Joey Bada$$ Opens Up His Creative Process in New Docuseries Time Will Tell

By the time Joey Bada$$ started rolling out Time Will Tell, he was already in a familiar lane for Brooklyn artists who’ve had to keep evolving in public: documenting the work while the work is still changing. The new docuseries, which launched last Thursday, Aug. 6, takes fans behind the curtain through Joey’s YouTube channel, with new episodes arriving weekly and the first two already available.

Directed by longtime collaborator Waqas Ghani, the series leans on previously unseen footage and a more reflective version of Joey as he revisits the path that brought him here. It’s less a victory lap than a look at process, with the rapper tracing his own growth while still actively building the next chapter.

The first episode, titled “IMPULSIVITY”, zeroes in on a particularly loaded stretch in Joey’s recent run. It covers the making of “The Ruler’s Back” and “Sorry Not Sorry”, along with his Red Bull Spiral Freestyle with Big Sean and Ab-Soul. The episode also pulls back on a harder period, including burnout, a canceled tour, and the way fatherhood reshaped how he looked at both career and personal life.

Elsewhere, the second episode turns toward Joey’s return to the studio and the making of his Lonely at the Top mixtape. That chapter includes early studio demos, unreleased material, and an early version of “SUPAFLEE”, alongside appearances from Busta Rhymes and Hitmaka. The footage adds context without overexplaining itself, showing a working artist in motion rather than packaging everything into a neat narrative.

Time Will Tell also sets the stage for Joey’s upcoming residency at Blue Note, which will run in Los Angeles from August 29-31 and in New York City from September 5-7. The docuseries and the live dates together sketch out a busy stretch, one that places Joey’s recent output in direct conversation with the older, ongoing question of how he wants to be seen.