Joey Bada$$ Releases Collab Track With Dr Premier; Listen Here [VIDEO]
Brooklyn's own Joey Bada$$ has released a new single produced with hip-hop veteran DJ Premier. Listen to it here:
The new track, titled "Unorthodox" was produced by Green Label Sound, the record label owned by Mountain Dew (yup that's a thing apparently). The young rapper is about to celebrate his 18th birthday.
Check out a behind-the-scenes video of Joey Bada$$ working in the studio with DJ Premier.
Joey Bada$$ belongs to a new generation of rappers who I'd like to classify as neo-classic hip-hop. These young MCs are bringing the feel of old school rap into today's hip-hop music and they have their parents to thank for it.
Joey Bada$$ grew up in Brooklyn with two parents who made sure to teach him the meaning of good rap music. Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar (another neo-classic hip-hop artist who's slightly older than Joey) grew up in Compton where his father taught him to love 2Pac and Snoop Dogg.
Joey Bada$$ (real name Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott) was born in 1995 to a West Indian family and grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY, attending the Edward R. Murrow High School. He studied acting but quickly switched over to music to focus on rapping. He says he wrote his first lyrics at age 11 and formed his own rap collective with his classmates, including the late Capital STEEZ.
He got his start when a freestyle YouTube video got picked up by WorldStarHipHop and went viral online. The video soon caught the attention of Jonny Shipes, the president of Cinemative Music Group and manager of BIG K.R.I.T. and Smoke DZA. Shipes reportedly contacted Joey on Twitter and signed him soon afterward.