By: Ryan Martin
As a prime member of Beast Coast, Joey Bada$$ has an enormous following. His last project, B4.Da.$$ was a solid debut effort with beats reminiscent of 90’s boom-bap hip-hop and impressive lyricism. Following that up two years later, Bada$$ returns with ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$, his response to the current state of our society that is filled with hate, racism, and police brutality. Bada$$ makes his statements extremely present as the majority of the album revolves around his personal opinions and statements. As a piece of art that represents our culture at this point in time, it’s important. As a musical project, it’s lackluster.
My first run through of ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ left me very bored. Not enough beats or one-liners caught my attention as I listened to it. Granted, I was doing homework, but it also doesn’t take me a lot to get distracted from that. During the second listen, after the positive feedback the album has been getting, I analyzed the hell out of it. I read every lyric along with the album and took notes. My opinion from the first time I heard it has swayed lightly but not by much.
Bada$$ does an excellent job addressing his concerns, frustrations and despair about the state of our nation. Throughout the record, he expresses his concerns about wanting to be a voice for his people or how there needs to be a bigger figure for his people that might not even be him. Personally, I feel Bada$$ does too much talking about how his people need a voice and not enough of why he is the right person to be the voice of those people. I feel that the album doesn’t do enough of his general opinions of how we can move forward from this state of disconnection and hate that our nation has fallen into.
The first half of the album has a summerier vibe to it that’s reminiscent of his earlier work (1999). The beats were quite impressive, I especially liked the beat for “For My People” and “Good Morning Amerikkka” I liked the gospel influence on the latter and Joey’s rapid fire lyrics. I felt it was a strong way to start off the album. “For My People” had some pretty underwhelming verses except for the last half of the second verse. I feel in these two tracks Joey is addressing some issues but he isn’t saying more than what has already been said. I found a lot of the same issues in “Temptation”, the album’s third track but not so much in content form. I felt that both the pre-chorus and chorus has a serious Kid Cudi influence which I felt was a little unoriginal. I think Joey is creatively impressive enough to come up with a decent hook that is his own. “Land of The Free” has a great beat with a cool Notorious B.I.G. sample behind it. His verses are strong, aggressive and powerful. I also enjoy the haunting nature behind the beat with the background vocals.
As a prime member of Beast Coast, Joey Bada$$ has an enormous following. His last project, B4.Da.$$ was a solid debut effort with beats reminiscent of 90’s boom-bap hip-hop and impressive lyricism. Following that up two years later, Bada$$ returns with ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$, his response to the current state of our society that is filled with hate, racism, and police brutality. Bada$$ makes his statements extremely present as the majority of the album revolves around his personal opinions and statements. As a piece of art that represents our culture at this point in time, it’s important. As a musical project, it’s lackluster.
My first run through of ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ left me very bored. Not enough beats or one-liners caught my attention as I listened to it. Granted, I was doing homework, but it also doesn’t take me a lot to get distracted from that. During the second listen, after the positive feedback the album has been getting, I analyzed the hell out of it. I read every lyric along with the album and took notes. My opinion from the first time I heard it has swayed lightly but not by much.
Bada$$ does an excellent job addressing his concerns, frustrations and despair about the state of our nation. Throughout the record, he expresses his concerns about wanting to be a voice for his people or how there needs to be a bigger figure for his people that might not even be him. Personally, I feel Bada$$ does too much talking about how his people need a voice and not enough of why he is the right person to be the voice of those people. I feel that the album doesn’t do enough of his general opinions of how we can move forward from this state of disconnection and hate that our nation has fallen into.
