Joey Bada$$ is gearing up to release his long-awaited third studio album, 2000, on Friday, July 22, and to hold fans over a little while longer, the Brooklyn-born rapper has dropped off a new single, titled “Survivors Guilt.” The Rahki-produced song finds Joey paying tribute to his late collaborator, Capital Steez, and his late cousin, Junior B, and the nearly six-minute track concludes with a spoken outro from TDE’s Ab-Soul.
On what would have been Capital Steez’s 29th birthday, Joey Bada$$ raps about his friend’s tragic passing, and he even admits to feeling somewhat responsible for his death.
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“STEEZY told me get ’em so I got em/Now my n-gga gone, he will never be forgotten/Ever since he left I’ve just been struggling without him,” Joey raps. “Then I caught a little wave and headed back to shore/And that’s when he started drowning/And he had no one around him so partially I feel it’s my fault.”
According to HipHopDX, he also uses “Survivors Guilt” as a means of clearing the air between himself and Capital Steez’s family, who infamously boycotted Joey Bad$$ and Pro Era’s Steez Day festival in 2018.
Addressing them directly, Joey raps, “And here’s a message to his fam/I know y’all got emotional trauma, that I understand/But I couldn’t fuck with y’all trying to tell the world I wasn’t who I am/When all I ever tried to do was lend a hand.”
“Survivors Guilt” — along with recently released singles like “THE REV3NGE,” “Head High,” and “Where I Belong” — is set to appear on 2000 when it arrives on July 22. Stay tuned for more Joey Bada$$-related news and hit the comment section to let us know your thoughts on the ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ artist’s decision to clear the air about Capital Steez on his latest release.
[via]