B4.DA.$$
A hot young talent with an old-school soul, New York rapper Joey Bada\$$ offers a gritty, witty, and deeply lyrical alternative to current mainstream hip-hop on his long-awaited debut album *B4.DA.\$$*. Over vintage boom-bap drums and soulful samples, provided by heavyweight producers like DJ Premier and Statik Selektah, the prodigiously skilled Bada\$$ updates the rough-but-smooth vibe of golden age rap for the millennial generation, rocking a flow that’s equally inspired by the introspective rhymes of Mos Def and the intricate street tales of Nas. *B4.DA.\$$* will thrill both hip-hop veterans and rap fans too young to remember the innovative \'90s greats that Bada\$$ reveres.
On Joey Bada$$'s debut LP B4.DA.$$, the rapper revisits golden era sounds and aims for greatness.
Leading up to the release of his debut record, Joey Bada$$ has been hailed as a supremely talented up-and-comer, a boast that often had more to do with his age (just 20 years old as of this release) than an honest examination of his output. He showed immense promise on his solo mixtapes 1999 and Summer Knights, but…
There is a scene in the movie Detention where one of the characters, Elliot Fink, is shown to have spent 20 years untouched…
With a style that's an all-encompassing throwback, going from Notorious B.I.G. to Mos Def, Brooklyn rapper Joey Bada$$ draws the golden age hip-hop fetishist in without a problem, but his delivery is so full of life, it still holds sway for those who don't know their Bad Boy from their Death Row.
With an ear for beats, intricate rhyming and nostalgic vibes, over the past few years Cinematic Music Group's Joey Bada$$ has repaved a rap...
B4.DA.$$ never tries to be more than an apprentice work, working up an articulate introduction for a serious-minded new talent.
Joey Bada$$’s boom-bip revival sounds fresh at first, but his lack of invention and technical skill soon start to dull the shine, writes <strong>Paul MacInnes</strong>
Badass infuses 'appealing low-slung swagger' with 'thoughtful, pavement pounding philosophy', says Helen Brown