2xLP Vinyl LP 2385

The debut studio album from Joey Bada$$, aka NYC hip hop prodigy Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott. Featuring beats from a aubstantialroster of producers including DJ Premier, Hit-Boy and J Dilla as well as Bada$$s pals in Brooklyn hip hop collective Pro Era, this record is a dense, layered ride.

As it moves from warm, old school turntablism to the colder, harsher sounds of early gangster rap, B4.DA.$$ resists the current bent towards Trap, instead functioning as a love letter to the masters of hip hops Golden Age from one of its keenest students. And while the albums three singles, Big Dusty, Christ Conscious and No. 99, had suggested this would be a relentlessly dark affair, B4.DA.$$ has its fair share of light, showcasing Bada$$s obvious knack for a hook time and time again. Opener Save The Children, for example, is a lusciously elegant jazz jam courtesy of Statik Selektah, while Curry Chicken, a gorgeous, tender ode to the enduring influence of the rappers mother is hip hop at its most sensitive.

At over an hour long, its a collection which could do with a slightly more ruthless approach in the cutting room but thats a minor nit-pick when the material is this strong. Make no mistake, Bada$$s star is in the ascendancy.