The first half of the album has a summerier vibe to it that’s reminiscent of his earlier work (1999). The beats were quite impressive, I especially liked the beat for “For My People” and “Good Morning Amerikkka” I liked the gospel influence on the latter and Joey’s rapid fire lyrics. I felt it was a strong way to start off the album. “For My People” had some pretty underwhelming verses except for the last half of the second verse. I feel in these two tracks Joey is addressing some issues but he isn’t saying more than what has already been said. I found a lot of the same issues in “Temptation”, the album’s third track but not so much in content form. I felt that both the pre-chorus and chorus has a serious Kid Cudi influence which I felt was a little unoriginal. I think Joey is creatively impressive enough to come up with a decent hook that is his own. “Land of The Free” has a great beat with a cool Notorious B.I.G. sample behind it. His verses are strong, aggressive and powerful. I also enjoy the haunting nature behind the beat with the background vocals.
I strongly believe "Devastated" has no part in being on this record. If anything, it’s a way to create more sales in order to promote the album and get it heard by more people so that Joey’s voice and opinions get a stronger reaction from the public. Bada$$ obviously is very strong on his beliefs as he has created an entire album behind them. While I agree with most of them, I think that he should fuel the reaction of the public based on his opinions in the album rather than the sales of a pop-rap record about overcoming the struggles of pre-stardom.
“Y U Don’t Love Me” was a filler track all around for me. The concept of Bada$$ talking to America as if she were a girl that treats Bada$$ poorly came off as a little unoriginal and while I did enjoy the beat, the chorus was much too repetitive. “Rockabye Baby” is easily the most enjoyable track on the album. It has a strong beat, with ScHoolboy Q doing a great job with his verse and the chemistry between both rappers seems strong. It sounds exactly like Bada$$ is at home on this track and reminds me of my favorite song off B4.Da.$$, “No. 99”.
For Beast Coast fans, they’ll eat up “Ring The Alarm” like it’s hotcakes. I found the beat very underwhelming, it’s a very average beast coast beat with no flavor to it. I also found Meechy Darko, one of the members of the Flatbush Zombies, to have a very unnecessary part to the song. He has no verse and his bridges are honestly annoying. Bada$$ has one of my favorite lines on the whole project on this track, ‘Firstly, it's the double entrende monster // Takin' haunted constant trips through your conscious’. Nyck Caution and Kirk Knight’s chemistry is wildly impressive as well as they trade bars for an entire verse.
I found both “Super Predator” and “Legendary” to be both very boring and filler tracks. I found the verses on Super Predator to be impressive except for Styles P’s verse and I found the chorus to be atrocious. Bada$$ taps into his Jamaican roots to spit out a chorus full of all sorts of different types of ‘tings’. While it could have worked two years ago, Drake has already beat ‘tings’ to death with both Views and More Life making the chorus sound stale. J. Cole’s verse is extremely underwhelming on “Legendary” and if it truly is the last verse he’ll give out, good riddance. Extremely underwhelming. If it wasn’t for his presence on the track, it would be the most unpopular track on the album in my opinion.
“Babylon” and “Amerikkkan Idol” ended up being some of my favorite tracks on the whole album. While the chorus on “Babylon” sounds exactly like J. Cole, Bada$$ comes through with some of the most aggressive and hungry verses on this track. My favorite line on the track is ‘Fuck your breath, nigga, don't even deserve air / Don't even deserve shit, don't even deserve nothin' If black lives really mattered, you niggas would do something’. I feel this is one of the only instances on the record where Joey has something really interesting and provoking to say rather than just pointing out what is wrong with our nation, which I feel has been addressed before. It isn’t until “Amerikkkan Idol” that Joey says all he has to say about our country and more. I feel this is the strongest track on the album, while Rockabye Baby would be the most enjoyable. Throughout Bada$$’s three long verses, he makes every possible point and opinion he had to say on the whole record present within the track’s six-minute span. It’s a very strong way to finish off the album.
I’m not going to tell you this album is boring, my opinion from that has changed. But for the average hip-hop fan, I’m also not going to tell you that this album will change your opinion on anything, nor change the way hip-hop is indulged or expressed. This is a very average politically charged rap record. I feel that there are no beats that are game-changing and there are no verses that are mind-blowing. Bada$$ made an average rap record that addressed everything he has to say in a positive manner, but nothing too dangerous (if you don’t count the Trump shout-outs that every other rapper has managed to do at this point). By last year’s election standpoint, every rapper was addressing Trump and the state of our nation including Run The Jewels, YG, Vic Mensa, and A Tribe Called Quest. So, my question is, in a world where everyone is talking about how bad our nation is and how we need to change, what makes Bada$$ stand out?
