Joey Bada$$ joins Zane Lowe on New Music Daily on Apple Music 1 to discuss his new LP ‘2000’. He tells Apple Music how the project relates to his ‘1999’ debut project and discusses collaborating with Diddy on album opener “The Baddest”, the therapeutic process of creating “Survivor’s Guilt”, and shares the origin story of “Cruise Control”. He also reveals his top north stars in rap and discusses exploring acting, why he remains a student of the game, and the joy of seeing new generations of fans discover his music.
Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music How ‘2000’ Relates to ‘1999’…
If 1999 was that come up project, 2000 is that same kid just on the other side of the fence.
Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music About “Cruise Control”…
Man, so shout out to Mike Will. You know what I'm saying? Because he is the genius behind the sound of it. He definitely gave me the canvas that I was able to draw on. And soon as I heard the beat, man, it just spoke to me. It felt very aspirational, felt ambitious, it felt reflective. And that's just... I just approached it on some, yo, 30 million by age 30 motivated to reach my goals. Trust me, I ain't worried. You know what I'm saying? It just, the feeling of it, it just feels limitless. You know what I'm saying? It feels like, all right, man, I'm trusting in my faith and I'm leaping off of the cliff with no safety net. You know what I'm saying? We just going.
Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music About Collaborating with Diddy on Album Opener “The Baddest”…
Over the last, what, six years, Puff and I have formed this real deep brotherly bond. You know what I'm saying? We've been talking about my next album for literally over the last five years and stuff like that. So this opportunity just presented itself. I laid down the intro track, we was in the studio, we were all excited about it. It was actually the last song that I recorded on the whole album… because I had the album, I'm just like, I need an intro. I need an intro. I need a way to start this thing. And we just got in the studio… we laid it down. And I literally just called Puff like, "Yo, I got it. You got to come lay this." He like, "Yo, I'm actually on the way to the studio," but his studio was five minutes from where I was at. So he pulled up on me. He wouldn't take the joint. He brought a whole bunch of DeLeón, and Cîroc. It was a movie.
Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music About The Therapeutic Process of Creating “Survivor’s Guilt”…
It was incredibly therapeutic, man. Even just the way that it started. I just started writing the song. I was in the shower one day and a rhyme scheme had came to me. You know what I'm saying? It was something along the lines of rich and rotten. And I started to dive deep into that whole idea of how my life is, where it's at now. And because I had recently came to terms with the term survivor's guilt. At the time, I'm saying. Not recently now. But at the time when I made the song, I had realized that I've been affected by this thing called survivor's guilt. And it hit so close to home because when I first came out, I was trying to bring everybody along with me. You know what I'm saying? I was trying to put my whole team on my back in hopes that they could receive the same success that I was receiving. And as years went by and it started to be more clearer than ever that I was the guy who had the success, and I might be the only guy to have that, that put a huge pressure on my shoulders, man. Just the way it had me feeling and moving for a lot of years, without realizing that's what was affecting me. Me feeling like, all right, if my homies can't come with me, then I can't go… it was incredibly therapeutic for me to even come to that point of self-awareness. And then on another level, to be able to put that into words where I could release them. You know what I'm saying? Because just making the song alone was enough for me. But now sharing it with the world and having it hit close to home for people, or people saying that it's relatable to things that they've been through, that's the ultimate reward, if you will.
Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music Jay-Z, Biggie, and Capital Steez Are His North Stars in Rap…
Well, initially it was a tie between Jay-Z and Biggie. I'm a Brooklyn kid, I'm Brooklyn born, so they were very instrumental throughout my childhood and my musical upbringing. But once I got older, I got to say Capital Steez. You know what I mean? He was my brother, he was my partner, my best friend. He was so incredibly talented and within proximity. You know what I'm saying? I grew up listening to the greats, but to me Steez was like we were colleagues. We were right amongst each other. So we always pushed each other's pen, but he by far pushed my pen the most. To this day, he pushes my pen. You know what I'm saying? In spirit.
Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music About Exploring Acting Opportunities and How Rap Lead Him There…
TV and film, acting was something that I always wanted to do. A lot of people know I was a theater student in high school, then I got kicked out because my attendance was just shady. Growing up in New York, immediately I noticed that trying to become an actor in New York city was damn near impossible. Not that becoming a rapper had higher chances, but I just felt more confident in music. So I told myself I'll focus on music, and in the future, I'll use that to leverage the acting, and here I am. You know what I mean? And it's going great. It's going great. I look forward to more opportunities. A lot of projects in the works. You know what I mean? That still haven't surfaced yet.
Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music He’s Still a Student of The Game…
I am truly a student to this game. You know what I mean? And I came in literally a student to this game. And that hasn't changed. I'm a student in every room that I walk into. So yeah, it is definitely a great feeling to still be able to carry on this art form in the way that I do and to be able to carve out a lane for myself.
Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music About His Older Music Reaching a New Generation of Fans…
…it’s by far the greatest feeling. Because these kids, they keep my name alive. You know what I'm saying? My music has touched them for years and it will continue to touch them for years to come, where it just continues to spread like wildfire even 10 years later. And I'm just incredibly grateful for that right there.
