Gary Maurice "Joyner" Lucas, Jr. (born August 17, 1988) is an American rapper and songwriter from Worcester, Massachusetts. 　　Lucas gained widespread exposure and critical acclaim after the release of his single "Ross Capicchioni" in 2015. In 2017, he released his fourth mixtape, which was his first on a major label. On November 28, 2017, Lucas released his single "I'm Not Racist", onto his YouTube account which quickly went viral and gained critical acclaim. The video was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 61st Grammy Awards. Lucas was formerly signed to Atlantic Records, until he announced his departure from the label in December 2018. 　　Early life 　　Gary Maurice Lucas, Jr. was born on August 17, 1988, in Worcester, Massachusetts. Lucas began rapping at the age of ten. 　　He attended South High Community School in Worcester. 　　Career 　　Lucas first started recording under the name G-Storm. In 2007, he changed his stage name to Future Joyner and started working with his uncle, Cyrus tha Great, and formed a group called "Film Skool Rejekts". They released their mixtape, Workprint: The Greatest Mixtape of All Time in the same year. Lucas went on to release his first mixtape under the name Future Joyner titled Listen 2 Me in 2011. After rapper Future came to prominence, Lucas dropped the "Future" from his name and continued as Joyner Lucas. 　　Lucas went on to release his next mixtape Along Came Joyner on April 5, 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. 　　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" and "Winter Blues". 　　On November 28, 2017, Lucas released his single "I'm Not Racist", onto his YouTube account which quickly went viral. The song is controversial, rapping about race and society, and race relations from the perspective of a white man, and a black man. Lucas and singer Chris Brown announced their collaboration project, titled Angels & Demons on February 25, 2018 with the single "Stranger Things" releasing the following day. On April 1, 2018, Lucas released his single entitled "Frozen", a song focused on different forms of reckless driving. The next single from the Angels and Demons collaborative mixtape "I Don't Die" was released on May 2. 　　On July 31, 2018, Lucas announced he was forced to cancel shows of his "I'm kinda a Big Deal" tour in Australia and Europe due to hoarseness and laryngitis. 　　Lucas was featured on "Lucky You" from Eminem's latest 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 a new song on October 17, 2018, with a new project coming soon. The song, entitled "I Love", was released as the lead single from his upcoming debut studio album ADHD. 　　Personal life 　　Lucas has a son whom he references frequently in his music.