The End of a Minute, The Dawn of an Era: Joey Bada$$ - 1999

It's been a minute since they've seen a style with no gimmicks

-The first line of 1999

Go through your daily routine. What does it involve? You wake up, eat breakfast, drive to school, educate yourself, hang with friends a little, go home, do homework, wash, rinse repeat? 

Now, imagine say, Jay-Z's daily routine. Wake up in Brooklyn next to Beyonce, go into the office in which you manage a record label, a clothing line, and a professional basketball team. Maybe record a track, maybe talk to Kanye, Obama if it's election season. Go to the Nets game that night.

There has to be an in-between right? Well, meet Jo-Vaughn Scott.

Jo-Vaughn is just an average 17 year old attending high school, living in Brooklyn, and hanging out with friends. Only, more often, Jo-Vaughn  is known as Joey Bada$$, the teenage hip hop revivalist with a flow that seemingly only veterans know. This is shown on his first mixtape 1999, released in 2012.

Part I: "Now we got ends, but it's only the beginning"

"Summer Knights"

The first track, "Summer Knights," just scratches the surface of all facets of the album: the flow, the topic, the styles (on styles, on styles). The smooth beat mixed with jazz samples and Joey's non-stop flow sets up the following track, "Waves." Keeping with the beginning smoothness to settle in the listener, "Waves" hook-less style entrances the listener with flow that hasn't been seen in Hip Hop for years.

"For it is not faux, nor false that this kid from the north, speaks with forced supports of reinforced assaults

I'm sure by now you can assume he never lost

Unless with some form of divorce, or a corpse"

As the beat builds in the background (like a tide), a recording of Tupac Shakur (seen being one of the greatest rappers here) plays in which Tupac discusses that the "rap audience" is not actually ready to see a "real" person. Joey ends by concluding that he will "make it all happen." The smoothness continues on the third track "FromdaTomb$" featuring Chuck Strangers, a fun track exhibiting Joey's love for Brooklyn ("the home of the realest") and his incredible gift for wordplay ("I got sick of class, started making classics"). Here, the album shifts a little.

Part II: "Ain't no half steppin' 'round me, And you gotta drown a fish before you clown me"

The shift in question is from chill to trill. This is notified by the gunshot and police sirens that open the next track "Survival Tactics." Joey manages to maintain his impressive flow while adding a new swagger into the mix; a harder, more violent Joey appears in the next few tracks. On "Survival Tactics" as well as "Killuminati" (the next track), Joey focuses less on achieving goals and more on the idea of proving himself. Whether its putting other rappers down, or talking about guns, Joey is clearly trying to come harder. "Hardknocks" (video below) makes excellent use of story telling as well as keeping with the themes Joey has hit on in the previous tracks. It's easily the most serious track on the album, which should make a listener wonder if it's also the most sincere. 

"Hardknocks"

The next track, "World Domination," is a funky transition. The only "harder" subjects it deals with is Joey's supposed "domination" (which frankly, at this point in the album, doesn't seem far off course). 

"And come out imputed with fusions of Blueprints and Illmatics*

I’ve been going raw, this just how I feel rappin'

We gave y'all sur' tactics, so y'all can’t even gas us

We taught you how to be prepared but still attacking the masses"

*Joey's personal answer to a classic question

Joey shows his range within the first half of the mixtape, and he continues this in...

Part III: "It’s PE [Pro Era: Joey's crew] leaving no hope for these hoes"

"Funky Ho'$"

Joey continues the album by discussing girls. Realizing the cliche, the first line of "Pennyroyal" goes, "another love song gone wrong." He goes on to discuss how it went wrong, and ends the song by recycling a Jay-Z hook (a personal favorite, by the way), "I can't see it comin' down my eyes, so I gotta let this song cry." Apparently Joey grew a little bitter about the happenings from "Pennyroyal," judging by the hook in his next song, "Funky Ho'$:" "I don't trust these bitches they will never catch me slippin." In a sense, it seems as if all of this is getting to him. On the next track, "Daily Routine," Joey expresses some uncertainty. He talks about how dreams of athletics or music might be a little misguided, and ultimately futile in a sense. However, by the end of the song, he concludes that rapping actually makes him more confident. Joey then takes a stab at a beat produced by one of the greatest, J. Dilla. "Snakes" is laid-back acceptance of the wrong-doers (the snakes) around him, and "Don't Front" is the end of a full bounce-back by Joey. At this point, Joey has gone deep into the intense side of hip hop as well as the softer side. It is at this point that Joey returns back to his routes from Part I.

Part IV: "See God made 3 Bigs, 2 Pacs, but he only made one era: The Era"

"Righteous Minds"

Joey comes right back with arguably the best track on the album, "Righteous Minds." An untouchable flow, clever wordplay, and a catchy hook makes this track really stand out. Joey actually recycled this beat as well from the Beatnuts. The following song, "Where It'$ At" is not as strong as "Righteous;" however, it does still sport an impressive flow and another smooth J. Dilla beat. This song could be seen as the fall of the falling action in the structure of the album.
Finally, the album reaches "Suspect." An twelve minute cypher, "Suspect" rocks a verse from each member of Pro Era. Each solid verse is followed by the Era chanting the chorus. The song ends with what might be the most impressive verse on the album.

'Til the day I die, I'll be puffing lye, fuck the world, fuck it dry
Tell them government spies I won't cover my eyes
Won't cower, won't move cause I don't move like a coward

Knowledge is power and the flower of life is (s)ours

Get as high as ours, maybe you could see the towers

Scour your dirty mind and maybe you unleash the power

We all got the potential in our body and soul, probably you know

I found mines right through the pencil, started bodying flows but fuck that

This be the preview of primeval hip-hop retrieval

I hold illegal like I'm copping, so weasels to squeal

This one for my people, headed to the top, no redo

Thinking up evil but see no evil just be knievel

I ain't ask to be this good, they just made me better

They told me cheese at the cams and they made me cheddar

And the green only made me clever

See God made three Bigs, two Pacs, but he only made one Era

The era

Overall, Joey Bada$$' freshman showing is just straight up impressive. An old school flow, a notable range, and an ultimate consistency make 1999 a truly special album. All of which is made more special when a listener stops to think, "Oh, he's 17." It has been a minute since a style has been seen successful without any gimmicks, and that 60 seconds is up.