Joyner Lucas’ “Devil’s Work” Lyrics Meaning

“Devil’s Work” is based on the rapper, Joyner Lucas, questioning God over the state of the world around him. More specifically, he asks why certain individuals he apparently deems as upright have passed away,
while others that he feels “deserve to die” are still alive and kicking.

His inspiration for writing this track was the recent murders of rappers XXXTentacion and Nipsey Hussle. So in addition to those two other people, he feels were taken from the physical plane prematurely, according to this track, are Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Big Pun, Selena, Aaliyah and Martin Luther King Jr.. Others include Lil Snupe, Eazy E, Trayvon Martin, Emmett Till, Whitney Houston, Malcolm X, Michael Jackson and Sandra Bland. And those who he is appealing to God should rather be taken away are Suge Knight, Martin Skrillex, Eric Holder (murderer of Nipsey Hussle), George Zimmerman, R. Kelly, Dylann Roof, television hosts Tomi Lahren and Laura Ingraham, and of course he could not forget US President Donald Trump. 

In asking God to take President Trump’s life, Joyner refers to him as not only a threat to the world but also a “coward with no intellect” and “a bigot”.

However, at the end of the day Joyner concludes that the departure of the aforementioned people was not God’s “fault” but rather “the devil’s work”, thus the name of this track.

Facts about “Devil’s Work”

Music superstar Rihanna actually endorsed this song via her Instagram account.

Fox news host Laura Ingraham in particular drew the ire of the
hip-hop community due to allegedly insensitive comments she made in
the wake of the murder of Nipsey Hussle.

The music video to “Devil’s Work” features Joyner Lucas inside a
church holding both a Bible and “a bottle of Hennessey”. Joyner is the only person that appears in the clip.

This track was written exclusively by Joyner Lucas and produced by
SoSpecial, a production duo from Europe.

“Devil’s Work” officially dropped on 2 May 2019.

This track will be featured on Joyner Lucas’s forthcoming album, ADHD. The songs “I Love” and “ISIS” also appear on that album.

Upon its release, “Devil’s Work” instantly met with a lot of mixed reactions. While many praised it, others simply disliked it. According to those who dislike this song, Joyner grossly disrespected God in the song while wishing death upon people.