Last week Mos Def took the L.O.W. (Lyrics of the Week) title with “N***as In Poorest”, his timely and biting take on the Watch The Throne smash. That shit was indeed cray. This week I went through a lot of songs, searching for a new one that I felt delivered the best lyrics and flow. At the end of the day, it was between a handful of songs, and for a second I was going to give it Jon Connor for “Broken Mirrors”. But, I decided to place Connor’s “Broken Mirrors” as number 1-B, and give the top spot this week to Joey Bada$$ and his record “Waves”.
I hadn’t heard about Joey Bada$$ a couple weeks ago, yet this week I found myself replaying and replaying “Waves”, just to catch what the kid is saying in his rhymes. His lyrics are really thoughtful, especially when compared to the other 17 year-olds that get a lot of ink. And they get deep right from the jump, wasting no bars.
“Since ’95, mamma been working 9-5, and I know the landlord’s fed up with our lies, so we pray to the god’s, the jah’s, and the Allah’s, to keep us safe and watch our lives.”
The song goes on from there as Joey weaves intricate rhymes schemes on making it into famous rap publications, chasing good karma, and eating tofu. What 17 year-old raps about eating tofu? For all that and more, Joey Bada$$ is the owner of this week’s L.O.W. award. Peep the song and some of the lyrics below.
Joey Bada$$: “Waves”
since ’95, mamma been working 9-5
And I know the landlord’s fed up with our lies
so we pray to the god’s, the Jah’s, and the Allah’s
to keep us safe and watch our lives
cause all we’re trying to do is do good
put on my hood when I walk through hoods, cause
these n***as these days is loco
you get it in your vocals
if you ain’t a local
yeah, that’s why I’m trying to go global
yeah, that’s why I’m trying to be a mogul
yeah, I’m hopeful that me spitting this soulful
Will have me in the daily postal
Flying coastal, eating tofu, like I told you.
I know n***as that’s trash rapping,
worry about the trending fashion rather than
descending passion
they want me to send’em tracks, but I just end up laughing
right after I start laughing they start asking what happened?
But back to the chapter
mamma told me follow dreams, you’ll never to answer
to, so that’s what I do
Became an emcee master,
Since then it’s been a disaster for you, and your favorite rapper
Go ahead ask’em, who’s Joey Bad?
Watch him gasp, asthma.
Damn it’s so sad, he pulls the chatter
Cause he knows he’d rather back up than to admit
The kid is hotter than magma
But fuck it, you got to give credit where it’s due
Cause you ain’t gonna like the karma when it’s set up on you.
It can get you and your medical, fuck you up in the decimals
get you 2-3 for residue found in your retinal
And they told me not to be so complex
Never doubt to accomplish articles in Complex and the source
I’ll fail of course, there I go again
stepping out of line, running off course
I heard reports that it’s like sexual intercourse
with your thoughts when I talk about the shoes in which I walk
For it is not forced, nor false that this kid from….
And it goes on from there. I didn’t feel like typing out the whole thing, but you get the idea.