Joey Bada$$ boasts about staring directly at the eclipse before cancelling three shows

'This ain't the first solar eclipse and I'm pretty sure our ancestors ain't have no fancy eyewear'

Joey Bada$$ said he was looking at the eclipse without protective glasses (Getty Images)

Rapper Joey Bada$$ may have fallen into the same trap as Donald Trump when viewing the total eclipse that crossed over America this week, potentially with more devastating effects than the President.

During the eclipse, the hip-hop star made a point of noting he wasn’t wearing any protective eyewear— a recommendation made by literally anybody who has any stature in the “should you wear protective glasses when looking at the sun” community. Just a day later, he cancelled shows on his tour for “unforeseen circumstances”.

“Am I crazy for watching the eclipse today w no glasses? I’ve sun gazed before and afterwards saw colors for a whole day. I didn’t die tho,” Joey tweeted during the eclipse.

Just a day later, Joey tweeted that he had to cancel at least two shows in North America. He didn’t provide a reason why.

News outlets quickly picked up on the strange sequence of tweets, and began speculating whether Joey had been forced to drop the tour dates as a result of his ill-advised decision to stare at an eclipse. It wasn’t clear if that was the case, but Joey later retweeted several of the stories.

“Seeing double, stacking triple,” Joey tweeted, in apparent reference to stacking bills, or earning a lot of money.

Depending on the individual, it can take between a few seconds and a few minute for the sun to damage retinas. When someone stares at the sun, or an eclipse, the damaged area is known as the “macula”, and is the thinnest part of the retina. That area is in control of the sharpest, and centermost part of a person’s vision.

When that area is damaged, a grey or black spot can appear in the center of an individual’s vision. Those spots can make it difficult for someone to read, drive, or see things directly in front of them. An individual wouldn’t go completely blind from this damage, however, as they would still maintain their peripheral vision.