Nobody does real talk like Reggie Ossé a.k.a. Combat Jack. The former rap industry attorney, media executive, author, and Internet radio talk-show personality now hosts The Combat Jack Show, where hip-hop's biggest names are put on the front line. The questions will be tough—and shots will be fired. Co-hosted by Dallas Penn, Premium Pete, and Just Blaze, The Combat Jack Show appears every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday on Complex TV.
In the third and final part of our interview with Joey Bada$$ on The Combat Jack Show, Joey recounts the fateful story of meeting Jay-Z and almost signing to Roc Nation, which has been immortalized in his "1 Train" lyrics ("Just got back to the block from a 6 o'clock with Jigga/And I'm thinking 'bout signing to the Roc/But my niggas on the block still assigned to the rocks").
Joey said he met Hov at his office alongside his mother and his manager, Jonny Shipes ("We just went in the office, and here he is at like the back, by the window, just doing his regular Jay-Z shit"). While the deal didn't come to fruition, he did receive advice from the fellow Brooklyn MC. "'Yo, that 'Waves' track, that is it right there,'" Joey remembers. "'That's what you need to run with. This is music.'"
Joey also touches on "Unorthodox," the record he did with legendary producer DJ Premier, and how being nominated for "Best Mixtape" at the 2012 BET Hip-Hop Awards was a watershed moment for the rapper. Literally. "Honestly, when I'd seen that, it made me cry," Joey said.
Joey Bada$$' new mixtape, Summer Knights, will be released July 1.
