There are a lot of kindred spirits surrounding Joey Bada$$ these days. He’s a product of the ’90s—an era he doesn’t remember as vividly as the 2000s, and certainly didn’t live through with the moral compass of someone who experienced it firsthand. Still, since his teenage rise in the blog era, Joey’s been tagged as an “old soul,” someone “wise beyond his years.” That’s true, but the weight of that label has always carried expectation. Between albums, the question has lingered: could Joey grow into an heir beneath Jay-Z, Nas, and Biggie—the Holy Trinity of the East Coast’s golden era—or does his strength lie elsewhere? The reality is murkier. Joey has proven himself a fierce lyricist, but the path between staying true to that lane and pushing toward wider appeal has never been entirely clear.
Lonely At The Top is another effort where Joey grapples with those two directions, though never under duress. The production, largely handled by Chuck Strangers and Moo Latte, has a glossy sheen that lets philosophical musings and Goyard flexes share the same bar. Opulence crystallizes into brash boasts, while introspection dives into paranoia and the defense mechanisms needed to navigate two different worlds. That tension is apparent from the start: opener “DARK AURA” builds off glistening strings and electrifying guitar, with Joey’s delivery tightening as the pressure mounts. His snarl feels indulgent but precise, before breaking into intensity as he balances ego and spirit. “Gotta stay stuntin’, know my light can never be suppressed (Never)/ Spirit guide me on every quest (Aha)/ The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” he raps with a grit that would make even the gruffest Brooklynites proud.
Making Brooklyn proud might be Joey Bada$$’s clearest aim these days. It’s a lane that suits him naturally, though one that sometimes limits the bigger picture of Lonely At The Top. On one hand, he’s aiming for the crisp, grown-man aura that places him in the lineage Jay-Z carved and others have followed. On the other, his attempts at crafting “hits” often feel more like bids for New York radio than universal smashes. “HIGHROLLER” with A$AP Ferg and Kelz2Busy leans into Boi-1da’s chilling, R&B-heavy palette, echoing vintage Drake. Joey weaves survival themes with pragmatism, but occasionally defaults to punchlines that feel obligatory (“Life is a bitch and she back on her cycle/ Can’t stop ’til the chips I stack tall as the Eiffel”). “READY TO LOVE,” assisted by Ty Dolla $ign and Hitmaka’s production, also indulges a more polished sound. Yet its sultry undercurrent lets Joey tap into family-man introspection, showing a side that magnifies his growth. These moments work best when Joey is the one bending his delivery—like the jazzy sing-rap cadences of “3 FEET AWAY” and “UNDERWATER,” where his melodic instincts feel more organic alongside his technical sharpness.
Crucially, these detours don’t derail the album’s momentum. The Brooklyn core remains, and it’s where Joey shines brightest. “BK’s FINEST” is a posse cut in the classic mold: Joey orchestrates sharp New York-isms over Statik Selektah’s velvety backdrop, trading verses with Rome Streetz, Kai Ca$h, and a standout turn from Pro Era mainstay CJ Fly. That chemistry extends elsewhere—Kirk Knight’s production on “SUPAFLEE” pulls from Pharrell’s playbook, a bouncy fit for Joey’s playful cadences. Even Westside Gunn’s gaudy flexes slot neatly into the high-fashion-dope-dealer aesthetic of “SWANK WHITE,” a pairing that could feel heavy-handed in other contexts but lands here.
Each Joey Bada$$ project carries a sense of catharsis, partly because the gaps between releases seem to affect fans more than him. Consistency has been his anchor, even when the results don’t always hit the same peaks. Lonely At The Top reflects that steadiness: personal growth takes center stage, sonic risks appear in flashes, and the pen remains sharp enough to quiet any doubt. The title gestures toward ambition, but the music suggests something simpler—that more than a decade in, Joey has learned how to balance expectation and endurance.
User Reviews
HotNewHipHop users rated Joey Bada$$’s new album, Lonely At The Top, 4.08 out of 5, based on eight reviews. “Perfect album to close out the summer,” one user wrote. In a more critical review, another user expressed disappointment, writing, “was expecting more considering his run at the start of the year & with how long it's been since he last dropped an album... it feels like the label issues really held him back. Track with Westside Gunn is fye, but idk maybe I got my hopes up too high. try to please everyone, end up pleasing no one type shiii.”
