Live review: Joey Bada$$ — Friday, May 18, at the Truman
Friday night’s Joey Bada$$ show at the Truman confirmed some recent developments in the dexterous New York rapper’s career. His 2017 album, All-Amerikkkan Bada$$, on which he’s still touring, is rich with pop-friendly material and plainly aims for a larger fan base. It’s working, at least judging by an informal poll Joey conducted onstage Friday: about half the members of the audience shouted that it was their first time seeing him. Joey responded with a powerful show that flexed the various muscles he’s been building up since arriving on the rap scene five years ago.
A theme of militancy imbued the proceedings. The DJ booth had been converted into a barbed-wire-and-sandbag fortress, and the stage and first couple rows were covered in fog for the early portion of the show. Joey wore a high-fashion bulletproof vest and bullet-belt ensemble and emerged to a sample of an anti-police chant from The Black Power Mixtape. The first two songs of his hour-long set are among the most aggressive on All-Amerikkkan: “Ring The Alarm” and “Rockabye Baby,” which provide sharp critiques of modern hip-hop and racial violence in America, respectively. Joey’s urgent delivery and inimitable Brooklyn bravado supplied a strong launching pad.
Longtime fans were rewarded with a lengthy chunk of throwback cuts in the middle of the set. While many new songs display Joey’s wit just fine, tracks from 1999 reminded fans of their favorite weed-centric punchlines, jazz rap flows, and all the other reasons they first hopped on the Pro Era bandwagon.
A grouping of All-Amerikkkan’s pop offerings arrived near the show’s end. “Temptation” and “Land Of The Free,” both smooth pieces of political R&B, gave Joey introspective mic-stand moments to further display his versatility. These songs lacked the levels of nuance that Janelle Monáe serves up regularly in a similar style, but they made for an intriguing first step into her world. Joey may be so open-minded that he shares tracks with Xxxtentacion and casually gazes into eclipses, but his ability to stitch together a dynamic show, full of his authentic and still-evolving brand of New York hip-hop, unquestionable.
Compton rappers Boogie and Buddy were sandwiched between Joey’s performance and an opening set from his Pro Era colleague Chuck Strangers. Shady Records signee Boogie’s set brought effortless bars and convertible-ready jams, while Buddy’s vigorous stage presence and oddball pop tunes made it clear why Pharrell has taken an interest in him.
