I was never blinded by the American dream. I have my own dreams. You know what I'm saying? The Joey dream.

Joey Badass

Categorized in : Dream American Dream Joey

You're only as strong as your weakest link so you've got to make sure everybody in your crew is on point.

crew strong links

The reason I speak out is because it's necessary. I feel like it's my responsibility. I feel like it's what I'm put here to do. Even on a simpler level, I feel like why can't we speak on what we feel is right or what's wrong? What's wrong with that?

speak responsibility reason

I'm a person who likes to develop. I like for people to see me grow.

likes grows people

Got dragon balls like my name was Vegeta

balls dragons names

I'm a really humble person and I'm a really on-the-go person. For me, it's never that serious.

humble-person serious humble

Once you dive into the African-American struggle or whatever you want to call it and you look past that, you realize that it's not a black people problem, it's a human problem. We all can't be at peace until we are all at peace. If there's a piece of us suffering, then we are all suffering. That's what it's about. That's the macro level.

struggle people past

On tour things go wrong all the time, I mean that's live music, that's what it's all about. I think one of the things I'm learning is that when stuff goes wrong, really brilliant musicians have the ability to turn this into something interesting and unique. I think good people in any sphere of anything know how to deal with problems, how to take it in your stride. We are learning this by touring, by being put in these positions when we need to focus and deal with it.

unique mean thinking

I believe I am of the natural.

i-believe natural believe

We're very far from harmony. The only thing that's going to bring world harmony has to be from the outside. It has to be external. It has to be us versus an external thing.

harmony world

My schedule has not calmed down, but I'm definitely not so devastated as I used to be. Definitely cooler now. A lot of blessings have fallen into my lap, and I'm very thankful to receive all of them.

lap schedules blessing

Yo, why can't I speak out and then have fun? Why can't I just be a human? Why can't I just do what I want? People just want to keep you in one type of box or lane.

having-fun fun people

Hate is a strong word. I don't really try to hate anything. Yeah, you could say I have a complicated, domestic relationship with America for sure.

hate strong trying

I would never know how that person felt when they first heard my song. They coulda been at rock bottom and my song could have literally been the thing that saved them, but I would never know that.

rocks song firsts

Regardless of anything, my dad wants me to "get that piece of paper!" - degree over everything.

degrees pieces dad

I was watching lectures by Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Dr. Sebi and Umar Johnson. It's super mind opening when you listen to those words and think about how much they still resonate today. Think about how true those words are, and how much they predicted the future. That was what was really mind-boggling to me.

mind today thinking

My parents split up when I was five, and that changed my life as well. I wasn't used to seeing them away from each other. I had to get used to seeing my dad without my mom. Those things affected the music that I make.

dad parent mom

The economic crisis really affected my family - 2006 to 2011 were really bad times. Almost everybody in my family lost their jobs.

economic my-family jobs

Jamaica's probably the most dominant island as far as influence goes, as far as music and dancing and culture.

jamaica dancing islands

Luckily for me, I became a rap star so I'm making enough money to support my family. It's funny because that may seem like the only way that I can do such a task.

support rap stars

My parents are both definitely supportive of my career.They are both big fans of rap. They are really what influenced me.

rap careers parent