Review: Joey Bada$$ - ALL AMERIKKKAN BADA$$
By Ezra Maloney | Apr 23 2017
ALL AMERIKKKAN BADA$$, the second studio album from Joey Bada$$, promises at first to be an interesting follow-up to the rapper’s 2015 debut B4.Da.$$, itself a decent if slightly forgettable first effort. ALL AMERIKKKAN BADA$$, however, is just dull, lazy and unoriginal. Overall the collection is just plainly disappointing as an album.Arriving as somewhat of a prodigy, being just eighteen when his innovative mixtape 1999 was released, the bar had been set high for Joey Bada$$. Although ALL AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ has fleeting moments of the same creativity and whip-smart lyrics, it fails to make a mark, with an especially disappointing lead single, ‘Devastated’, setting the tone for the rest of the album. ‘Devastated’ may actually be the weakest track on the album despite having a good balance of both rap and singing, two things Bada$$ is incredibly adept at.The first six songs give no indication of the talent listeners were gifted with on 1999; they build slowly, creating anticipation yet offering little to no payoff. Anticlimactic is the keyword of the first part of this album.‘Rockabye Baby’ is undoubtedly the best track, although it has little competition. ‘Rockabye Baby’ proves that Bada$$ has the tools and the talent to make great music and write lyrics that capture the zeitgeist of a disillusioned America.The fact that the listener gets only a tiny taste of what Joey Bada$$ has to offer is the most disappointing aspect of ALL AMERIKKKAN BADA$$. We are constantly left yearning for more than what we get, with the previous knowledge of what could be offered.In a Nutshell: Maybe Bada$$ should rethink the name?