You're listening to Song Exploder,
where musicians take apart their songs and piece by piece tell the story of how they were made.
I'm Rishikesh Hirway.
This episode contains explicit language.
Joey Badass is a rapper from New York.
He's worked with other rappers like A$AP Rocky and Action Bronson,
but he collaborates most closely with his fellow members of ProEra, a Brooklyn hip-hop collective.
Joey Badass released his debut album on January 20th, 2015, his 20th birthday.
It hit the top five on the Billboard charts.
For the track Jesus View, he worked with Kirk Knight, another member of ProEra.
In this episode, the two of them break down the process of making Jesus View,
and how the lyrics reflect Joey's wide-angle take on religion,
and how the beat was inspired by DJ Premier.
My name is Javon Virginia.
My stage name is Joey Badass.
Talking about Hazel's View, produced by Kirk Knight.
He made the beat, and the beat came way before the lyrics.
Kirk, say hi.
So basically the way how this beat started, basically I made this on the tour bus.
I was actually listening to a lot of Primo.