As an artist in 2016, releasing a music videos ain't easy, even for a musician with a loyal fanbase. Aside from Kanye West's controversial video for his single "Famous," the idea of a video release as an event is practically nonexistent in 2016. Apparently no one told that to Joey Bada$$, the 21-year-old rapper who recently made the most of his "Devastated" video release by renting a double-decker bus and playing the video on the side of it in various locations across New York City.

At stops, he and his team sold the rapper's Pro Era clothing line out of the window. But the bus tour was more an event for Joey's devotees than an introduction of his persona to a wider audience. (You'd be shocked at how well New York City walkers can ignore a double-decker bus blasting hip-hop.) Rather, a lot of people met Joey earlier this year as a character named Leon on the critically-acclaimed hacker drama Mr. Robot.

In its first season, Mr. Robot presented an exciting idea for T.V.—an unreliable narrator by the name of Elliott. By season's end, not only did we discover Elliott had confused his own sister for a love interest, but that his trusty accomplice, the titular Mr. Robot, was actually his dead father whom Elliott was merely imagining. So when Joey's character was introduced in the season two premiere, people were inherently skeptical. Why are they in a diner? Is Leon all in Elliott's head? Does this dude really think Seinfeld is all that deep? But in last night's episode, Leon's role drastically shifted all in about 30 seconds. As four men attempt to rape Elliott, Leon swoops in Batman-style to save the day, cutting the necks of the men just in time to save Elliott. "You're going to get a letter on Tuesday," he says. "Do what it says." Suddenly it seemed like Leon, and Joey Bada$$, had a lot more to offer than just background noise. Wait, did Leon know Elliott's story the whole time? Is Leon a hacker, too? Should we be all that surprised Elliott's been in prison this whole time? Below, we spoke to Joey Bada$$ about where the show is going and his own role on it.

GQ: What was your first conversation with [Mr. Robot creator and writer] Sam Esmail like after you landed the role?

Joey Bada$$: After I got the role, we did a table read together. Everybody was excited to see that I was a part of it.

Did he tell you much about the character before you showed up?

Nah, he didn't tell me too much about the character. When I got to the reading is when I first discovered who the character was. All I knew at the beginning was that my character was a pharmaceutical drug connection for Elliott.

So Esmail keeps you in the dark as an actor? You didn't know what was going to happen in last night's episode until it happened?

Well, I found out at the table read.

When you first read that Leon would be saving Elliott by killing these four guys trying to rape him, what did you think?

I was like, Holy shit, my character is a total badass. I thought it was so sick. When we actually did that scene I was just amazed because it was probably the coolest thing I've done in my life.

Was there a lot of rehearsal for the choreography that went into that scene?

Nah, I actually got it down pretty quick. They said do this and that and I memorized it and that was that!