Following the release of Joey Bada$$' seminal LP, All-Amerikkkan Bada$$, the former underground rapper has been pegged as a lightning rod for political opinion and discourse. I mean, how can you not be categorized as such when one of your songs, "Rockabye Baby" featuring Schoolboy Q, literally contains the words "F**k Donald Trump." While he definitely doesn't shy away from touchy subject matter that may polarize some of his listeners, Joey certainly doesn't want people to limit his message and his music and entities that exist solely for the purpose of hating on the current President of the United States. In a recent interview with the British publication Evening Standard, Joey wants people to, first and foremost, accurately depict the world around them.
"I’m not a politician. I’m not trying to be," he said. "I’m not talking about passing laws and signing treaties. I’m just talking about real shit that I see on the ground, on the surface. This is what's going on around me.” He went on to explain that, in his humble opinion, "every artist should be reflecting the times" that we currently live in. “This is not political music, this is real music," he continued. "This is the first body of work I’ve made where it wasn’t for myself but it definitely wasn’t for politics. I have a hard time accepting people calling it political music.”
When asked specifically about "Rockabye Baby," Joey was nonplussed about the distinction of being one of hip-hop's most outspoken critics of the current White House administration and, in particular, their leader. In fact, he was quick to remind the interviewer that many of the problems that people, especially minorities, are facing in our current political climate existed during Obama's time in office. "“This album was being made before Trump got elected,” he said. “People need to hang themselves off of the whole Trump thing. This problem, these issues that I’m talking about pre-date Trump. I had these issues even under Obama. People need to open their eyes and realise that."
One of the biggest bada$$ rappers in the land put forth the notion that Trump is simply making the existing problems worse, not creating new ones out of thin air. “Yes, there’s a f**king popularised douchebag in the office right now but he’s only making these problems worse, he’s not the reason for the problems [...] Like, he’s one of the many problems. I wish I didn’t even f**king say his name on the album because in every interview people are asking me about him, and I don’t give a f**k about him.”