Rapper Joyner Lucas has developed a hard-core fan base in a short amount of time, but nowhere is his fan base more devoted than here in his native Worcester, where locals were watching the Grammy Awards closely Sunday night, to see if he'd win either of the two awards for which he'd been nominated.

He didn't, but that's almost beside the point.

His popular "I'm Not Racist" video was in the running for Best Music Video, where the top honor went to Childish Gambino for "This is America." For Best Rap Song, Lucas was hoping "Lucky You," his effort with Eminem, would earn an award. Drake's "God's Plan" took the category.

The fact is, his victories were always long shots. That's not a commentary on the quality of his work, so much as it is on the nature of the Grammys. Indeed, the fact that he was nominated for two awards without the force of a record label is nothing short of remarkable. Lucas was previously signed to Atlantic Records, but announced on Instagram Dec. 23 that he was now fully independent, and that his next project, "ADHD," will be released independently.

Between his free-agency and relative newness to the national scene, actually winning a Grammy was an uphill battle. For all the attention that "I'm Not Racist" got, it paled before the amount of attention Gambino's "This Is America" received. While both were viral sensations, Gambino's spread further, with 484,225,510 views on the official YouTube video to Lucas' 111,556,341. Both numbers are astronomical, but clearly Gambino's being more established gave him an edge. Never mind that "America" also won the Grammys for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, so Grammy voters were clearly endeared.

As to the Best Rap Song, Lucas actually had better odds there, and really, while the smart money was always on Drake to take the win on sheer popularity, there was a good case to be made that Eminem would be given the trophy as a sort of conciliation prize. That said, an equally good case could be made for giving it to Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock and James Blake for "King's Dead," although Lamar won in other categories for other songs off the groundbreaking "Black Panther" soundtrack, so there probably wasn't a sense of urgency on the matter. Still, as Eminem himself raps in "Lucky You," "I done won a couple Grammys, but I sold my soul to get 'em/Wasn't in it for the trophies, just the (expletive) recognition." His relationship with Grammy voters has seemed fraught for a while now, and it seems this wasn't the song to heal that rift.

That said, this was a stunning Grammy debut for Lucas, and deserves to be acknowledged as such. As his most recent collection, "508," was considered a mixtape and not a full album, "ADHD" will probably be considered his "debut," which means he'll likely be a strong contender for Best New Artist, depending on the strength of any singles that emerge from the new project. He definitely came out of this year's ceremony a winner, even if he doesn't have a trophy just yet.





Email Victor D. Infante at Victor.Infante@Telegram.com and follow him on Twitter @ocvictor.