Credit: Jorund Foreland Pedersen

Joey Bada$$ is no rookie at this point. The Brooklyn rapper entered the industry as a 17-year-old with his 1999 mixtape and has gone on to release multiple albums.

Now aged 30, Joey has a family, sharing a child with his partner, Serayah, born earlier this summer. This new stage of life will undoubtedly provide a new perspective for an MC who has always expressed deep thoughts about life. But despite how much he’s offered as a rapper, it still feels like he’s fighting to be heard.

The Pro Era member returned with the release of his new album titled Lonely at the Top on August 29th. Released on Columbia Records, the project includes 11 tracks with features from Westside Gunn, A$AP Ferg, Ty Dolla $ign, Ab-Soul, Rapsody, Rome Streetz, and CJ Fly. It serves as his first album in three years following 2000 in 2022. Producers on the project include Chuck Strangers, Boi-1da, Hitmaka, Statik Selektah, and Jay Versace.

Joey opens the album with ‘Dark Aura’ and wastes no time getting down to business. On the record, he touches on his celebrity status and makes his issues with major labels clear, despite releasing the album on a major label.

In the first verse, he raps, “Lifestyles of the rich and famous/ Custom fitted shoes, tailored waistband, tuck the stainless/ Gotta move swift and dangerous/ They gon’ have to lift them wages/ You ain’t talkin’ money, you must be talkin’ a different language/ Independent mindset, we ain’t fuckin’ with the majors/ Can’t get back our time spent, gotta treat it like it’s sacred.”

Lonely at the Top was initially set to arrive on August 1st, but was pushed back at the last minute due to label issues. Joey was disappointed with Columbia and called them out on social media, claiming executives had long been stopping him from executing his ideas. He alleged the album was fully turned in and that it was simply label politics at play.

“My shit got pushed back because the label pushed my shit back,” he said in a video. “My album is signed, sealed, and delivered over a month ago. This ain’t cause of no sample clearances, this ain’t cause of no features, this ain’t cause of no clashing with another artist on the date.

“This is literally an Exhibit A of the label getting in the artists way. I’m signed to Columbia Records. But for the longest time, I just ain’t been fucking with them. Because all they do is get in my way. They really don’t fucking contribute to nothing.”

The cover art was designed by Jahlil Nzinga and serves as an abstract interpretation of the album title, while still leaving things open to the eyes of the viewer. Joey crowned himself the “King of New York” and called out West Coast rappers at the start of the year. He ignited a coastal feud with diss tracks flying in each direction, but Lonely at the Top is his chance to prove his claim once and for all.