Statik Selektah laced young Joey with a beat on a chilling level of Jay-Z's “Dead Presidents” for “Word Is Bond”. Off Joey's Summer Knights mixtape, “Word Is Bond” has the Pro.Era MC in a heavy mental flow on the American way of taking without asking, be it a pair of Scottie Pippins, a Nixon watch, or a chick. Bada$$ is in a stream-of-conscious on the fates that lurk in the mean streets, but he offers little detail beyond the what we're accustomed to accepting as the neighborhood experience since “The Message”. Bada$$ is as his best though when he lays out an intricate banking metaphor that puts shame to “Funky Dividends” and “Golddigger” for never seeing the obvious: “these chickens don't love me / they love the account / but they will never know what's the amount / I keep them hoes in check until they bounce / don't ever let a chick see you withdrawn”.
The Summer Knights mixtape, which began as an EP and kept growing into a full tape, is the prelude to Joey's full length debut B4DA$$.
Summer Knights is out June 12.
