''Summer Knights'' is the third mixtape by American rapper

Joey Bada$$ Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott (born January 20, 1995), known professionally as Joey Badass (stylized as Joey Bada$$), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A native of Brooklyn, New York City, he is a founding member of the hip-hop collective Pro ...

. It was released on July 1, 2013, by Cinematic Music Group. The mixtape was planned to be released as an EP, to prelude the release of his debut album '' B4.DA.$$'', but instead it was announced to be a full-length mixtape. The mixtape features production from Chuck Strangers, Kirk Knight,

MF Doom Daniel Dumile ( ; July 13, 1971October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and ...

Statik Selektah Static may refer to: Places *Static Nunatak, a nunatak in Antarctica United States * Static, Kentucky and Tennessee * Static Peak, a mountain in Wyoming **Static Peak Divide, a mountain pass near the peak Science and technology Physics *Static e ...

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop du ...

Lee Bannon Fred Welton Warmsley III (born September 22,1987), is an American record producer and sound artist from Sacramento, California. Initially known for his work with the New York City-based hip hop collective Pro Era, he has since been known for pr ...

Oddisee Amir Mohamed el Khalifa (born February 24, 1985), better known by his stage name Oddisee, is an American rapper and record producer from Washington, D.C. He is one third of rap trio Diamond District. He was also part of the Low Budget Crew. He is ...

, Navie D, and Bruce Leekix. The mixtape features more original instrumentals than his first mixtape ''

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

'' which was primarily samples. The

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

has inverted into the re-release from the mixtape, titled ''Summer Knights EP''; released on October 29, 2013.

Background

Joey Badass, New York's SOB's, June 2012

On May 22, 2013, Joey Bada$$ announced the official release date of his next solo project, ''Summer Knights EP'' on June 12, 2013, which marks as the one-year anniversary release of his breakthrough mixtape ''1999''. On May 28, 2013, Bada$$ announced ''Summer Knights'' will no longer be an EP, and instead announced that this project will just be a full-length mixtape. He revealed that the mixtape will feature 17 tracks, along with the production, which will be handled by

, Lee Bannon, Chuck Strangers and Kirk Knight, among others. The mixtape features

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...

s by his fellow Pro Era members, along the additional production by DJ Premier,

The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Be ...

and

, among others. On the announced release date, Joey Badass revealed on Twitter that the mixtape was pushed back until July 1, 2013. This was also said to be a "rest in peace" mixtape to Pro Era founder and close friend Capital STEEZ, further indicated in the 16th track entitled "#LongLiveSTEELO."

Critical reception

''Summer Knights'' received generally favorable reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 66, which indicates "generally favorable", based on 10 reviews. '' Exclaim!'' magazine's Chris Dart found Badass' rapping versatile and skillful, and said that the mixtape is exceptional at its high points, despite being a few unnecessary songs overlong. Abrea Armstrong of '' XXL'' felt that his lyrics are still confident, but now informed by new life experiences, and recommended ''Summer Knights'' to hip hop buffs rather than Badass' typically teenage listeners, although she wrote that "Joey is here to prove that they're the same." In a mixed review, Phillip Mlynar of '' Spin'' felt that ''Summer Knights'' lacks the immediacy of his early music and found his rapping dull and enervated, which he mused is a result of pressures and expectations from the music industry. On December 24, 2013, ''XXL'' positioned it at number 19 on their list of the best mixtapes of 2013. They commented saying, "One thing is clear when you listen to the tape, he’s not kidding around, as he unleashes some bone-shattering bars with a calm cold assassin-like demeanor. 1999 was more of a coming-of-age tale from Joey while Summer Knights provides as a worthy follow-up illustrating his maturity and growth. Pro-Era’s boom-bap ’90s chill-vibe is still prominent in the album, however with an extra kick making it sound very refreshing."The 25 Best Mixtapes Of 2013 – XXL
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Track listing

All credits are adapted from Allmusic.

Digital download

Most mixtapes are digital downloads that are free and are usually not released for any profit. ''Summer Knights'' however is available both for free download as well as purchase on iTunes and

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating sy ...

(the latter being available for free streaming as well).

Personnel

All credits are adapted from AllMusic. * The Alchemist – producer * T'nah Apex – featured artist * Lee Bannon – producer * Collie Buddz – featured artist * Nyck Caution – featured artist * Navie D – producer * Dirty Sanchez – featured artist * DJ Premier – producer * MF DOOM – producer * Dessy Hinds – featured artist * Kirk Knight – featured artist, producer * Oddisee – producer * Pro Era – featured artists * Rokamouth – featured artist * Smoke DZA – featured artist * Statik Selektah – producer * Chuck Strangers – featured artist, producer

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2013 mixtape albums Albums produced by DJ Premier Albums produced by Statik Selektah Albums produced by the Alchemist (musician) Albums produced by MF Doom Joey Badass albums Cinematic Music Group mixtape albums Pro Era albums Albums produced by Kirk Knight Albums produced by Fred Warmsley