Joey Bada$$ talks Nipsey Hussle, new music and Hollywood with Apple Music 1

New York rapper Joey Bada$$ has plenty to talk about these days. The hip-hop veteran chops it up with Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden to dish on everything from his new ‘Head High’ single getting inspired by the late Nipsey Hussle and piecing together a new album to what’s brewing in the acting world.

Check out a few key topics from the interview and check out the full chop up session toward the bottom.

Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music His Introspective New Song “Head High” Was Inspired by Nipsey Hussle …

This is one of the best records I've ever made. This is an important, special record near and dear to my heart. I started writing it the day after Nipsey passed. And I didn't have an actual friendship or relationship with Nipsey. I met him a couple times and everything and it was always good vibes, but I was definitely moved by just who he was in this world and in this game. And when he passed, it was extremely unfortunate. And like I usually do with channeling pain, I put it into the music, you know what I'm saying? So this joint is definitely inspired by him.

Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music A New Album Is Coming and That He’s Striving For Consistency and Quality...

We back. The album's coming soon…Listen, once we drop, we going to continue, you know what I'm saying? In this era, what I'm focused on is consistency. Consistency and the quality of my product, so you could definitely expect a lot more Joey Bada$$ in this new time right here. I look forward to the summertime, man. I feel like it's something about the music that I make that just resonates over the summertime

Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music He Was Originally Supposed To Play The Role of Jim Beckwourth in the Netflix Film ’The Harder They Fall’…

So shout out to my man Jeymes Samuel. I met him at the Roc Nation Brunch at the top of 2020, right before the world met its demise. We just kind of connected. It was just one of those moments. You know you meet some of those people in life and it's just like, yo, this is somebody you're going to know for a long time. It was one of those vibes. A few months later he hit me up. He actually put the bug in my ear at the brunch. He said he was working on this crazy film, which was The Harder They Fall. He had this role for me. Like you see dude with the pistols and shit? That's supposed to be me. Shout to my man RJ though who actually got the role. The young dude with the two pistols and everything. So Jeymes wanted me to play that role.

Joey Bada$$ Tells Apple Music About Taking The Role in 50 Cent’s Starz Series 'Power Book III: Raising Kanan’…

When I first approached acting I made it a thing to not play like a drug dealer or to play a street cat, or anything that was stereotypical because I really wanted to show people that I could act. You know what I mean? Or a rapper. So this role I was like, "All right, I'm ready for something like that now. I think I proved my point. People know that I can act." I could play these different roles. Then Two Distant Strangers came out before Power, which is also good. It's like, "All right, now they can see my range.”