Bada$$ from Brooklyn
“It's been a minute, since they seen a style with no gimmicks”. Brooklyn MC Joey Bada$$ makes this claim with the opening line to the intro “Summer Knights” off of his critically acclaimed 1999 mixtape that released on June 12th of this year. Summer Knights is a smooth, melodic, warm track reminiscent to an early to mid 90's summer night in the streets of NYC when hip hop was at its freshest and most innovative. Whats ironic about the scenario is the fact that Joey and most of his crew, known collectively as The Progressive Era or Pro Era, were yet to be born when all this was taking place. Born in 1995, Joey is merely 17 years old.
If you have heard what he has to say, and the maturity in which he presents situations in his music, his age could be a tough pill to swallow. What Joey and his crew will ultimately mean in the grand scheme of hip-hop is hard to be determined so early, but what I do
draw from it is that kids aren't simply buying in to whatever is hot at the moment. In a Pro Era interview with The Fader, producer Chuck Strangers says how he was listening to the Nas classics, Illmatic and Stillmatic, growing up as opposed to something along the lines of Dem Franchize Boyz.
The
influence of what critics have labeled as “real hip-hop” (a term
that still lacks meaning in my opinion) is evident on 1999. With
beats from the likes of MF Doom, J. Dilla and Lord Finesse, the sound
of Joey's tape, which he is said to have had a distinct vision for,
is essentially old school. On his song “Funky Ho'$” Bada$$
maintains a flow eerily similar to a young Christopher Wallace. Even
when it comes to his content, Joey seems to be years older and wiser
than those in his age bracket. The first time I heard Bada$$ I drew
comparisons to the Odd Future MC Earl Sweatshirt. Their overall flows
are relatively similar. They both pack bars full of syllables and
paint pictures of what it is to be growing up in the world today but
with an adult scope.
In
one of the more popular tracks off of the 1999 tape, “Hardknocks” (video below),
Joey displays his lyrical prowess in serious ways. In his second
verse he says, “I take
the competition out/Commission wit' my composition/Who the kid
spittin' behind the bars/Like a con position”. His elegant wordplay
and more than sufficient vocabulary makes Joey Bada$$ someone worth
giving a listen. In a day and age where music, specifically hip hop,
more often lacks meaning and substance Bada$$ is a breath of fresh
air. Hip-hop's current state is a peculiar one. With artists looking
for “hip-pop” success and to tackle the mainstream audiences that
have been made completely rap accessible, there seems to be a void of
sincerity. 1999 is one piece of work that will obviously not
completely fill this void but to me, it at least applies pressure to
the wound. Joey “got sick of class, started making classics” and
I’m excited to see what his future, or past depending the way you
look at it, has to offer.
-L.
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