This week’s edition of our Throwback Thursday series goes to the 2013 mixtape Alternative Trap. This was the debut project from Chicago artist Lucki, formerly known as Lucki Eck$. Platforms around the net and avid HipHop listeners were introduced to the young artist at a time known as the “blog era” where plenty of new acts were coming out the woodworks and building their fan bases with the help of blogs around the internet. Chicago HipHop was boomin’ at this time and Lucki took advantage of this new sound or genre that he was riding and kept his buzz afloat with his laid back lyrical flow to go with that sound.
Alternative Trap introduced listeners to a young MC out of the Windy City, as they were being acquainted with him and the 13 tracks he provided on the tape. Not only did Lucki have the talent needed, but plenty of known producers also vouched for him as they provided the production to the mixtape. Hippie Sabotage, Plu2o Nash, Hippie Dream, Mullato Beats, Nate Fox, Odd Couple, Doc and Hytman sent over their instrumentals and cemented their names within the production credits.
Lucki Eck$ chose similar sounding beats that were dark and heavily influenced with kicks and snares, blending them with his drug use/drug selling raps and added a pinch of lyricism to create that “alternative trap” sound you hear throughout the mixtape. I think it’s safe to say that Lucki influenced many other artists to join this new wave, thus injecting the blog era with an abundance more of talent and music to write about.
Lucki exploded on the scene with Alternative Trap and had major platforms like Elevator Mag and Lyrical Lemonade helping push his name and music to even greater heights and audiences. I had this mixtape on repeat back in 2013 and still come back to it in 2022 because of those vibes it presented, taking me back to my younger days as if it’s some type of time machine. I am positive you have heard of Lucki’s music before, maybe you are already a fan of his newer music but never heard any of his older music or just now finding out about him, so here you go. Enjoy the immaculate and timeless music Lucki Eck$, now Lucki, gave us back in 2013. Be Known.