Joey Bada$$ says that he needed to go to therapy after starring in the Oscar-winning short film, Two Distant Strangers, because he had to do so much “internalization” from the role. Bada$$ discussed working on the film during a recent interview with XXL.
“I’m not gon’ lie, I had to do therapy after I shot Two Distant Strangers because it was a lot of internalization,” the rapper told the outlet. “I remember the first scene in the movie, when I’m coming out of the girl’s apartment and police see me and they slam me on the floor. I remember shooting that in real time and it was people driving by, they would stop, and they would roll down their window and they’d be like, ‘Yo, is this real? Or is this for a movie? What’s going on? You good?’ It’s traumatic for these innocent bystanders as well.”
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Bada$$ also revealed that the wasn’t paid for his work on the project, labeling it “an experiment.”
“To tell the truth, I didn’t even get paid for that,” he said. “It was a short film. It was a project. An experiment. We did the short film because originally, we were supposed to do a full-length feature film, a full movie. But once I got involved, it activated a lot of people. Once they saw my execution, everybody wanted to be a part of the production team now and that obviously helped it get pushed up in the Recording Academy and we won the Oscar.”
Bada$$ also says that he wants to start working in film under his real name, Jo-Vaughn Scott, rather than Joey Bada$$.
“That’s actually my intention moving forward,” he explained. “I definitely wanna use my real name when it comes to film more because I just want to make the clear distinction. Joey Bada$$ is not an actor, he’s a rapper. I don’t know if I’ll do the Jo-Vaughn ‘Joey Bada$$’ Virginie Scott thing. I’ll probably just use my name and it’s like if you know, you know, type of thing.”
While he hasn’t released an album since 2017’s All-Amerikkkan Badass, fans can expect new music from Bada$$ at some point this year. Having dropped a new single back in January with “”THE REV3NGE,” he also confirmed at the time that he will be releasing a full-length album in 2022.
“The album dropping this year, fasho. Fasho, fasho,” he said at the time. “I ain’t gonna say exactly when, you know because there’s certain rappers who be on my heels but I’mma just — it’s comin’, though.”
Check out the trailer for Two Distant Strangers below.
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