The latest music video from Grammy-nominated artist Joyner Lucas is creating controversy in Worcester.
The video for “Devil’s Work” features Lucas taking swings from a bottle of cognac as he starts an angry conversation with God.
It was uploaded May 2 and already has more than 6 million views.
Lucas, who is from Worcester, got permission to film the profanity-laced video inside St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Worcester’s Main South neighborhood.
Monsignor Frank Scollen says he believes the intention of this video was to have a conversation with God about why violence plagues the streets.
“I thought about violence in the neighborhoods. We’ve lost a lot through violence and drug addiction and gang stuff, so let’s talk about that. He talked about something different, and then he went too far, and obviously we didn’t know what was going on,” Scollen said.
One parishioner, Mary Shea, says the priest is blameless.
“He was away. He was on vacation,” Shea said. “And I know that because I was here. Monsignor Scollen is the mayor of the people. He’s a people person.”
In “Devil’s Work,” the 30-year-old Lucas blames evil on Satan but asks God to take the lives of conservatives like President Trump while restoring life to others like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Tupac, and Nipsey Hussle.
“In our church, we don’t accept violence,” Scollen said. “If I knew that was going to be said, they wouldn’t have been here. The other part about questioning evil, I understand that.”
But some who grew up with Lucas say it just him being a socially conscious artist.
“That’s just how you felt. That’s music,” Natalia Calderon said.
She says she’s proud Lucas writes songs about these issues, and that he also gives back to Worcester like shooting his videos locally
“As far as him out here, that was just him expressing his own personal feelings and how he felt, and no one should ever judge them. He could have done that in another city, but he chose his own hometown,” Calderon said.
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