2000 Showcases Joey Bada$$ At His Most Comfortable—For Better Or Worse
A lot has changed since Joey Bada$$’s critically acclaimed mixtape 1999 was released in 2012.
The project, loaded with double entendres and flow switches out the wazoo, propelled the young artist into hip-hop stardom.
Now, after a five-year hiatus, Joey Bada$$ is back with his latest album: 2000.
It features the production muscle of established veterans such as Statik Selektah and Mike WiLL Made-It and guest appearances from industry titans such as P. Diddy and Nas. The collaboration with hip-hop’s royalty adds to the album’s elegant beats and relaxed tone.
The album is an easy-on-the-ears listen. It’s marketed as the spiritual successor to 1999.
On Brand New 911—one of 2000’s 14 tracks—Joey recalls the struggles he overcame to achieve his goals, reflecting on how some people continue to pray for his downfall.
One of Us features California native Larry June and contains a “knock it out the park like Albert Pujols” reference to Where It’$ At? from 1999.
Songs like these are strong highlights. They seamlessly blend Joey’s signature swagger with his lyrics.
However, you can have too much of a good thing, which Joey fails to realize on tracks like Cruise Control and Welcome Back. On these cuts, he raps sweet nothings into the listener’s ear with the emphasis being on “nothing.”
The substance and clever wordplay we’re used to getting from Joey is replaced with general statements and empty glamor. It’s the equivalent of purchasing a fake diamond ring and flaunting it—eventually the cracks are exposed.
Regardless of the issues that pollute the record, the impressive list of collaborators who appear on the album help the project outshine its flaws.
Make Me Feel exhibits the best flows on the album and presents Joey at his most aggressive. The “alligator jaws sayin’ ain’t nobody greater” and “keep the game at bay like the 49ers” bars are why hip-hop heads fell in love with him as a lyricist.
Joey’s storytelling on Survivors Guilt tugs at your heartstrings. In it, he honors his friends Capital Steez and Junior B while examining what he could have done to protect them from their untimely passing.
He compares their death to the “darkest cloud” in the sky and exposes his vulnerability, explaining how he lost his voice when he lost them.
The song is the perfect transition to Written in the Stars, the album’s closing track. Its jazzy instrumental is more emotionally compelling than flashy and emphasizes his happiness with where his life is and what the future holds.
You can’t help but smile when Joey Bada$$ speaks about how successful he has become, even if the once prominent fire in his belly doesn’t emit the same flame.
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