Artist: Joey Bada$$
Album: B4.Da.$$
Released: January 19, 2015
Brooklyn native, Joey Bada$$ aka Jozif Badmon Tingz celebrated his 20th birthday with the release of his debut album B4.Da.$$. A double entendre to his name and the conceptual meaning behind his album, Joey debuted as a progressive sagacious young artist capable of reviving classic 90s hip-hop. Besides his pineal influenced stinging lyrics, Joey’s sublime production is what makes his album a classic among the classics.
The album begins with an apparent ode to black empowerment produced by Statik Selektah, that sets the tone for the rest of the album. I say apparent, because although Joey has an empowering hook about African Americans rise to prominence, his two verses fail immensely to support the following hook: Black republican/black democrats/black educator/black entertainer/black businessman/black people are rumbling. “Save The Children” as an opening track provided a weak foundation for the rest of the album. Joey’s lyricism is depthless and sounds similar to a freestyle form that contributes to the loss of the meaning.“I need the cake and cream/the stakes is high like fiends off a dream/jet streaming having cuisine.” After some research, it became revealed that his entire two verses on “Save The Children” were completely recycled from an interview/freestyle with Sway In The Morning in 2013. Along with “Save The Children”, “Hazeus View”, “No. 99” and “Big Dusty” all committed the same atrocity of utilizing recycled whole verses. For an artist who has not released anything since 2013 his recycled verses come as an extreme disappointment, especially for a debut album.
However, his original tracks that include original lyrics prove worthy of being noted as a classic. Joey Bada$$ teams up with DJ Premier of Gangstarr to deliver “Paper Trail$”, a boom-bap dominated track about modern day money perils, while paying homage to the some of the major players of 90s hip-hop. With references such as: “This kid ain’t been the same since Biggie smacked me at my christening, “Cash ruined everything around me” and “It’s the dollar dollar bill/it’s the dollar bill that kills yall.” The contribution from Premier couldn’t have been a better fit for Joey. They successfully bring back the essence of 90s hip-hop while showcasing Joey’s monetary issues that have arisen from the artist’s newfound stardom.
With that being said, the production on his debut album surmounts his lyrical capabilities. At the young age of 20, Joey victoriously chose Statik Selektah, Lee Bannon, DJ Premier, Kirk Knight, J Dilla, The Roots, Hit-Boy, Astr and Chuck Strangers to produce a timeless piece reminiscent of some of the greatest hip-hop emcees.
Throughout the album, Joey opens up and allows his lyrics to paint an introspective picture of his emotions. Something we haven’t quite seen from the young artist in his previous projects. In “Escape 120”, Joey opens up about the evils obtained by fame.“If I could go back, some things would be changed/And I know that, for a fact, it was fame/That drew me to this unfamiliar side of my brain.” A dark and twisted Chinese Erhu on “Black Beetles” (produced by Chuck Strangers) accompanies Joey’s disheartening verses to produce one of the darkest tracks on the album. Joey mourns the loss of the late Capital STEEZ and more recently his manager and cousin Junior B. His losses become prevalent in his lyrics, allowing his fans to connect with him on a personal level.
Overall B4.Da.$$ was successfully produced, but lacked on lyricism. The future is looking promising for the young emcee, let’s just hope he stops recycling his verses and continues to grow as an artist and lyricist.
– Breanna Vasquez
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