Interview: Joey Bada$$ Talks Playing "Waves" for Jay Z and Clears Up the Malia Obama Confusion

Joey Bada$$ reflects on his earliest release and clears up the Malia Obama controversy.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Joey Bada$$ dropped his debut album B4.Da.$$ late last month. The album moved 58,000 in its first week, debuting in the Top 5 of the Billboard 200 chart. Not bad for someone who just celebrated his 20th birthday. To acknowledge the changes in his life, when Joey stopped by Complex, we took a walk down memory lane to revisit his first release "Waves," from his debut mixtape 1999Joey describes writing the song in his mother's room one afternoon after smoking bud. It was this song, of course, that earned him praise from Jay Z.

We also spoke to Joey about his Malia Obama endorsement and the ensuing controversy that arose during a Bloomberg interview where it seemed like he didn't know who she was. He sets the record straight, chalking up the confusion to media spin.

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