At this point, Pro Era front man Joey Bada$$ needs little introduction – despite his classic, nostalgic approach, he’s among the foremost representatives of the younger hip-hop generation, having been hailed as a prodigy after the release of his critically acclaimed debut mixtape 1999, which dropped when he was 17-years-old.

Throughout his three-year career, the Brooklyn native has worked with Audio Push, Hit-Boy, Action Bronson, Mike Posner, Raekwon, Black Thought, Funkmaster Flex, Statik Selektah, DJ Premier, Harry Fraud, Dizzy Wright, Jared Evan, A$AP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Smoke DZA, Mac Miller, Casey Veggies, Big K.R.I.T. and more, not to mention the extensive collaborations within his own crew.

Most recently, he headlined the 2013 “Smoker’s Club” tour with Ab-Soul, received praise from Lupe Fiasco and announced a new Pro Era mixtape. He’s currently working on his debut studio album B4.Da.$$. Stay tuned.

Joey tell us a little story with reference to the track called “Devastated” in a post on Facebook.

He opened up for some personal facts about his childhood. Read the post from Joey Bada$$ down below..

#IUsedToFeelSoDevastated… I remember being a young kid and going through my parents split when I was only 5 years old. My mom was forced to work two jobs to support the two of us and I often had a lot of alone time. I learned from an early age how to do things on my own. I think it really shaped me to be the person that I am today. You know, watching my mom battle a serious struggle, for me as a young child wasn’t anything I ever liked to see and I’m sure no child likes to see that. I used to come home from school and see eviction notices on our door. Sometimes they actually had our door locks changed on us so we couldn’t even get inside the house. It was a really devastating moment in my life. I made it my mission as a young kid that I would help my mom and pay her back somehow for all of the hard work she had done to support the two of us.
I started using my alone time as a benefit. You know, instead of being home alone all scared, I started using it as an opportunity to practice what I love to do. I was recording and writing music. When I turned 15 years old, I began to love being home alone. I got a microphone that year for Christmas and I started to learn how to mix and record myself. It gave me the freedom to set up a microphone in my room and yell as much as I wanted into it, pouring my emotions right into the mic. From that point on, the rest is pretty much history. That whole process eventually turned into my debut mixtape- 1999. I recorded and pretty much mixed the whole thing within the four walls of my bedroom in East Flatbush. You know, who would have thought that process right there, that the Little boy went through, would have gotten him the highest selling independent rap debut of 2015, BET Nominations, a Roc Nation offer, sold out national and world tours, major label deal offers, lecturing at Ivy League Universities, and so forth…. Ever since then, we have been steady on a path on our way to greatness, and all that ever took was patience…… Head over to joeybadass.com to share your #Devastated story or story of greatness. #OMWtoGreatness | 📸: @jonathanmannion