He is arguably one of the freshest MCs out right about now and cannot undoubtedly go unnoticed. Moving up the Hip Hop ranks with his Progressive team…this Bada$$ Kid is making a name for himself and with all this HYPE around the young MC, one had to pull through a little piece on the uprising of Joey Bada$$.
Representing Brooklyn New York, Jo-Vaughn Scott aka Joey Bada$$ started off his Hip Hop journey through having an interest in poetry and writing lyrics while a student in Edward R Murrow High school *stay in school kids* and at the same time going by the moniker “JayOhVee”. He later joined a group called Progressive Era which seemed to be the right move for the freshman, as that movement led to him being discovered by cinematic music group president Jonny Shipes, who saw Joey performing on www.WorldStarHipHop.com
With that progression made, joints such as “survival tactics” created extra buzz for Joey, while the video itself even managed to catch the attention of legendary producer 9th Wonder. Other videos such as “Hardknock” ft CJ Fly created more buzz, which led to a collaboration with Mac Miller on Miller’s “America” joint from his Macadelic mixtape.
Having released his 1999 mixtape, which had production from Progressive Era’s own producer Chuck Stranger and included old beats from MF doom, brought only positive reviews and his second mixtape Rejex, which had production from MF doom, 9th Wonder, Lord Finesse, Madlib and Chuck Strangers, just added to the Kid’s progress..*pun intended*
Influenced by the likes of the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac, Joey began to take rapping seriously as he got older. Now he is the stand-out among his Progressive Era crew (a collective of 18 rappers, producers, graphic designers and studio engineers) and this recent attention has him ready to step up and share his poetic words through his music. Compared to the likes of Nas for his smooth and direct flow, Joey Bada$$ is just one predestined superstar who just keeps PROGRESSING….
Rudzani “RooAT” Netshiheni
