Joey Bada$$ has been bubbling under for a long time now.
He’s clearly insanely talented. How many 15 year olds do you know who cause signing scuffles between DJ Premier, Jay Z, Nas, Salaam and many others? If you’ve listened to any of his past works 1999, Summer Time or the various features and Pro Era joints he’s put out, it’s easy to understand why legendary producer DJ Premier (who produced on Jay Z’s 1st album Reasonable Doubt and Nas’s first album Illmatic) agreed to collaborate on a mixtape with a kid who’s not even older than his career is.
Comparisons to greats like Rakim have put Joey in the rank of artists like J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar, who champion lyricism above commercial success while also being able to accumulate cult followings. It certainly doesn’t hurt to have the President of the United State’s daughter be a public fan of your movement, even if she does get grounded for the rest of her daddy’s term.
Yesterday, on his 20th birthday, Joey finally released his anticipated debut album titled B4.Da.$$ – a stylized pun pronounced “Before the Cash” but also spelling ‘Badass’. The album was released to much buzz and has still got the internet going wild.
It features from Statik Selektah, Premier, Hit-boi and Lee Bannon, among others. And he kept it tidy with the features, which include Action Bronson, Ab-Soul, Elle Varner and BJ the Chicago Kid.
If you’re looking for that 1990s nostalgic feeling, hard raps, classic beats, with a progressive perspective, make sure you cop the album.
Some are already calling it a classic. Cop the album and let us if you agree.