ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ is the latest offering from east-coast rapper and Pro-Era member Joey Bada$$. Now, I've been listening to Joey's stuff since he dropped his 1999 mixtape a few years back, and his last commercial release B.4.DA.$$ narrowly missed my best albums list for that year. On that album, Joey was showing off, yet again, just how great of a rapper he is, letting his influences shine through, but not overshadow his own personality as an MC. Another thing about his last album is that it focused heavily on his past, how he was raised, where he's from and how he got started in the rap game, so going into this new album, Joey sees little need to retread old ground, instead, ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ focuses on the present, more specifically, the political and racial climate of the last couple of years.
Of course, it's no secret how tense things have been in terms of race and politics in America; people all over the country are reacting in different ways, some peaceful, some violent, but in the style of the greats, Joey uses his art to speak his mind and in his own words on the track "For My People", "teach you a lesson". And with a flow as seasoned and impassioned as Joey's it's hard not to take notice, especially on cuts like "Land of the Free" and "Babylon", the latter of which is easily Joey's most passionate and raw performance ever; he sounds like he's on the verge of tears do to how frustrated he is with the world around him and how it is effecting his people, and his words hit just as hard as his performance. Honestly, next to dudes like Kendrick Lamar, very few modern rappers have been able to pull off a consistent and thoughtful political statement in their albums without coming off as preachy.
However, while I will say that the second half of this album is very much one hard-nosed track after another, mostly dealing with, again, politics and social issues, the first half actually features some of Joey's most approachable and catchy material ever. Tracks like "Temptations" and "Devastated" are some of the few moments where Joey does some self reflection, from his daily struggles in faith ("Temptations") to his come-up ("Devastated"); both of these tracks feature slick flows and even slicker hooks, which are his best yet on this album.
Still, not every one of those hooks is a winner, and I honestly found the J.Cole featured "Legendary" to be a little on the boring side, mostly because of how sleepy J.Cole sounds, though the message is still strong in his verse, reflecting on how he is going to teach his children to be humble when they're surrounded by such great wealth. But for any number of nitpicks I could make, I just can't deny that this is Joey's most consistent effort yet, and I actually think I like it even more than his last project.
9.0/10
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