Nas was 18 years old when he dropped his infamous debut project illmatic which was released in April 1994. Now we fast forward the tape to June 2012, where brooklyn born rapper Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott otherwise known Joey Bada$$' released his debut project 1999 at the age of 17. The project instantly began to take the East Coast by storm. A new-school artist with an old school appreciation. Joey, started a movement known as the Pro-Era or the Progressive Era. Pro-Era is an accumulation of his high school friends, producers, artists, and photographers. Basically anyone in his immediate circle that has the same vision as him. Badass solidified his presence in NY hip-hop history with his debut mixtape 1999. By September of 2012, he released the Rejex tape, which was an accumulation of melodic boom bap leftover tracks that did not make the cut for the 1999 project. By 2013 XXL Magazine announced Badass would be a part of the 2013 Freshman XXL Class. Later that year the Brooklyn born native went on to drop yet another strong mixtape known as Summer Knights, which featured production from The Alchemist, MF Doom, Statik Selektah, Chuck Strangers and more. Then in 2015, Joey released his debut album B4.DA.$$. The album title serves to show his love for double entendre’s as the album's name references his last name but also spells out “before the dollar signs”. The album, managed to reach the No. 5 spot on the billboard top 100 for album sales list as well as during his debut with over 58,000 copies sold in its first week. The album also took the No. 1 on both the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and the Rap Albums chart according to billboard magazine. The rest of 2015 was spent on his World Domination Tour as well as playing overseas at various festivals.
It is safe to say that 2016 is starting to look like the beginning of a new era for the Pro-Era figurehead. He has successfully made it on his own with his independent label to this point in his career, and it seems like this is only the beginning for the 21 year old emcee. He was an executive producer on both Kirk Knight and Nyck Caution’s debut projects. It seems that he has helped evolve and expand Pro Era into a multipurpose movement. Other than designing clothes for the Pro-Era brand, Joey spends his time as the face of the Calvin Klein 2016 spring campaign. In addition to this, he says that his ultimate dream is to become an actor.
Earlier this year Joey Bada$$ made an appearance on Sway in the morning to take his shot at the infamous 5 Fingers of Death Freestyle. As expected by many he flows his way through the 5 tracks with calm finesse and ease. You can feel his energy and confidence when he freestyles. I felt that this freestyle is a certain milestone in his career, because when you kill a freestyle on Sway in the morning there is a certain level of acknowledgement and respect given. Unlike most rappers in interviews today, Joey Badass jumps at opportunities to attack instrumentals live and freestyle during his interviews, whereas a lot of other artists would rather not freestyle every time they are interviewed.
So far we have gotten 4 solo tracks from Mr. Badass this year, they are as follows…Perception Vs. Reality, Aim High, Ready, & Brooklyn’s Own. Brooklyn’s Own is a single that was released as a tribute on wax to Brooklyn and Biggie. Each track he has put out this year has had its own unique vibe and feel to it. We also have a lot to look forward to in the near future. According to an interview with Dj Enuff on the Shade 45 show, Joey mentioned that he is currently sitting on 80 unreleased tracks and is looking to drop a solo project as well as a Pro-Era collaborative project before 2016 is up. There has also been word of a possible collaboration with Dr. Dre, Bada$$ said during the interview that “I heard we were supposed to be working with Dre soon, so I don’t want to f--- up the s---, so hopefully you know what I am saying, I’ma put it out there just so it could be stronger.” It seems that Pro-Era & Joey Badass have a lot of content to offer us in the upcoming months of 2016 and I am definitely looking forward to it.
Listed below in no particular order are a few of my favorite tracks from the B4.Da.$$. album.
It is safe to say that 2016 is starting to look like the beginning of a new era for the Pro-Era figurehead. He has successfully made it on his own with his independent label to this point in his career, and it seems like this is only the beginning for the 21 year old emcee. He was an executive producer on both Kirk Knight and Nyck Caution’s debut projects. It seems that he has helped evolve and expand Pro Era into a multipurpose movement. Other than designing clothes for the Pro-Era brand, Joey spends his time as the face of the Calvin Klein 2016 spring campaign. In addition to this, he says that his ultimate dream is to become an actor.
Earlier this year Joey Bada$$ made an appearance on Sway in the morning to take his shot at the infamous 5 Fingers of Death Freestyle. As expected by many he flows his way through the 5 tracks with calm finesse and ease. You can feel his energy and confidence when he freestyles. I felt that this freestyle is a certain milestone in his career, because when you kill a freestyle on Sway in the morning there is a certain level of acknowledgement and respect given. Unlike most rappers in interviews today, Joey Badass jumps at opportunities to attack instrumentals live and freestyle during his interviews, whereas a lot of other artists would rather not freestyle every time they are interviewed.
So far we have gotten 4 solo tracks from Mr. Badass this year, they are as follows…Perception Vs. Reality, Aim High, Ready, & Brooklyn’s Own. Brooklyn’s Own is a single that was released as a tribute on wax to Brooklyn and Biggie. Each track he has put out this year has had its own unique vibe and feel to it. We also have a lot to look forward to in the near future. According to an interview with Dj Enuff on the Shade 45 show, Joey mentioned that he is currently sitting on 80 unreleased tracks and is looking to drop a solo project as well as a Pro-Era collaborative project before 2016 is up. There has also been word of a possible collaboration with Dr. Dre, Bada$$ said during the interview that “I heard we were supposed to be working with Dre soon, so I don’t want to f--- up the s---, so hopefully you know what I am saying, I’ma put it out there just so it could be stronger.” It seems that Pro-Era & Joey Badass have a lot of content to offer us in the upcoming months of 2016 and I am definitely looking forward to it.
Listed below in no particular order are a few of my favorite tracks from the B4.Da.$$. album.
- Paper Trails
- Big Dusty
- Hazeus View
- On & On
- Christ Conscious
- O.C.B (Only Child Blues)
- Teach Me