Joey Bada$$ is taking no days off thus far in 2018. Earlier this month, he earned his first platinum certification, for All-AmeriKKKan Bada$$’ “Devastated.” Yesterday (January 18), the Brooklyn rapper’s bold Prince cover made waves and now, on the eve of his birthday, he’s shared new single.

“King to a God” features Joey’s Pro-Era co-hort Dessy Hinds and is described by Joey as a “Freestyle.” “I sell rhymes like dimes that leaves MFs doomed / Since my first tunes I’ve been raisin’ hell from the tombs / I’m getting hotter every June / You say you with the smoke, I’m with the heavy fumes,” he brags with a nod to DOOM. In a following bar, he uses pronunciation and Spanish as his playthings, saying “You got goons? Well I got goons / Everybody got goons / The question is, do you got the coj-oons?” By the time the song’s over, he flexes his cojones and says he’s heading not only for your top five, but for first place. The song title comes into play in the hook, in which Joey asks “what’s a king to a god?” Whether that’s directed towards a King Remembered In Time, “King Kunta,” or anyone else specific is unclear, but it’s clear Joey is eager to stake his claim as a God MC.

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Though likely not a teaser single for a new solo LP from Jozif Badmon, the NasteeLuvzYou-produced “King to a God” could very well be a taste of what fans may hear on a forthcoming Pro-Era group album. At the top of ’18, Joey promised a fan via Twitter “Dropping one for sure this year.”