In an interview with The Evening Standard, Brooklyn rapper Joey Badass says that he wish he’d never mentioned the president’s name on his recent album, All-Amerikkkan Badass. However, it’s probably not for the reason you might expect. In the song “Rockabye Baby” featuring Schoolboy Q, he caps off a verse with the impassioned directive to “scream ‘F*ck Donald Trump!'” Now, however, Joey feels that focusing on Donald Trump is distracting from larger systemic issues that have plagued America long before the current occupant of the Oval Office was sworn in.
“Like, we had these problems with Obama. Stop thinking Donald Trump is the only problem,” he expanded. “Like, he’s one of the many problems. I wish I didn’t even f*cking say his name on the album because in every interview people are asking me about him, and I don’t give a f*ck about him.”
Joey goes on to refute the “political” tag his music has acquired since All-Amerikkkan Badass, saying, “I’m not a politician. I’m not trying to be…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 not political music, this is real music. This is the first body of work I’ve made where it wasn’t for myself but it definitely wasn’t for politics.”
Meanwhile, Joey’s been carrying the flag for lyrical rap and hip-hop history with his throwback flow and old-school rap homages.
