Joey Bada$$ is incredibly "sorry," "ashamed," and "disappointed," because his anticipated album, Lonely at the Top, is not dropping this week. The Brooklyn native made this disheartening announcement on his Instagram in the wee hours of the night, yesterday. As caught by AllHipHop, the Pro Era MC is fuming throughout the video, even flipping the bird at his label, Columbia Records, at one point.
For those who didn't know, Joey was all set to release the LP this Friday, August 1. He had put out "ABK," the assumed lead single, on July 18, days after performing it on Jimmy Kimmel Live! He had been gaining serious momentum in the months leading up to this week thanks to the West Coast feud he egged on in January.
Many eyewitnesses to his battle between the likes of Ray Vaughn, Daylyt, Az Chike, and REASON claimed Bada$$ to be the winner. However, for whatever reason, his label isn't ready to distribute the record. That's despite the fact that he says it's been ready for a bit now.
"My s### got pushed back because the label pushed my sh*t back. My album is signed, sealed, and delivered over a month ago. This ain’t cause of no sample clearances, this ain’t cause of no features, this ain’t cause of no clashing with another artist on the date. This is literally an Exhibit A of the label getting in the artists way," Joey said with frustration.
Joey Bada$$ Lonely at the Top
He's especially upset because he says he was given "the green light" to go with August 1. Moreover, he's been trying to be more trustworthy with releases and the like. So, it wasn't a surprise to hear what he had to say about Columbia Records. "I’m signed to Columbia Records. But for the longest time, I just ain’t been f*cking with them. Because all they do is get in my way, they really don’t f*cking contribute to nothing."
His attitude towards the imprint is why he says all of his releases lately have been put out on YouTube. Speaking of which, toward the end of the video, Joey says that he's giving Columbia until Monday to figure something out. If they don't, he claimed that he will put out Lonely at the Top on the platform under his own power.
We will see what happens, though, as he couldn't and didn't want to give fans an updated drop date without really knowing how things are going to shake out. In the meantime, he's going to keep fans in the loop and start a "Free Joey" petition.
