Your ungratefulness sickens me RT @joeybadass_: If I'm under Trinidad James I'm not doing the Under The Influence Tour. Straight
— Rodney Mac (@RappersRActors) April 22, 2013
Joey Bada$$ is under the influence of blog hype. Monday, the New York rap wunderkind, caused quite a stir when he reacted publicly to the flyer for Wiz Khalifa's Under The Influence of Music tour. In tweets that have since been deleted, the eighteen year old emcee stated "If I'm under Trinidad James I'm not doing the Under The Influence Tour. Straight", followed by "no disrespect to the man on gold. but I just don't like seeing myself at the bottom. APEX" Naturally, the Twittersphere proceeded to immediately jump up his ass.
A lot of bloggers and commentators took to their timelines to condemn the rapper's blatant self righteousness, with good reason. While his fans could (and did) argue that the Brooklyn native presents material of more technical substance or a more thoughtful approach to lyricism than Trinidad James, and deserves to be billed higher, that point is quickly dissolvable when you look at the numbers game. While his infamously short molly-rap sets might not impress Joey Bada$$, Trinidad James has something he doesn't- a record that's charted. All Gold Everything, James' late 2012 radio hit has actually reached the general public, who tend to buy concert tickets.
Big Sant on the Under The Influence Tour? I like the sound of that. I'll go first. No problem.
— Big Sant (@BIGSANT) April 22, 2013
Big Sant was one of many artists who illustrated the point that they'd love the opportunity to even be billed at all on such a major tour. Yes, Joey Bada$$ should have curbed his ego before showing his ass on the internet, but lets be real here- all musicians have complained about a billing at some point in their careers. These kinds of sentiments are heard pretty often in backstage environments, and most have the good sense to keep them off social media. When you're dealing with an eighteen year-old, no matter how talented they may be, you're dealing with a certain level of immaturity.
@pronailprincesa joey is about to kill his career before it even gets started
— KillaMC (@BrainGangKilla) April 22, 2013
Brain Gang's Killa MC expressed the overwhelmingly popular opinion that the rapper was generally alienating himself from a tour that would be otherwise extremely beneficial for an artist in his position. Sure enough, after a couple of hours this sentiment resonated enough with Joey Bada$$ for him to delete the offending tweets, and post a pseudo-apology. He's still on the bill, the tour will go on. Time will have to tell what kind of professional setbacks he'll experience in the long run. Don't forget kids, if you're messy on the internet, people are less inclined to work with you.
shoutout to @trinidadjamesgg man. real nigga
— oG $wank. (@joeyBADASS_) April 22, 2013
I admit what I did was childish and disrespectful. Lesson learned.
— oG $wank. (@joeyBADASS_) April 22, 2013
Winning Tweet: @Jaypreme
We got a strong independent black woman here, guys. RT @joeybadass_: I'm sorry I speak my mind. I'm sorry I know my worth.
— Produced by Jaylen! (@JayPreme) April 22, 2013
