Shel Bailey is a Actor, Rapper, Poet.
Shel’s been spitting and performing impactful lyrics for over a decade now.
Crazy Joey is filled with stories, clever insightful lyrics, and dope hip hop production. This album and the title are inspired by the brutally ambitious life of Crazy Joey, a Brooklyn gangster whose life ended in a public assassination. Joey was a rebel. He rebelled against the system. He wore shades, slouched, and disrespected US senators in a Senate hearing about organized crime. He served ten years in prison “for the mob, and upon his release demanded $100,000 from them as payment. When they refused, he went on to lead his own crime family. Joey immediately had a contract placed on his life.
He worked closely with Nicky Barnes, a star Black Harlem gangster. The concept of these two working together is intriguing because it was at a time when racial tensions were high. Joey didn’t care. He had Black friends. He had celebrity friends. He defied rules, laws, and expectations on his way to making his empire.
I take his inspiring tale and flip it to make it relevant to today. Anybody can be “Joey”. We all can change stereotypes and overcome the odds. We all can pursue success and freedom and have it too. This is a message to young people and old to understand the consequences of our actions. I see a lot of us in the “street life”. I see a lot of us in prison and killed unnecessarily. I could blame “the man” but I rather take responsibility for our own lives. We have to care and we have to be smart. It’s real out here. Long live Joe Gallo. – Shel Bailey
