My disgust for most current rap music has been pretty obvious lately, but that hasn’t stopped me from keeping my hopes up while waiting for artists from the next generation to come along that I could co-sign. It doesn’t happen often, but it finally has with this 17-year old kid from Brooklyn named Joey Bada$$. Vintage is the best way I can describe his new project “1999”. He’s got a flow and lyricism that I can’t say I’ve heard from anyone else that young, reminiscent of a young Nas or Ali Vegas. His ear for boom-bap beats make the production on the tape sound like it came from even before the year he was born in. Retro without sounding dated, this is a great example of what can happen when you know your history and demand that skills be set at a certain level. And its a New York album that actually sounds like New York for once! My personal taste admittedly may be on the “old school” side, but Bada$$ has restored some of my faith in the youth being able to steer hip-hop in the right direction.