Mixtape Review-Body High by Lucki Eck$

by Dan-O

“I’m still a kid anyway, I keep forgettin’ bout that sh_t (Finesse)” It’s easy to forget. Lucki Eck$ is a barely 18 year old rapper from Chicago who stepped into rap fully developed. His last mixtape Alternative Trap was one of those projects I couldn’t stop listening too and with each listen my expectations jumped higher. By the time I heard Body High was coming I had Big Krit level expectations on this kid without ever putting it in perspective.

Body High doesn’t sound like anything an eighteen year old would have in their mind. It starts with a track called 4th Commandment Broken. The title and song is an admittance that he has violated the 4th commandment of Biggies 10 Crack Commandments and is now high on his own supply. This is not the mixtape confession of a junky nor is it the high life brag of a teenage El Chapo (can rappers stop referencing El Chapo please…PLEASE?). On 4th Commandment Broken Lucki talks about losing money and laments Biggies advice “Biggie told me never use your own supply but he don’t understand I need it like its school supplies. So I’m just glued to the sh_t until I probably die.”

Body High is the slow descent into zombie. A mid-level dealer who serves his clientele all day every day until his social and economic world is full of craggily red eyed zombies. How long before he gives up and joins in? What happens when you have one foot in both?

The music isn’t drill at all. It’s Chicago Cloud Rap where the clouds are black. Xan Cage starts with 50 seconds of instrumental ambiance that never feels tacked on or futile. Every seconds points you to Lucki and what he’s about to say next. What he says is so clearly above the realm of traditional hip hop imagery that his sing song flow becomes even more arresting. On Can’t Blame You he describes thanksgiving with his family and says “Grannie made a meal for the elephant in the room.” Witchcraft is a heartbreak song with strange Chris Benoit pro-wrestling imagery and flying brooms with ex-girlfriends on them.

Body High is certainly about doing drugs and selling them. The two sides of the coin intermingle and become a chant on Reflections. It’s a rare project that is not just about the two sides of this issue but about maintaining your personality and character while traversing these extreme circumstances. Count On Me 3 is the perfect ending (12 tracks total) with the phone ringing and Lucki packed up for sales. He has a jaunty laugh in his voice as he brags about his dealer capability but it’s a defense; we know that from all the tracks that exist before it. A defense that’s needed for the stage of his life Body High is about. I hope everyone listens to it and feels the intelligence, the misery, and the humor. Maybe rap listeners will start to think of drug dealing in three dimensions.

Please stream or download Body High:
http://www.datpiff.com/Lucki-Eck-Body-High-mixtape.637425.html