| Temptation | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Joey Badass |
| Album: | All-Amerikkkan Badass |
| Released: | June 13, 2017 |
| Genre: | Conscious hip hop |
| Length: | 4:04 |
| Label: |
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| Producer: | |
| Chronology: | Joey Badass |
| Prev Title: | Land of the Free |
| Prev Year: | 2017 |
| Next Title: | 500 Benz |
| Next Year: | 2017 |
"Temptation" is a song by American rapper Joey Badass, sent to urban contemporary radio on June 13, 2017, as the third single from his second studio album All-Amerikkkan Badass (2017).[1] It was produced by 1-900 and Kirk Knight.
In an interview with GQ, Joey Badass chose "Temptation" as a track from All-Amerikkkan Badass that he was particularly proud of, saying "When I made that song, instantly it was my favorite song ever. Not just out of songs that I have made, literally my favorite song ever."[2]
The song features excerpts of nine-year-old girl Zianna Oliphant's tearful speech on police brutality to the Charlotte City Council following the killing of Keith Lamont Scott and subsequent protests.[3] [4] [5] Joey stated he saw a video of the speech on Instagram and it "just really struck a chord in my heart." He added, "When I first saw it I didn't even think I was going to use it in a song, but then when 'TEMPTATION' got near the final stages I just had an idea that the video would go perfectly. I literally put it in GarageBand and mashed it up myself, and it turned out perfect."
Joey Badass includes sung vocals in the song.[6] Lyrically, he describes feeling helpless and being tempted to engage in bad behavior due to the injustices on Black people, also begging "Tell me Lord can you help me / I said Lord can you help me?"[7] He addresses his own experiences of being racially discriminated against,[8] advocates for his people to improve themselves through taking action,[9] and chides people who are "complaining all day but in the same condition" and mentally "enslaved by their religion."[10]
An official music video was released on August 14, 2017. Directed by Joey Badass himself and Nathan Smith, it sees Joey visiting his hometown of Brooklyn, opening with a grainy clip of the city from the Brooklyn Bridge. It then shows the rapper walking through a church and a group of children running home and playing with each other while the police conduct a stop-and-frisk search outside of their brownstone apartment and harass Black men on sidewalks.[11] [12] Badass begins rapping on the stairs of the home as his lyrics depict the lives of people in the household;[13] he watches a mother laying down and a man in another room packing his gun with him before heading to work. Badass accompanies a little girl, taking a stroll through the neighborhood with her as they meet a group of men on the sidewalk who start dancing to the song. After dropping off the girl with her mother, Badass gives an outdoor performance with a band that is shut down by police, and joins others inside a church.