Joey Bada$$ – “Unorthodox” (Prod. DJ Premier)
The teenage Brooklyn rapper Joey Bada$$ has built his name by resurrecting the grimy, polysyllabic boom-bap that was one of New York’s chief exports during the 1990s. So in his first track for Mountain Dew’s Green Label Sound imprint, the label has paired Joey up with rap luminary DJ Premier, quite possibly the man most responsible for inventing that sound. (He’s also, almost indisputably, the best producer ever to practice that style.) Together on the new track “Unorthodox,” they show as much chemistry as you’d expect, with Premier bringing a warm, crackling simplicity that hasn’t always been there in his recent tracks. Download it below.
Good song, but I’m not sure I’d call it “unorthodox.” Watch a making-of video at Green Label Sound.