All-Amerikkkan Badass

All-Amerikkkan Badass (stylized as ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$) is the second studio album by American rapper Joey Badass. It was released on April 7, 2017, through Pro Era Records and distributed by Cinematic Music Group.

All-Amerikkkan Badass
Studio album by Joey Badass
Released	April 7, 2017
Studio	The Cutting Room (New York City) D Black (Yonkers) Harley Harl's House of Hits (Brooklyn)
Genre	Conscious hip hop[1]
Length	49:42
Label	Pro Era Cinematic
Producer	1-900 Chuck Strangers DJ Khalil Kirk Knight Like Powers Pleasant Statik Selektah
Joey Badass chronology
B4.Da.$$ (2015) All-Amerikkkan Badass (2017) The Light Pack (2020)
Singles from All-Amerikkkan Badass
"Devastated" Released: May 16, 2016 "Land of the Free" Released: January 20, 2017 "Temptation" Released: June 13, 2017

All-Amerikkkan Badass was supported by three singles: "Devastated", "Land of the Free" and "Temptation". The album received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200.

Background and release

In an interview with Tampa Bay radio station WiLD 94.1, Joey Badass spoke on the creation of the album:

This new project is very powerful. That's the best thing I can say about it: it's very strong music. It's like hella vegetables. It's hella good for you, and it's almost my hesitance with it: the fact that it's so good for you, because these kids these days want candy. 'Devastated' is almost like the organic candy because the message is still good for you.[2]

Joey Badass revealed the importance of the release date during an interview with Angie Martinez, relating April 7 to late friend and Pro Era founder Capital Steez:

The significance of the date, 4/7, goes back to [Capital STEEZ], that was a number that followed him throughout his lifetime, which he saw a lot of meaning from.[3]

The album's title is a reference to the 2012 mixtape AmeriKKKan Korruption by Capital Steez, which was later re-released at the five-year anniversary of the project. The titles from both projects contains an overt reference by Los Angeles-based rapper Ice Cube's first solo album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted. In all three cases "America" was intentionally misspelled, alluding to the white supremacist movement of the Ku Klux Klan.[4]

Promotion

The album's lead single, "Devastated", was released on May 27, 2016.[5] The song was produced by Powers Pleasant, Kirk Knight and Adam Pallin.[6]

The album's second single, "Land of the Free", was released on January 20, 2017.[7] The song was produced by Kirk Knight and Adam Pallin, both of whom produced Joey's first single.[8] The song's accompanying music video was released on March 6, 2017, on Pro Era's YouTube account.[9] Joey performed the single on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on April 3, 2017.[10]

The album's third single, "Temptation", was released to urban contemporary radio on June 13, 2017.[11] The song was produced by 1-900 and Kirk Knight.[12]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.2/10[13]
Metacritic	75/100[14]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[15]
The A.V. Club	B+[16]
Consequence of Sound	B[17]
Drowned in Sound	7/10[18]
Exclaim!	8/10[19]
HipHopDX	4.1/5[20]
Pitchfork	6.4/10[21]
Q	[22]
Vice	A−[23]
XXL	4/5[24]

All-Amerikkkan Badass was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 75, based on 15 reviews.[14] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.2 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[13]

Clayton Purdom of The A.V. Club said, "He's still reaching to the golden age for inspiration, but updating it so thoroughly that we're reminded why we considered it golden in the first place."[16] Jonathan Hatchman of Clash said, "Although refreshing, visceral and completely understandable—when listening to the whole LP, the political themes are occasionally overwhelming."[25] Greg Whitt of Consequence of Sound said, "The 12-song project is the Brooklyn native's most well-rounded release to date."[17] Jack Doherty of Drowned in Sound said, "The strange thing about the record is that the tracks just keep getting better and better as you go along."[18] A. Harmony of Exclaim! said, "Courageous and passionate, Badass is a well-timed soundtrack to social and political struggle. While the album specifically chronicles the horrors of being a young black man in America, Joey articulates his angst in a way that easily resonates with anyone stumbling under the weight of oppression."[19]

Brian Josephs of Spin said, "All-Amerikkkan Badass manages to find a balance between necessary gravity and inviting wistfulness. The message can be preachy, but the pace is conversational."[26] Eric Diep of HipHopDX said, "All-Amerikkkan Badass shows an ample amount of growth for a socially aware rapper discussing heavy issues."[20] Daniel Jeakins of The Line of Best Fit said, "It's concise and straight-to-the-point, with no signs of over-indulgence. In short, it's the album fans of the New York rapper always knew he was capable of making."[1] Scott Glaysher of XXL said, "Diehard fans of Joey Badass' older, more minimalist will applaud the latter half of the album. Whereas the top half dozen songs flex Joey's evolved songwriting and beat selection, the bottom has Statik Selektah handling a few more beats and thus opening up Joey's perfect in-pocket rhyming."[24] Matthew Strauss of Pitchfork said, "While constant one-liners were a bit leaden on B4.Da.$$, they are sorely missed on AABA."[21] Steve Yates of Q found that Badass' music does not cover "new ground" and "remains wedded to a mid-'90s New York headnod template", while criticizing the album's excessive "mid-tempo drear".[22]

