An ITunes card is one of the best things ever! Yesterday I braved the storm to get one so I could buy some hot fire music. Once I logged on I had no idea what to get. Then out of nowhere I see an ad for Joey Badass’s début album “B4.DA.$$”. Before this I haven’t really listen to that much of his music. I have heard his name all the time but haven’t really listened to that much of his music. I had listened to a few songs of his off of his tape 1999.  And I really vibed with it so I was excited to see what Joey had in store for me with this album. I was not ready for how good the album is, front to back I was not disappointed. The project starts with the song “Save the Children”. At the start of the song an eerie /muffled noise starts to get louder and louder until you realise it’s a crowd cheering for Joey. I love the use of instruments in this album from the horns to even the piano on tracks like “Black Beetles”. The song is basically Joey Badass telling people what is up, an intro that will get you excited for the rest of the album. There is an echo and static effect on Joey’s voice in the middle of the track as he continues to rap. I really like how it works even though I wasn’t exactly able to tell what he said. His flow is so clean and keeps moving, never slowing down keeping you entertained through the whole album. In this album Joey adds conversations with friends and family at the end / start of certain songs. I really like how he uses those to tell his story through the project.  The “Introlude” even tells the story and helps transition from “Save The Children” to “Paper Trail$”. It starts with kids saying how they will be making so much money they will get girls and won’t have to go to school “Selling candy getting money!”. Then Joey slides into the end of the introlude as he starts saying “trying get that green back”. He’s basically telling everyone that they will never be broke again after all this work they have put in. “B4.DA.$$” talks about some serious themes an example would be how money controls our society. “Money ain’t a thing if I got it” he says in “Paper Trails”. The line that really hit me hard is “They say money is the root of all evil I see money as the route of all people, cause we all follow paper trails, paper trails and everybody gotta pay their bills, pay their bills”.  He’s right money runs all of our lives. We wake up to go to work and make money, and then come home to do it all over again tomorrow. It’s our life we shouldn’t let money run it, enjoy life and have fun! Sorry I went on a little bit of a deep rant now back to the album. Talking about those conversations with family / friends he has at the start and end at some songs, the track “Piece of Mind” is a perfect example of how well it works. It starts with Joey talking to his friend over speaker phone as he plays the song for him. You don’t realise until the end of the song that he is talking to his good friend who is in jail. What I love about the album is that he doesn’t have huge names on any of the tracks. But instead has upcoming artists like Maverick Sabre, Raury, fellow Pro Era member Dymeond Lewis and a few more lending their talents for the album. Maverick Sabre the UK singer rocks the song “On & On” with is smooth vocals. Sabre was also on the Hilltop Hoods recent album “Walking Under Stars”. My favourite track on the album is actually a bonus song featuring the Canadian native Kiesza. The song “Teach Me” is a bouncy fun song with Joey’s slick raps as Kiesza teaches you how to dance.

I honestly can’t get enough of this song! My other two favourite songs on the album are “Run Up On Ya” (featuring Action Bronson and Elle Varner) and “Curry Chicken”. Speaking of curry chicken Joey makes some in this video! This was my very first time listening to a full project by Joey Badass. I can now see why he is set to be one of the biggest names in hip hop. I know it is really early in the year but so far this is my favourite project. And if this is any indication on how good this year in hip hop will be then we are all in for a great year! All in all this is an incredible album that captures the smooth lyrics of Joey Badass accompanied with beats that have a really old school feel. I’m not a Dr. but I suggest you go buy his album now! Also follow him on twitter!