A couple of weeks ago, Ray Vaughn and Joey Bada$$ were in the middle of a friendly fade between the East and West Coast. Over the weekend, Ray Vaughn sat with Bootleg Kev to detail the advice he received from Kendrick Lamar during the beef.
“I can call him,” Vaughn revealed of his relationship with Lamar. “I’m on the phone when I’m going at Joey [Bada$$], ‘Ay, do you f–-k with this?’ I always get feedback. It still got a protocol.”
He added, “If anything, it’s take something out. Like ad-libs, take some ad-libs out. Or if it’s not, it didn’t come out… It’s still the way we run TDE, it’s still the same thing. You’ve got to go down the line. When they post it, it’s going on TDE’s page. You speaking and it’s coming from our side, come correct.”
However, that also lets us know that Kendrick Lamar heard the bait from Joey Bada$$.
In case you missed it, with the release of his track “The Finals,” the Brooklyn rapper turns up the competitive spirit, offering a direct challenge to the Compton icon.
FTR, “The Finals” is HIP HOP!!!
“I salute you Kenny but I know you well aware / You lookin’ for some competition? Then just know that I’ll be right here,” Joey raps, laying down the gauntlet for what could be one of the most exciting lyrical face-offs in recent memory.
ICYMI, this isn’t the first time Joey’s aimed at the West Coast. Back in January, he stirred the pot with “The Ruler’s Back,”where he rapped:
“Too much West Coast d*** lickin’… ‘Cause if we’re talking bar for bar, really it’s slim pickings.”
That record prompted responses from Ray Vaughn, battle rap legend Daylyt, and TDE lyricist Ab-Soul. During a cypher, Ab-Soul hinted at the brewing tension, saying:
“Lyt was heavy and Ray definitely stepped… Just be lucky that Soul ain’t stepping in.”
But Joey wasn’t about to be silenced. In a subsequent verse, he fired back without hesitation:
“First off, I could never hate the West Coast / But since n*s comin’ for Joe, f it then, let’s go… These bars could put bad boys on death row / Kinda crazy how Suge and Puff in jail, though.”