Joey Badass signed with Cinematic Music Group as a solo act to release his debut mixtape, 1999 (2012) and its follow-up, Summer Knights (2012), both of which yielded critical acclaim.

[10] He originally enrolled at Edward R. Murrow to study acting, but transitioned towards music around the time of 9th grade, with a focus on rapping.

[12][13] In early 2012, Joey Badass and Capital Steez released a video for "Survival Tactics" via their YouTube channel "PROfckingERA", which samples the song of the same name from the album 2000 Fold by Styles of Beyond.

[12] Along with headliner Juicy J, Joey Badass and Pro Era performed on The Smoker's Club's One Hazy Summer Tour, presented by Eckō Unltd.

[30] On November 9, 2012, Joey Badass released a track with Ab-Soul produced by Lee Bannon called "Enter the Void" along with "Waves".

[36] In August 2014, Joey Badass appeared in a quasi-autobiographical short film entitled No Regrets, directed by Rik Cordero, in which he portrays himself.

"[38] On August 4, 2014, he released the first single from his upcoming debut studio album titled "Big Dusty" with the music video coming out 8 days later.

[41] On January 13 appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he performed the song "Like Me" live with BJ the Chicago Kid, The Roots and Statik Selektah.

[43][44] On September 3, 2015, Joey Badass released a collaborative single with Korean hip-hop group Epik High's Tablo and producer Code Kunst called "Hood".

On October 6, 2015, he collaborated with British indie rock band Glass Animals, releasing a single titled "Lose Control".

On March 4, 2016, Joey Badass made his television debut in the second season of the hit TV series Mr.

[51][52] On December 28, 2017, Joey Badass announced via Twitter that he was originally featured on Post Malone's track "Rockstar" along with T-Pain.

On June 12, 2018, Joey re-issued 1999 on all streaming services and vinyl for its 6th anniversary,[57] and in a following interview with Peter Rosenberg, revealed his fatherhood, making public his first child, then 2-month-old Indigo Rain.

[59] The album was released on July 22, 2022, with guest appearances from Diddy, Westside Gunn, Larry June, Chris Brown, Capella Grey, and JID.

[61] In an interview with XXL, Joey Badass stated that he was influenced by Nas, 2Pac, Black Thought, MF DOOM, J Dilla, Andre 3000, Jay-Z, and The Notorious B.I.G.

[65] In January 2015, Joey Badass was arrested and charged with assault for allegedly breaking a security guard's nose[66] before performing at the Falls Festival in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia.

[67] In June 2015, tensions between Joey Badass and fellow Brooklyn native Troy Ave began brewing after the former declared himself the "#1 independent hip hop artist/brand in the world" in a series of tweets.

[69] On July 7, 2015, in an interview with Ebro Darden on Hot 97, Joey Badass had words of praise for Troy Ave, stating: "At some point you gotta have some level of respect for Troy because, at the end of the day, we're both independent artists who are standing on major platforms next to a whole bunch of major artists and they know who we are.

[73] Following the song's release, Troy Ave defended his actions on Shade 45's Sway in the Morning, stating: "He didn't pass away; he killed himself.

[76][77] In an interview on VladTV, another Brooklyn rapper, Maino, stated that mentioning Capital Steez's suicide in the song was "a bit much".

[78] ...He took a leap of faith and only brightened his light / You took a cheap shot at hate and only shortened your life / Difference between you and him is that he lives forever / You'll be the first to die that nobody ever remembers / 'cause the city never needed you ever / You committed career suicide and made New York better...In a freestyle on Sway in the Morning on March 29, 2016, Joey Badass responded to "Badass" in a series of lines aimed at Troy Ave, though never referring to him directly.

[79][80][82] In an interview with HipHopDX the following day, Fat Joe stated that he personally reached out to both Joey Badass and Troy Ave to try and squash the feud, but failed.