Joey Bada$$: the best rapper under 30

This is a thread about one of my all time favorite rappers, Joey Bada$$. There are only 3 sections but I split them up so it’s easier to find things. It’s my first thread (about something specific) so lmk what you think.

Early Life:

On January 20, 1995, in Brooklyn, New York, Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott, commonly referred to as his stage name Joey Bada$$ was born. As a kid Joey wanted to become an actor. He enrolled at Edward R. Murrow, but around his 9th grade year he changed his focus to music,

primarily hip hop. Joey started writing songs around the age of 11. Then as time progressed Joey along with some high school friends started the group, progressive era or pro era. Originally he was known as JayOhVee but because of the way that the media focuses on people with

more contemptuous names he changed to ‘Joey Bada$$’. In his own words, ‘Joey Badass’ was “what sounded cool at the time, what fit his mood”. That name stuck with him today and that is the name that many people praise today.

Career Startings:

In late 2010, a video of Joey free styling surfaced across the internet. This video quickly gained lots of attraction, even being reposted on @WORLDSTAR. The president of the “cinematic music group” (an American record label), Johnny Shipes saw the video and

reached out to joey. He then became Joey’s manager and close friend. From here Joey’s career only went up. In 2012 he released a music video to “waves” with his close friend Capital Steez. This song was then added to his debut mixtape, 1999.

Discography:

Joey Bada$$ has an very impressive discography. He has released 2 studio albums, 3 mixtapes, 2 ep’s, 24 singles, and been featured on 46 other tracks. I will start this section by talking about his mixtape catalog.

Mixtape Catalog (3):

1999
Rejex
Summer Knights

1999-

“1999” is Joey’s debut mixtape. It was released on June 12, 2012, and contains 15 tracks which combine to be just over an 1 hour in total. The project contains 1 single, “waves” which is the song I mentioned earlier.

High figures like MF DOOM, Capital Steez, Chuck Strangers, and more have been credited for helping with the production of the mixtape. There are plenty of features on this mixtape too. Kirk Knight, Capital Steez & CJ Fly are a few amongst the many. The mixtape is filled up by

samples from songs by older artists like Tupac Shakur and Nas to compliment the “older style” of hip-hop which is what Joey shapes his work around. From being placed at number 38 on complex’s ‘top 100 albums of 2012’ to being nominated for ‘mixtape of the year’ at the BET awards

1999 was only the start to an amazing career.

Rejex-

On September 6, 2012, just a couple months after his previous hit mixtape, Joey released his second mixtape, “rejex”. This is probably his least known project. The reason for this is because it didn’t have much of a theme

The 14 tracks within the mixtape mainly consisted of ‘throwaway’ songs from 1999, as seen on the cover. These were not added to 1999 because Joey didn’t find a place they could fit. However he still wanted to release them which is why they were added to this project.

Both of these projects gained Joey lots of attention from bigger artists like Mac Miller, A$AP Rocky, B.I.G Krit, etc. He was also entered into the 2013 XXL freshman cypher. With all the recognition Joey was getting he went on and release his next mixtape, “Summer Knights”

Summer Knights-

On May 22, 2013, Summer Knights was announced. A little over a month later, on June 12, 2013, the anniversary of 1999, the Summer Knights EP was released. However he announced that he will be making it a full length mixtape. On July 1, 2013 Joey released his 2nd

full length mixtape. The 70 minute project contains 17 tracks. It accommodates fewer samples compared to his first project. It was more original. MF DOOM again helped with production along with The Alchemist and DJ Premier. This was Joey’s last mixtape before his studio albums.

Studio albums (2):

B4.DA.$$
All Amerikkan Badass

B4.DA.$$-

With all the recognition he was getting Joey had to keep going. On January 20, 2015 (his 20th birthday), Joey Bada$$ released his debut studio album, “B4.DA.$$” (before da money). The project contained 8 singles and

very positive feedback from the media. It peaked at number 5 on billboard top 100 and even reached number 1 on billboard’s top 100 r&b/rap albums. Along with its success on the charts, in just the first week of it being out the album sold 54,000 copies, in just the U.S alone.

All Amerikkkan Badass-

All Amerikkkan Badass is Joey’s latest album. It was released on April 7, 2017. The reason for the date of release (4/7) was in honor of Capital Steez. It’s a number that had a lot of meaning to Steez. The title comes from Amerikkkan Korruption, a mixtape

released by Steez on April 7, 2012. Throughout the album Joey talks about problems in america. In Joey’s words, “It's like hella vegetables. It's hella good for you... Devastated is almost like the organic candy because the message is still good for you”.

My ranking of his discography (based of personal enjoyment):

Album (my rating)-Favorite Song

1. 1999 (10)-survival tactics
2. B4.DA.$$ (9.5)- paper trail
3. All Amerikkkan badass (9)- devastated
4. Summer knights (8.5)- #longlivesteelo
5. Rejex (8)- oh deer beddar

That concludes this thread, I hope you enjoyed it! It’s my first one. I’m really excited to hear his single today and what else he has in store for the future. Happy birthday Joey!

@joeyBADASS