Joey Bada$$ is doubling down in defense of his collaboration with Chris Brown.
During a Reddit AMA in promotion of his 2000 album, the Pro Era rapper was questioned about his collaboration with Chris Brown on his sophomore album. In response, Joey referred to him as “one of the most talented musicians of all time” and inquired whether his fans who were critical of his decision “were perfect” themselves.
Receiving over 1,500 downvotes for his reply, he addressed the minor backlash by expanding upon his answer in a new TMZ interview.
“Yeah, I mean…Like I said, I think Chris Brown is one of the best artists of this generation, of our times… Of all times, know what I mean?” he said when asked if he was surprised he had to defend his decision to work with the troubled R&B singer.
“So, for me personally, it was an honor working with him. You know, I’ve been a fan of him as long as I can remember. Since I was a kid, you know, and…People make mistakes, and I’m not justifying anybody’s mistakes in any type of way, but…after a while, there’s a growing opportunity for everybody.”
He added that he takes his fans’ disapproval of the linkup as “respect.”
“My fans can be fickle and like, you know, they have this idea… It’s actually a lot of respect, really,” he said about the backlash regarding his collaboration with Chris Brown.
“They got so much respect for me and they hold me in such high regard that they want everything that I do to be super clean. They don’t want to feel like I aligned with something or someone who necessarily, I don’t know… I look at it as more of a reverence thing. They’re very sensitive over me, so it’s not a bad thing but I need them to understand that I have my own interest in favorites and things that I’m into as just a person.”
Further distinguishing the difference between him as a person and him as an artist, he stressed his support for Chris Brown.
“There’s Joey Badass and then there’s Jo-Vaughn,” he explained.
“Jo-Vaughn is a huge Chris Brown fan.”
