On Friday, May 15, Chicago rapper and producer Lucki released his long-awaited fifth studio album Dr*gs R Bad; his first released album since Gemini! in 2024. The album features 20 tracks and six bonus songs, with Lucki exploring more energetic production while rapping about the same old themes of escapism and substance use. Before the album’s release, Lucki spoke confidently about the album in an interview with Our Generation Music, saying, “I got the best album in my hard drive. I just got that much confidence in DRB.”
The album opens with “NUPPY INTRO,” a simple introduction that eases listeners into the project. The song sets a pattern for the rest of the album by opening with an acoustic vocal sample and looping an electronic beat. However, the opening raw audio recording is incomprehensible, and the beat is unimpressive, as lyrically, Lucki focuses on heavy drug use, despite the album’s title.
The second song, “Picky Demons :),” changes into a more stimulating auditory experience. The song opens with yet another spoken sample, but this time it is more clearly relevant to the song as it states, “Tricky! It’s tricky.” This refrain gets repeated throughout the song and creates a catchy beat in between Lucki’s classic raspy vocals with a detached tone. Though the song is minimalistic, its simplicity makes it catchy.
The first feature on the album is in track three, “No Stars in Maybachs,” with Rylo Rodriguez and Veeze, which features atmospheric production with a soft female R&B vocal sample layered over booming bass. Without the sample, the song consists of an otherwise unnoteworthy beat. Rylo Rodriguez and Veeze blend well with Lucki’s vocals as they all take on the same laidback flow, but the features’ sections take up most of the song.
Track four, “Stupid Prizes,” is the best track so far. The nostalgic producer tag, Lucki’s recognizable cash-register sound effect, and dreamy backtrack make the track engaging off the bat. Lucki’s slightly whiny vocals, which can be disbalancing in other songs on the album, work well here, combined with the production. One line threw the song off as Lucki said, “Bae, I’m geeked as AI,” which is not only a confusing reference but also distasteful. Ending on a strong note, the guitar outro gives a polished finish to a commendable song.
Track six, “Rookie 2 barbie,” takes on a more upbeat direction with a melodic beat featuring trumpet-like synths, a punchy bass, and a sample that sounds like a happy ghost singing, which creates a sound resembling a superhero theme that doesn’t blend well under Lucki’s unmoving and casual flow.
However, a rewind sample saves track six followed by a beat switch halfway through. Switching the beat up allows for a beautiful laidback flow that gets rid of the odd upbeat melodies and matches the rapping style. After the mid-song switch-up, the infectious chorus articulates, “What happens in Vegas, rookie to Barbie, I slept at the Ari.”
Though the following seventh track, “AllWay2Space,” also uses a trumpet-like sound, it’s tasteful as it doesn’t overpower the vocals and layers well into the floaty backtrack. The eighth track, “Mdnt series,” continues the trance-like production, though less entertaining than its predecessor.
Track nine brings Lil Baby on as a feature, which disrupts the album’s streak of a pleasing ethereal beat to an aggressive style with violent lyrics that strays from Lucki’s normal balance of a quieter but complex backdrop that supports the vocals instead of overpowering them. It sounds like Lucki is the feature instead of Lil Baby due to Lucki’s style not being represented enough.
“a theme atp…” takes an experimental approach on track 11, starting with clapping and adding micro sounds that keep you engaged throughout the track. This track takes a focus on Lucki’s troubled relationship rather than substance abuse, “It feel like a theme, call me on a bad day,” which is the inspiration for the title. The flow of the sounds puts you in a trance as Lucki’s rap blends with the backing track.
Track 18, “Gemini Dramatics,” is a spotlight on Kanye’s influence, using the “Bound to falling in love” sample repeating in the background throughout the whole song. The song is uncreative and repetitive, with “I’m just too dramatic” repeating most of the song, and a creepy, distorted background from the mixing of back tracks sounding like a DJ set gone bad.
The track “Yesterday On My Face / OUTRO” is the closing piece of the album, capturing the album’s themes of escapism and self-reflection. The song has an atmospheric production with lyrics, ”And if God hadn’t meant for me to get high, he wouldn’t have made being high so much, like, perfect” providing a fitting conclusion to Disc 1 of Dr*gs R Bad.
Disc 2 then includes six more tracks, containing already released singles and bonus tracks. These tracks capture a more old Lucki sound with a laid back tone and a quieter back track to focus on the angelic sound of his voice.
Overall, Dr*gs R Bad explores a more experimental side of Lucki with new sounds and production styles while still keeping elements of the melodic, laidback approach that originally built his fanbase. Although some songs are repetitive or overly layered, the album contains several memorable moments and demonstrates Lucki’s willingness to evolve as an artist towards new sounds, earning Dr*gs R Bad 3.5 out of five feathers.
