Story time … Joey Bada$$ recently dropped a gem about a moment that could’ve changed his career trajectory—and hip-hop history. In a new interview with Red Bull, the Brooklyn-born rapper revealed that JAY-Z once attempted to take him under his wing—not with a record deal, but as his manager.
“It was a chain of communication that I didn’t have any part in,” Joey explained, looking back on the situation with the clarity of hindsight. “You gotta understand, at that point I’m a 17-year-old kid from Brooklyn, that was the dream, the highest honor you can have. Jay is my favorite rapper, even to this day, and within a year of being in the game, he wanted to sign me.”
Get this: While that kind of co-sign would be monumental for any artist, let alone a teenager fresh in the game, Joey clarified that Hov’s intentions were managerial, not as a label boss.
“But he didn’t want to sign me as an artist, he wanted to manage me,” Joey said. “I had a manager at the time and I always wonder if that’s how it got botched.”
Though the partnership never came to life, and JAY-Z has never publicly commented on the situation, there’s no sign of bad blood. Still, despite the respect flowing both ways, the two have yet to collaborate officially.
This isn’t the first time Joey’s spoken on the almost-deal—he briefly brought it up in 2022. But while that chapter closed quietly, Joey’s pen remains loud. Lately, he’s been making noise with competitive bars that reignited a coast-to-coast lyrical energy.
Following his hard-hitting track “The Ruler’s Back,” the Pro Era MC delivered a fiery freestyle alongside TDE’s Ab-Soul, aiming sharply at critics and rivals alike.
“First off, I could never hate the West Coast / But since n-ggas comin’ for Joe, f*** it then, let’s go,” he declared, standing ten toes down. In a clear nod to Kendrick Lamar’s infamous “Control” verse, Joey took shots at hypersensitive emcees across the map: “There’s still a buncha sensitive rappers in they pyjama clothes.”
He didn’t stop there. His freestyle cut deep with layered jabs that referenced legendary figures and historical beefs:
“These bars could put bad boys on death row / Kinda crazy how Suge and Puff in jail, though.”