Jo-Vaughn Scott also known as Joey Bada$$ was born on Jan 20th 1995 in Brooklyn, New York. He began his Hip Hop career in high school with a group of friends. Joey and his friend would create the Pro Era rap collective. This group of rappers main focus in their music was conscious spirituality and political revolution. Rapper Capital Steez was a part of this rap collective and was a longtime friend of Jo-Vaughn’s. On December 23rd 2012, Steez committed suicide at the age of 19. His death has led to the disbandment of the rap collective because Steez was a founding member. In addition, this event caused Joey to pursue music independently in the honor of his close friend.
Joey Badass released his second studio album “All AmeriKKKan Badass” on April 7th 2017. Joey is held in high regards within the hip hop industry. In the Hip Hop industries rappers are categorized into two types. In the hip hop industry there are some rappers that contain the ability to be lyrical and poetic. Meanwhile, some rappers careers do not have this ability and rely on repetitiveness and usually contain meaningless lyrics. The first category of rappers are called “conscious rappers. The second category of rappers are called “mumble rappers”. Conscious rappers contain the ability to tell stories, influence people, use wordplay and rhyme in a smooth fashion. Mumble rappers music usually lacks any meaning and is very repetitive. The current state of Hip Hop music contains more mumble rappers than conscious rappers. Mumble rappers music generates more money and mass appeal due to its simplicity. Joey Badass is one of the few relevant conscious rappers than can generate sales revenue like mumble rappers. Other relevant hip hop artists that can be categorized as “conscious rappers” include J.Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Logic. Hip Hop enthusiast were ecstatic for the release of this album. In what seemed to be the darkest ages in Hip Hop culture, Joey Bada$$ album “All AmeriKKKan Badass” caused a revival in quality Hip Hop music and culture.
On this album Joey wanted to share his thoughts and views on American society. The title of this album is “All AmeriKKKan Badass.” Joey intentionally spelled this album like that. The letter C in the word America is Spelled with three capital K’s. This is a reference to the Ku Klux Klan. Jo-Vaughn believes that the presence of white supremacy can still be seen in society and should be illegalized. Through this album Joey expresses the thought that black Americans are still being oppressed in society. This entire album contains many social and political references that Joey uses to express his thoughts.
The song of this album is entitled “Good morning AmeriKKKan”. In this track Joey uses rhyme scheme and intellect to express a complex topic. In this song Scott stated “Now, what’s freedom to you? Let’s talk about it, take a minute, think it through. I’m all about it, but the concept seems new. The coppers still shoot us down on Channel 5 news. Lock us up for anything’ we do to pay dues. “With this line Joey is questioning what freedom in the United States is for an African American. He believes that African Americans are not really “free” and face many social obstacles. In addition, in this line Joey also references police shootings. Another song of significance on this album is entitled “Devastated”. Many Hip Hop critics were displeased when Bada$$ released this track. This song is repetitive and could be viewed as “pop”. Joey received backlash because he is typically known for his lyrical genius but instead chose the repetitive pop route. Talented rappers often take this route when they are in need of making sales. Consequently, this goes against the actually artistry of lyrical ability. This song of Bada$$ went platinum and was on the Billboard’s top 100 list. Without this song, Joey would not have been able to track a larger audience. This move was intelligent by Jo-Vaughn because he grabbed a large audience, then told his message.
Ring the Alarm is a song that expresses the culture of New York Hip Hop. This song contains feature from many other New York Rappers. In addition, Joey reunites with former pro era rappers Nyck Caution and Kirk Knight. This song is brash and the rappers are spewing lyrics that contain meaning and wordplay. In addition, in this song the rappers mention that decline in hip hop culture. Nyck caution stated “Resurrection of real, let’s bring it back. It ain’t even about the bars, they bumpin’ whatever slaps now. All I hear is that ad-lib rapping’ on my Sound Cloud. Sick of the trash out, this is the crackdown. “With this line Nyck is stating that modern rappers lack the ability to creatively rhyme. In addition Nyck calls other artist “ad-lib” artists. An “ad-lib” is a sound used in Hip Hop songs in order to fill space in the song.
The album “All AmeriKKKan Badass” was an outstanding album. On a scale out of 10, I rate it a 10. This album is a classic in opinion. The current state of Hip Hop lacks songs that challenges the listener to think. In addition, throughout this album Joey enforces the idea of the power of intellect. It is extremely rare for a Hip Hop artist to make becoming knowledgeable “cool.” This album is a representation of Hip Hop Culture at its finest.
All AmeriKKan Badass, Jo- Vaughn Scott, April 7th 2017, Atlantic Records