This review was originally published on www.blinkclyro.com read it here
“Y U Don’t Love Me” was a filler track all around for me. The concept of Bada$$ talking to America as if she were a girl that treats Bada$$ poorly came off as a little unoriginal and while I did enjoy the beat, the chorus was much too repetitive. “Rockabye Baby” is easily the most enjoyable track on the album. It has a strong beat, with ScHoolboy Q doing a great job with his verse and the chemistry between both rappers seems strong. It sounds exactly like Bada$$ is at home on this track and reminds me of my favorite song off B4.Da.$$, “No. 99”.
For Beast Coast fans, they’ll eat up “Ring The Alarm” like it’s hotcakes. I found the beat very underwhelming, it’s a very average beast coast beat with no flavor to it. I also found Meechy Darko, one of the members of the Flatbush Zombies, to have a very unnecessary part to the song. He has no verse and his bridges are honestly annoying. Bada$$ has one of my favorite lines on the whole project on this track, ‘Firstly, it's the double entrende monster // Takin' haunted constant trips through your conscious’. Nyck Caution and Kirk Knight’s chemistry is wildly impressive as well as they trade bars for an entire verse.
I found both “Super Predator” and “Legendary” to be both very boring and filler tracks. I found the verses on Super Predator to be impressive except for Styles P’s verse and I found the chorus to be atrocious. Bada$$ taps into his Jamaican roots to spit out a chorus full of all sorts of different types of ‘tings’. While it could have worked two years ago, Drake has already beat ‘tings’ to death with both Views and More Life making the chorus sound stale. J. Cole’s verse is extremely underwhelming on “Legendary” and if it truly is the last verse he’ll give out, good riddance. Extremely underwhelming. If it wasn’t for his presence on the track, it would be the most unpopular track on the album in my opinion.
“Babylon” and “Amerikkkan Idol” ended up being some of my favorite tracks on the whole album. While the chorus on “Babylon” sounds exactly like J. Cole, Bada$$ comes through with some of the most aggressive and hungry verses on this track. My favorite line on the track is ‘Fuck your breath, nigga, don't even deserve air / Don't even deserve shit, don't even deserve nothin' If black lives really mattered, you niggas would do something’. I feel this is one of the only instances on the record where Joey has something really interesting and provoking to say rather than just pointing out what is wrong with our nation, which I feel has been addressed before. It isn’t until “Amerikkkan Idol” that Joey says all he has to say about our country and more. I feel this is the strongest track on the album, while Rockabye Baby would be the most enjoyable. Throughout Bada$$’s three long verses, he makes every possible point and opinion he had to say on the whole record present within the track’s six-minute span. It’s a very strong way to finish off the album.
I’m not going to tell you this album is boring, my opinion from that has changed. But for the average hip-hop fan, I’m also not going to tell you that this album will change your opinion on anything, nor change the way hip-hop is indulged or expressed. This is a very average politically charged rap record. I feel that there are no beats that are game-changing and there are no verses that are mind-blowing. Bada$$ made an average rap record that addressed everything he has to say in a positive manner, but nothing too dangerous (if you don’t count the Trump shout-outs that every other rapper has managed to do at this point). By last year’s election standpoint, every rapper was addressing Trump and the state of our nation including Run The Jewels, YG, Vic Mensa, and A Tribe Called Quest. So, my question is, in a world where everyone is talking about how bad our nation is and how we need to change, what makes Bada$$ stand out?
This review was originally published on www.blinkclyro.com read it here
Ryan Martin
Ryan enjoys Vinyls, Scrambled Eggs and Kayaking