Joey Bada$$ All-Amerikkkan Bada$$

Last Friday, Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott – better known for his stage name, Joey Bada$$ – released his highly anticipated second full studio album, and his fifth project overall: All-Amerikkan Bada$$. The album is a remarkable vision, mostly fulfilled.

The album features 12 songs. In the first six tracks as well as last, we hear Joey’s range as a solo artist. In the rest, he brings in star talent to complete his vision.

On track seven, “ROCKABYE BABE,” listeners are introduced to features notable TDE artist Schoolboy Q. Even with popular Schoolboy Q, he falls short of being the biggest-name match, in terms of collaboration/features to appear on the Brooklyn native’s new work.

Those honors go to Style P on “SUPER PREDATOR” and J. Cole on “LEGENDARY,” tracks nine and 11, respectively. Chronixx, who had a feature on his first studio album, B4.DA.$$, makes another guest appearance on track 10, “BABYLON.”

Track eight, “RING THE ALARM,” includes three features on it, from Nyck Caution, Krik Knight and Meechy Darko. As well as featuring Knight here, Bada$$ also utilizes the Pro Era producer alongside Pro Era artist Chuck Strangers, keeping the project close between colleagues and friends. Other producers Joey reached out to while working on this album were Adam Pallin, Powers Pleasant, and Statik Selektah.

They are all individuals the rapper is used to working with, and I understand his style as well as vision artistically.

It should also be noted Joey Bada$$ released two different album covers for All-Amerikkkan Bada$$. The first cover released was an image of the American flag, using red, white, and blue color schemes with a paisley bandana print. The flag uses zero stars, but the image, along with the title, speaks for itself. It is a bold, profound statement of patriotism.

The second album cover that was released for the All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ album used more images, but was still basic compared to those for his first studio album, B4.DA.$$.

The one thing that both of the All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ covers share is the symbolic use of the American flag, as well as the same design pattern for the flag. That is the only thing the two covers share. The flag can be seen blowing in the wind as Joey Bada$$ gives two middle fingers (pixelated) to the camera with his upper body nonchalantly leaning out of the driver side window with a carefree “I don’t give a f*ck” demeanor.

The artist is wearing what seems to be a dark blue, almost black denim, jacket with white tassels. He has translucent blue sunglasses covering his eyes, gold rings on his fingers as well, and his braids are tightly done and slick back. All of this is presented on a light, sky-blue background with the album’s title words in white floating through the sky. The image resembles clouds on a sunny day.

This second album has more impactful imagery as well as a more spirited sense. It opens with more of a light poetic feel, with clapping and instrumentals in the background as we the listeners are introduced to the first track, “GOOD MORNING AMERIKKA.”

The song is a wake-up call, but more importantly it is a call to act. In the intro we hear Joey telling us to wake up and free our minds. The song itself only has one verse, and he presents it beautifully as if he was an open mic poetry slam, asking his audience the initial question: “What is freedom to you?”

He then expresses his confusion with the term while making references to police brutality, questioning whether freedom as just an abstract thought while also expressing how ill-informed people are, comparing them to mindless zombies.

Joey sees himself as a different individual conscious to what’s going on in America. He uses weed to self-medicate in the morning. Although the song is less than two minutes long, he shows his lyrical prowess and his deep poetic roots.

Songs “GOOD MORNING AMERIKKA,” “FOR MY PEOPLE,” and “TEMPTATION” have what I believe to be the smoothest, most silky transitions, of the whole album, perfectly flowing into each other. It is not to say the whole album doesn’t have a nice transition between songs; it’s just that the transitions aren’t smooth throughout the rest of the album.

The next three songs that follow are “LAND OF THE FREE,” “DEVASTATED,” and “Y U DON’T LOVE ME? (MISS AMERIKKA).” The first two were released for radio; “DEVASTATED” became the official radio hit helping the artist and the album quickly climb the Billboard Top 100 charts.

Contrary to the song’s name “DEVASTATED” can easily be considered the most uplifting song on the album. It is an expression of past feelings of growing up the tough streets of New York, feeling deeply lost and never likely to make it out of the streets. However, Joey no longer feels devastated because he is finally able to see his potential as a rapper and entertainer. The high tempo, paired with lines like “Now we’re on our way to greatness” showcases his optimism, well as his positive outlook on his career as an entertainer.

The next four songs that follow “Y U DON’T LOVE ME? (MISS AMERIKKA)” and “ROCKABYE BABE, RING THE ALARM,” “SUPER PREDATOR,” and “BABYLON.” Within the album, the last two tracks are probably the most political and lowest-tempo, outside the first track. That’s important to keep in mind as you listen to the profound messages they illustrate.

“SUPER PREDATOR” addresses how the Black/African American man is always perceived as a predator in modern-day American culture, even when there is no justifiable reason. The lack of justification as well as the perceived threat is significant when the song calmly illustrates how Joey, Style P and many other African-Americans only care about living their life. Joey and Style P show their only mindset, along with many other African-Americans, is to survive and make better of themselves at any cost. (If that includes being perceived as a friend and a predator, then they would want to be a ‘super predator’ at top of whatever they set their minds to, meantime.)

The smooth and mellow Jamaican sound of “SUPER PREDATOR” transitions well with the following track of “BABYLON,” which shows the young MC’s willingness to stay close to his roots on a sound level as well as through the messages he relates. His family is from Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and knowing that, one can easily recognize the reggae and Rastafari influence.

The following is my favorite track on the whole album, “LEGENDARY” featuring J. Cole. Two of the hottest and lyrically talented individuals today come together, trading powerful, complete verses. The song lacks no modesty, but is far from being arrogant.

Joey Bada$$ and J. Cole use the word legendary in two ways. In one way the word legendary can be seen as a word synonymous to cool, rad or awesome, like when one exclaims “Legendary, bro!” after seeing an amazing trick preformed on a skateboard or snowboard. The other way the word legendary is being used is in a prophesying way. Both artists here are controversially declaring their legendary status, regardless of what anyone else thinks of their music.

The 50-minute All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ album ends with a six-minute song, “AMERIKKKAN IDOL.” In my eyes there is nothing particularly special about it; it is neither the best track on the album nor the worst. However, the placement of “AMERIKKKAN IDOL” makes for a beautiful concept album ending.

On an overall rating out of 5, All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ deserves a strong 4. The album is strong, sound, and complete. Stylistically the transitions are not all smooth, but there is mostly a silky flow to them. Tracks four through seven is where the artist transition gets lost the most, but it does not take away from the project as a whole.

Another thing that should be kept in mind is that Joey Bada$$ is just 22 years old and All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ is just his second full studio album, following his B4.DA.$$ album.

Fans of the artist will really enjoy this, his sophomore concept album.