As the title of Luck’s debut EP emphatically promises, luck has nothing to do with where the Los Angeles-based artist finds herself as a music artist. Which, after the meteoric drop of the seven songs on It Wasn’t Luck, the budding artist has proven her EP’s title.
It’s not enough that Luck is a master at layering textures of R&B, hip hop, and rock into sleek pop ballads. Or that her incandescent and nimble vocal work means she can go from tearing through fiery, razor-sharp bars or letting her soul-stirring wails fly. Like on the EP’s buoyant opening track “Seed,” a tender-hearted plea for connection.
Much of what radiates from It Wasn’t Luck is a collective warmth, a lyrical grace that Luck endeavors to envelop you in. Which can be an individual affirming the healthy expectations and boundaries of their love — as she does on the decadent “All The Diamonds” amidst kinetic drum and cymbal crashes. Or as a self-hype anthem, like the ecstatic and bass shuddering “Don’t Sweat.” The breathtaking music video for the track sees Luck and accompanying backup dancers offering up some stunning choreography atop a sunny hillside.
But in trying to lift herself and other people up, Luck is far from blind to the heartbreak flaring up all around her. On “B.I.D.” she comes out swinging, an excerpt of a Malcolm X speech introducing her like a fighter to a ring as she howls like a gladiator: “Are you not entertained?”
With her acerbic tongue Luck rallies against institutions of oppression against the grinding whine of riffs, using them as kindling to ignite action. “Shit the government will try shit and kill your dreams,” she explodes. “We can go to war, we can fight for peace.” Once more the EP’s title rings true: luck had never had anything to do with overcoming oppression.
“Every song was inspired by my battle in stepping into my divinity. My godly design is what has always led me. And saved me, truly, in the end from the feelings that my humanity carried. Whether that was inadequacy, fear, or doubt over what was written over my life. Like me, there’s a million people that look like they have it all together… but when they take off their clothes and all that makeup there are mad scars. I made it through all that. But there are so many who haven’t. These songs are for the radical heart; the radical thinkers and dreamers.”
Visit Luck’s website and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Listen to Luck’s debut EP It Wasn’t Luck
This post may contain affiliate links. Ads and affiliate links are how independent blogs like Grimy Goods can operate and pay our staff. Thank you for supporting our work and being a part of our music community.
