Album Review: Joey Badass- B4.DA.$$
"Hearing this album when I close my eyes I feel like im back in '94 and I mean that in the best way possible." -Joshua Smith
It's obvious to anybody that has listened to hip-hop in the past 20 years, that the state of hip-hop has become some what commercialized. Artists are more concerned with how they look on tmz then how the fans receive the latest effort, but not with Joey Bada$$. Being a fan of his since he first appeared on the scence with his 2012 mixtape "1999" he gained an audience of educated listeners ready for a resurgence of the golden era of hip-hop. The Brooklyn rapper has released his independent debut album and I am pleased to say that it is already one of the best records to start off the new year and sets the tone for other this years upcoming releases.
The album starts off with a crowd chanting joey! "Save the children" starts to fade in almost like liquid, a very statement making records Bada$$ asks us to save the children, in other words save the future. One thing that especially stands out about this record is the production with DJ Premier and Static Selektah lending helping snares and bass make the music stand out as much as joey's demanding lyrical content. Any hip-hop fan that wasn't born with a silver spoon in their mouth with relate to joey and this album from the first few tracks such as "paper trail$" where he says "money aint a thing if I got it" a money hungry number but not in a greedy type of way, more of trying to make the listener understand his point of view. To the killing me softly esque "like me" where he humbly builds up his confidence and stand out tracks like "No. 99" which he dedicated to his late cousin junior b and his colleague Capital Steez, as well as the song "on & on" both songs are very powerful and leading.
In closing, Joey Bada$$' latest effort is going to put him and his outfit Pro era on top for the rest if the year, will definitely leaves fans clamoring for more. B4.DA.$$ is in stores everywhere today.
I give it a 9/10
