Legendary New York City radio personality Funkmaster Flex recently launched a new series on his program that keeps the freestyle format simple. Its first episode, “Freestyle #001” featured Pro Era’s Nyck Caution, the Brooklyn MC whose recent mixtape Disguise the Limit has garnered critical acclaim. On its third installment, Flex hosted Nyck’s cohort, Joey Bada$$ and unsurprisingly, he takes to the assigned beat like a duck to water.

Joey Bada$$ Freestyles a Potent Call for Revolution (Video)

Flowing over “Supa Star,” DJ Premier’s 1995 production for Gang Starr affiliate Group Home, Joey gets to work in a fashion few others of his generation are able to. It’s near the 1:40 mark that Joey hits the sweet spot and spits “twist fingers in the air nigga, rep your hood/wassup to my niggas bangin’ up to still no good/cause ain’t shit changed, we misunderstood/takin’ shots to your brain, leave you dead where you stood/probably hidin’ the remains, dead bodies in the woods.” Shortly thereafter, the rhyme schemes get more intricate, with Joey rhyming “move like mafias” with “but it hurt what my fee is,” and that’s only in the first half.

Joey Bada$$ just released a new single last month. “Devastated” exposes a slightly different sound from the Badmon, speaking to the nuance he is so deftly able to deliver in what is many ways still the first chapter of his career.