Accolades

Year-end lists for All-Amerikkkan Badass

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
Complex	The Best Albums of 2017	18	[27]
Exclaim!	Top 10 Hip-Hop Albums of 2017	8	[28]
HipHopDX	Best Rap Albums of 2017	13	[29]
Rap-Up	20 Best Albums of 2017	14	[30]

Commercial performance

All-Amerikkkan Badass debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 with 51,000 album-equivalent units, of which 28,000 were pure album sales.[31]

Track listing

All-Amerikkkan Badass track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Good Morning Amerikkka"	Jo-Vaughn Scott Khalil Abdul-Rahman Sam Barsh Dan Seeff	DJ Khalil	1:38
2.	"For My People"	Scott Abdul-Rahman Adam Pallin Barsh Seeff	DJ Khalil 1-900^[a]	3:53
3.	"Temptation"	Scott Pallin Kirlan Labarrie	1-900 Kirk Knight	4:04
4.	"Land of the Free"	Scott Labarrie Pallin	1-900 Kirk Knight	4:44
5.	"Devastated"	Scott Labarrie Pallin Powers Pleasant	1-900 Kirk Knight Pleasant	3:27
6.	"Y U Don't Love Me? (Miss Amerikkka)"	Scott Pallin Pleasant	1-900 Pleasant	3:19
7.	"Rockabye Baby" (featuring Schoolboy Q)	Scott Pallin Che Jessamy Janko Nilović Quincy Hanley	Chuck Strangers 1-900 Jake Bowman^[b]	3:44
8.	"Ring the Alarm" (featuring Kirk Knight, Nyck Caution and Meechy Darko)	Scott Labarrie Pallin Jesse Cordasco Dimitri Simms	Kirk Knight 1-900	4:20
9.	"Super Predator" (featuring Styles P)	Scott Patrick Baril Trevor Duncan Brady Watt David Styles	Statik Selektah	4:12
10.	"Babylon" (featuring Chronixx)	Scott Pallin Gabriel Stevenson Jamar McNaughton	Like 1-900	5:36
11.	"Legendary" (featuring J. Cole)	Scott Baril Caswell Weinbren Andile Yenana Jermaine Cole	Statik Selektah	4:38
12.	"Amerikkkan Idol"	Scott Abdul-Rahman Barsh Seeff	DJ Khalil	6:12
Total length:				49:42

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an uncredited co-producer
• All song titles in this album, including its singles, are stylized in all capital letters (except for the featured artists). All instances of the letters "KKK" are struck through.

Sample credits

• "Devastated" contains elements of "SpottieOttieDopaliscious", written and performed by Outkast and Sleepy Brown.
• "Rockabye Baby" contains elements of "Blue Stone", written and performed by Janko Nilović.
• "Super Predator" contains elements of "Voice on the Wind", performed by Tunesville Inc. courtesy of Peer International Library Limited.
• "Legendary" contains elements of "Thembisa (The People)", performed by Andile Yenana.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[12]

Musicians 1-900 – keys (tracks 9, 11), guitar (track 11) Brady Watt – bass (track 9) Cas Weinbren – additional synthesizer (track 11)

Technical NasteeLuvzYou – recording, production (all tracks) John Gratton – assistance (all tracks) Rob Kinelski – mixing (all tracks) Jordon Silva – mixing assistance (all tracks) Tatsuya Sato – mastering (all tracks)

Additional personnel

• 1-900 – associate producer
• Christian Farrad – director of operations
• Tony Whign – art direction, design
• Gari Askew – director of photography

Charts

Weekly charts Chart performance for All-Amerikkkan Badass Chart (2017) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[32] 19 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[33] 71 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[34] 49 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[35] 137 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[36] 6 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[37] 30 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[38] 17 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[39] 31 French Albums (SNEP)[40] 57 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[41] 54 Irish Albums (IRMA)[42] 10 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[43] 11 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[44] 15 Scottish Albums (OCC)[45] 66 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[46] 19 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[47] 19 UK Albums (OCC)[48] 23 US Billboard 200[49] 5 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[50] 2

Year-end charts 2017 year-end chart performance for All-Amerikkkan Badass Chart (2017) Position US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[51] 90

References

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2. "Joey Badass Compares His New 'A.A.B.A.' Album to Vegetables". XXL. Archived from the original on March 4, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
3. Ortiz, Edwin (April 7, 2017). "Joey Badass Freestyles Over Kodak Black's "Tunnel Vision"". Pigeons & Planes. Archived from the original on October 20, 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
4. "Joey Bada$$ Reveals Title, Release Date for Sophomore Album". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 2, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
5. "Devastated – Single by Joey Bada$$". Apple Music. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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7. "Land of the Free – Single by Joey Bada$$". Apple Music. Archived from the original on January 21, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
8. "Joey Bada$$ Shares New Song "Land of the Free": Listen – Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on March 4, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
9. "Watch Joey Bada$$' Devastating 'Land of the Free' Video". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
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11. "Urban/UAC Future Releases". All Access. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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14. "Reviews and Tracks for All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ by Joey Bada$$". Metacritic. Archived from the original on April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
15. Yeung, Neil Z. "All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ – Joey Bada$$". AllMusic. Archived from the original on April 27, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
16. Purdom, Clayton (April 7, 2017). "Joey Badass' sophomore record, All-Amerikkkan Badass, couches political insight in pop appeal". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
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