Joey Bada$$ is an intriguing and unique rapper. Born and raised in the East Flatbush area of Brooklyn, the emcee (real name Jo-Vaughn Scott) first surfaced in the early 2010s as one of New York’s most promising young prospects. As an independent artist and incredible lyricist, Scott put New York back on the map when he dropped his debut mixtape, 1999.
Scott has always remained independent and has released all his music through Pro Era Records, a label founded by the Brooklyn Pro Era collective, of which he is a member, alongside Kirk Knight, CJ Fly and the late Capital STEEZ,
Akin to figures such as Chance The Rapper, Vince Staples and Smino, Joey Bada$$ has always remained unscathed by trends and has persisted in making music that is true to himself instead of pursuing the mainstream.
As such, his music is refreshing, has notable substance and stands out against a backdrop of soundalike mumble rappers. Although that has its benefits, and he has cultivated a cult following, he doesn’t have the machine of a label like Atlantic pushing his music to the forefront. Therefore, some could interpret his first week sales as low.
That said, the rapper recently took to Twitter/X to address the relevance of first-week sales in the new musical landscape. The Flatbush native insisted that this old industry way of measuring success doesn’t “matter anymore” and asserted that charts no longer reflect the modern days of streaming. Instead of looking at meaningless numbers, he told listeners to simply “shut the f**k up and enjoy the music.”
Since the release of his album 2000 in 2022, the emcee has been a bit quiet. However, upon his return to Twitter/X, he wrote, “It’s been a minute, hey guys. I’m back!” He continued, “I feel really compelled to say: F*ck first week sales. They simply don’t matter anymore for the simple fact that no one is buying albums. I mean, when’s the last time anyone you know bought an album?!”
He added, “We all can stream anything we want but in order for it to count as an album sale, you need to listen to every song like 1000+ times. They trynna make it seem like everybody flopping when it reality they changed the rules.”
Addressing the industry, Scott asked, “So someone plz tell me why the f**k is anybody still worried about that? They trynna take the power from the musician because they never learned how to measure influence properly. At this point, just shut the f*ck up and enjoy the music.”
He concluded his heartfelt statement, writing, “For all the people saying ‘he’s only saying that because he’s not doing good first week numbers,’ first of all, that’s subjective nowadays unless you’re Drake or Taylor Swift level. I have always had a loyal fan base that have always supported me, even after taking five years off. STILL came back and sold out 1500-3500 cap rooms ALL OVER THE WORLD.”