WORCESTER — Dewey Street was the site of much celebration the afternoon of Sunday, Aug. 17 as the City of Worcester officially dubbed a section of the street “Joyner Lucas Avenue,” after the Grammy-nominated rapper who grew up making music there.

More than 200 people gathered at the intersection of Dewey and Chandler streets to watch the unveiling of the new street sign and hear from Lucas himself, who happened to be turning 37 years old Sunday, Aug. 17.

“This is the best birthday gift I could ever ask for,” Lucas said.

At one point, a small child shouted out, “Happy birthday, Joyner Lucas,” to a huge cheer from the rest of the crowd.

Lucas was joined on the microphone by friends, relatives, City Councilors Khrystian E. King and Luis Ojeda, and Mayor Joseph M. Petty, who praised Lucas as, “born and raised right here in the city of Worcester…never forgotten his roots, a very strong advocate for ADHD and depression and against drug use.”

In an Aug. 14 email to the Telegram & Gazette, Lucas wrote that he learned of the Dewey Street honor very recently and that the news came as a pleasant shock.

“Usually, it takes for someone to die before they consider renaming a street someone’s name. That person would have had to have a huge impact and have a different type of importance to that state or city,” Lucas wrote. “The feeling I felt was a lot of gratitude mixed with emotion, because I know what that really means.”

Growing up on Dewey Street

Lucas grew up on the first floor of a three-decker at 132 Dewey St. recording songs in the Worcester Youth Center’s studio and finding various ways to make a buck while still living in his mother’s household.

“I spent a lot of time doing whatever I had to do to make money. I worked odd jobs, I sold drugs, I got in a lot of trouble just trying to figure out what I was going to do,” Lucas wrote on Aug. 14. “One thing about me, though, is I never ran with a gang, and I always stayed to myself and remained neutral with everyone.”

‘I was a horrible drug dealer’

At the ceremony, Lucas ran through a list of all the various Worcester spots where he had worked and joked about his brief foray into the local drug trade, saying, “I was a horrible drug dealer and that was never going to work.”

As a youth sports coach, Ojeda said, watched Lucas grow up on the basketball court, but could always tell that music would come first for him.

“There were so many avenues in this city where he could go and he stuck with his passion,” Ojeda said. “For me, as a city councilor, that’s somebody I can point to and say, ‘He’s doing it. You can do it.’”

Destination for Massachusetts rap fans

Lucas recalled that he would often sit in his room in the house on Dewey Street and plan out the shows, collaborations, connections and promotion strategies he would need in order to make it in the music industry without having to leave Worcester for New York or Los Angeles.

As his music began to blow up, something unexpected happened. The house became a destination for Massachusetts rap fans, a phenomenon that led him to realize just how popular he was becoming.

“I didn’t even realize the music and videos was actually working until people started showing up at my mother’s house, taking pictures of her and the house,” Lucas wrote in the Aug. 14 email. “Cars driving by real slow every day and people taking pics of the tour van I had parked outside. My mom started to get paranoid, and it became uncomfortable to the point I got rid of the van.”

Lucas rose to national fame with a series of mixtapes in 2015 and 2017, collaborations with Eminem and Chris Brown, and a single, “I’m Not Racist,” that sparked controversy with its depiction of a white man and a Black man discussing race in America.

When King spoke at the ceremony, he praised the music video for “I’m Not Racist,” which has gained 154 million views on YouTube in the years since its 2017 release.

“You’ve put us on the map, not only nationally, but internationally,” King said.

‘What can I do for the city of Worcester?’

Soon after the release of his debut studio album “ADHD,” in January 2021, Lucas received the Key to the City of Worcester, telling a crowd outside City Hall that “Worcester, Massachusetts, will always be my home.”

Petty’s speech called back to that 2021 ceremony and to a meeting last year where Lucas, “came to me and said, ‘What can I do for the city of Worcester?’

“He’s always come back for his family, taking care of people,” Petty said.

Returns to visit Worcester often

According to Lucas, though a career like his requires a lot of travel and time in major music-industry cities, he does return to visit Worcester often.

“I have a lot of family and friends here, so I spend a good amount of time in Massachusetts,” Lucas wrote. “It’s where I’m from and where I’m rooted, so I like to stay as grounded as I can.”

For Lucas, the most striking aspect of the honor he received Aug. 17 was its timing, at a point in his life when he still has plenty of time left.

“What’s crazy is on the intro of ‘ADHD 2,’ I said, ‘I’ll probably be dead before I ever get flowers,’” Lucas wrote. “I guess I was wrong.”

Not only did he get those flowers Sunday afternoon, Aug. 17, he also received a birthday cake as a surprise when the street sign was revealed and his children took the microphone to wish him a happy birthday while the crowd chanted his name.

During his remarks at the ceremony, Lucas recalled one birthday many years ago, before his music hit the mainstream.

“Everyone was calling my phone, telling me to go out, but I didn’t want to because I didn’t’ feel like I deserved to celebrate. What did I accomplish?” Lucas said. “I said, ‘I’m no longer going to celebrate for nothing.’ Fast-forward to Aug. 17, 2025, and I have a reason to celebrate.”