Joey Bada Research Papers

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Joey Bada$$ 25th November 2014 I went to see Joey Bada$$, supported by fellow Pro Era artist Kirk Knight at Shepherd's Bush on the 25th of November 2014. Jo-Vaughn Scott, who goes by Joey Bada$$, was born in the East Flatbush section of Flatbush, New York on January 20, 1995. He chose to rap under the name Joey Bada$$ as he noticed the media focused on rappers with more cynical names, and that it was "what sounded cool at the time, what fit [his] mood" (Isenberg, 2012). He formed the hip-hop collective Progressive Era more commonly known as Pro Era with high school classmates Capital Steez, CJ Fly and Powers Pleasant. They have now expanded with more than 20 members including graphic designers, producers, singers and rappers. With Joey's…show more content…
Hip-hop, while opposed to rap, generally defines the whole culture. Rap formed during the 1970s with the rise in popularity of block parties in New York, particularly among African American youth residing in the Bronx. Rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks along with an instrumental or synthesized beat. The roots of rapping are found in African-American music and ultimate African music, with roots originating from the griots of west African culture. The African American traditions of signifyin' (an early form of wordplay), the dozens (game of spoken words between two communities) and jazz poetry all had an influence on rap music. DJ Kool Herc and Coke La Rock provided an influence on the vocal style of rapping by delivering simple verse from poetry over funk music breaks, after noticing that party-goers showed little interest in their attempts to infuse reggae into their musical sets as DJs. MCs later became more varied in their vocal and rhythmic delivery, with brief rhymes and often including themes to differentiate themselves and entertain the…show more content…
A local DJ called Livin' Proof started his set to begin the night, to be followed by rising British artist Loyle Carner, and finally the main act Joey Bada$$ and Kirk Knight supported by legendary DJ Statik Selektah. Statik Selektah played a small set of a couple of songs before playing Joey's instrumentals to allow him to perform. The music was meant for different things. At some points, it was meant to be listened to attentively, but at others it was just to go crazy, in a practice called mosh-pitting or just ''moshing''. It is a style of dance where participants push or slam into each other. As I've been a fan of Joey Badass since he first came on the scene, I knew all of the songs he performed. He performed some songs from his first mixtape, 1999, such as "Funky Ho", "Survival Tactics" and ''Waves". In addition, he performed songs from Summer Knights, such as "Unorthodox'' and "95 Til' Infinity", which is a reference to 90's Golden Era group Souls Of Mischief and their album 93 Til' Infinity. I arrived at the venue in Shepherd's Bush quite early and saw the audience getting gradually more excited as the show approached its start. The venue was quite small; it allows 2000 people and it was packed. The people were mostly high school and university students of varying race and nationalities. It was very obvious to tell it was a hip-hop show due to the hip-hop fashion such as snapback hats, bucket hats and sneakers.
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