck$. “I wanna be the best rapper,” he told Apple Music at the time, talking about the pressure to be a social media presence as well as a peerless MC. “I don’t really care about all the other stuff.” That same year, he scored a platinum hit with “New Drank,” a short but powerful meditation on the depressing ripple effect (and appealing pull) of drinking lean. That conflicted sentiment is echoed on his 2026 LP Dr*gs R Bad, a slow-and-low session that mixes his signature sleepy flow with production that makes the most of cloud rap’s transporting ambient airs.