Vincent Bertolini-Felice/ 12.15.23 /"Even though you are Satan, I, I can't get over my love for you. You see, no matter how many big deals you smoked up you still gon give me that effect, you see, no matter how many re-ups you snorted, you still gon give me that effect
You fucking slut."
-Lucki, Cocaine Woman
Francisco Goya lost his mind. In 1819 Goya finished A Portrait of Don Juan Antonio Cuervo. The painting fits within Goya’s established scheme of painting; taking historical instances and ideas and applying a deep, phantasmagorical interpretation stained with long, emotional strokes that while lacking in the hyperrealist depiction that succeeded Goya’s era, made up for in lachrymose connection.
The connection that made viewers feel a sentimental tie to Goya began to dissipate as Goya’s emotional stability faded with the telluric tie of Goya’s broad strokes.
In 1820 Goya finished Tio Paquete, the depiction of a known Madrid beggar, his features grotesquely amalgamated to the point of barely resembling a human feature. Bearing a cartoonish, face-wrinkling smile that blends into the grainy facial hair tied to the face only by a few faint marks. The rough depiction of a male figure closer resembles an AI’s depiction of a malformed malefactor, the concept of historical and emotional connection being tied to that work of art seems faded and warped.
The slow, dismaying downfall from the emotional passion that dictated Goya’s works prior to Tio Paquete would be entirely lost in what came to follow. Tio Paquete started the final era of Goya’s published works, known as the publishing of the Black Paintings.
Goya spent the final years of his life in self-imposed exile. In the years leading up until his death, his mind had slowly, yet painfully degraded into a deluded state due to decades of untreated Syphilis that polluted his mental stability.
The Black Paintings are heartless and devoid depictions of cruel individuals in vain existence of daily life; permanently polluted by the pitiless and sadistic smiles and gloomy shadows masking the surface of the painting.
The most famous of these works being Saturn Devouring his son. The depiction of the most infamous Titan in Greek Mythology disposing of the naked corpse of his infant son as his eyes follow the shocked expression of the petrified viewer.
The degradation of Goya from touching depictions of important moments in Spanish history redefined with a poignant touch to gory depictions of shameful and wretched scenes shows the impact of mental and physical degradation.
While not outlined to the same degree, a modern portrayal of the idea of degradation impacting the art and idea of an artist can be seen in the medium of music through a willing loss of passion and subsequent injection of mental pain.
In 2013, Lucki’s earliest studio album Alternative Trap went underground viral. Garnering significant attention from several music reviewers and publications. Alternative Trap is an artistic expression of the day-to-day life of a drug dealer, navigating the communal need that dictated his community, and the physical and emotional highs and lows that dictate life for Lucki.
Lucki’s cadence and flow paired beautifully with the varied and cinematic production from Plu2o Nash and set an extremely high bar going forward.
Fortunately, this was a standard Lucki would meet if not exceed in his later works. His following album Body High built on established lyrical and flow structures established by Lucki while showing that further variance while expanding on previous concepts established in Alternative Trap. It establishes Lucki’s evident talent while making welcomed departures from his established norm of sound.
Lucki’s follow up album X would see further departure into almost an entirely new sound. The previously established tone of ballads and classic rap schemas played into Lucki’s natural voice and tone putting a new spin on a modern conception of classic rap. X was entirely different. It replaced the standard of Lucki’s tone and style with a lazy, dilapidated sound. Lucki sulks in his pain and addiction, almost pleading for a more sobering reality.
Despite what some would view as a lethargic approach to music, its languid and bereft sound conveys a deeper message than its surface torpor. It feels more real, more raw, it feels like a more accurate depiction of someone genuinely in pain,
This style became the basis of Lucki’s musical style. His broad ballads shifted to shorter tunes intended to lament on drug or relationship induced suffering.
Lucki’s lyrical structure has changed significantly. Rather than talking from a place of hope and opportunity, Lucki speaks as someone who has lost hope. His public talks of addiction and rejection have evidently changed him as a person and subsequently as an artist. His mental and physical degradation have put a spin on a new genre of rap that feels both beautifully original and incredibly relatable.
This leads to a concept initially established by the work of Goya that feels more relevant in an era in which mediums of art are more subjective and revolutionary than ever. Goya was not a willing participant in his mental and physical degradation. His exile paired with his neurological deterioration saw a complete shift in artistic style, with the only semblance of his prior work being the rudimentary outline.
The reception of his later work was mostly met with jarred confusion and criticism. While the objective quality is still up for debate among most art scholars, how different it was, both from the norms of art culture and from Goya’s prior works. A common theme among criticism is the idea of degradation, the idea that Goya has lost a part of himself and is subsequently lesser.
This bridges into an important concept when it comes to analyzing art. How does the stability and character of its artist impact their work. The tie between a personal history and the evolution of an artist is a parallel tie, but a common thread among the latter portion of an artist's career, especially ones that see a definite departure in style is often objectively critical.
And often for just reasons. In his old age Picasso began to shift from an era-defining Genius into an agitated creator, attempted to revitalize the authenticity of his earlier works by combining aspects of all his experience as a painter, only to be met with more character judgement than prior. Edvard Munch was a pioneer of the Symbolist movement as seen through some of his most popular works such as Vampire and The Scream. In the later years of his life, he became overcome with untreated mental health disorders, and departed both from society and his established style. Munch began to dip into a new aspect of painting, working in his expressionist style with definite dips to dictate what he intended to glorify. While Munch did not deserve his criticism out of character, he simply couldn’t replicate the artistic prominence he had in his earlier days and saw the quality of his work dip.
There are countless examples of artists within the medium of music reaching the same fate. The physical and mental degeneration of Johnny Cash almost cost him a career and legacy only to be redeemed by a change in style and identity to more accurately reflect himself. American IV: The Man Comes Around saw Johnny Cash release his most popular song to date, a cover of Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt. The emotional ballad about regret and self-inflicted suffering ring especially touching given the man has lived enough life to dictate that message arguably more powerful than anyone.
This idea of taking your own pain, your own degradation, and rather than attempting to recapture a now extinguished flame of the past, use it to inform the present, and create the most uniquely person product possible is a case that rings especially true in Lucki’s case.
The key difference between Cash and Lucki is the fact that Lucki didn’t wait until the waning moon of his career to use his pain and subsequent degradation of spirit to redefine his sound. He made it his, and uniquely his. Lucki has used his pain and physical and mental decay to redefine himself and his genre and boost himself to legendary status among the underground rap community and propel himself into mainstream recognition beyond his cult fanbase.
While the concept of pain as a vessel for motivation and change as an artist is an established thought or principle, what is often seldom addressed, is the role that mental decay and the loss of personal spirit can inflict on an artist in a way different than any temporal pain can create.
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