Joey Bada$$ Lands High on the Charts with “B4.DA.$$”
Written by Coog Radio on February 11, 2015
Joey Bada$$ stepped unto the scene with his debut mixtape, “1999,” most of which was recorded over old school beats from producers such MF Doom, DJ Premier, J Dilla and others (Something really fresh in young hip hop artists). So, in accordance with this tape and his follow up (“Summer Knights”), many would expect “B4.Da.$$” to hold the same aesthetic. Well, if you were a die-hard fan of this Brooklyn-native, you’d be quick to disagree…
The introduction going into “B4.Da.$$,” “Save The Children”, Joey provides the powerful lyricism you would expect, even though he recycled two of his older verses (his 2013 XXL Freshman Cypher verse and his verse from “47 Goonz”)… but most wouldn’t notice. After a couple more hard-hitting jams on the album, we reach “Big Dusty”, the first single released in August 2014. Produced by Kirk Knight, this is one of the songs on the album with a memorable chorus (“Check my style, check… check… check it out”) and very memorable lyrics.
After this, we come across “Hazeus View”, “Like Me” (which features beautiful background vocals and adlibs by BJ The Chicago Kid), “Belly of the Beast” (featuring Jamaican Reggae artist Chronixx), “No. 99” and “Christ Conscious”, which were both singles as well. In regards to how these songs are approached, they are all different. “Like Me” has a very relaxed and old school vibe while “No. 99” bleeds upbeat 90s hip-hop.
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Moving through the album, we pass “On & On” (which features Pro Era member Dyemond Lewis and Maverick Sabre), “Escape 120” (which features Raury, who recently released his debut project “Indigo Child”), “Black Beetles”, “O.C.B.”, and another single from the album “Curry Chicken” (produced by long time collaborator, Statik Selektah). Many can expect a lot of progressive production and instrumentation throughout the entire album into “Run Up On Ya” (featuring NY emcee Action Bronson) and the up-tempo outro “Teach Me” which features a beautiful chorus from Kiesza.
The Brooklyn descendant came in at number 5 on billboard 200 with 53,000 album sells the first week. Joey can thank his strong fan base and his dope 90’s flow for such success. Even Malia Obama supports the Pro Era movement!
By Destinie Holiday
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