Joey Bada$$ appears to be taking a West Coast tack on his new song, sparking a diss song from Top Dawg Entertainment rapper Ray Vaughn.
Joey Bada$$ bar pisses off Ray Vaughn
Badmon Joey kicked off the new year by releasing his new single “The Ruler’s Back” on January 1st. The reverence that has been lost.
“Too much west coast licking, I hear niggas throwing bullets that don’t really stick,” he raps. “Cause if we talk about it line by line, it’s really slim to none / Me rapping is like drawing a pentagram and killing a chicken.”
TDE’s Ray Vaughn was apparently outraged by Joey’s reference to the Left Coast, and he responded on Wednesday (January 8) with the song “Crashout Heritage.”
“What’s up with the secret jibes? Shoot us and hide the Uzi / ‘Cause the only recognizable bada in the world is Busey,” Ray spits.
“Please don’t get confused about filming the movie, we’re actually filming/on the Soul album, so you look like a fool if you ask me,” he added, referring to Joey’s appearance on Ab-Soul 2022 Guest appearance on Herbert LP.
While promoting the song on X, Ray made sure to get Joey’s attention. “In 2025, there’s no sneaky taunts, just meltdowns,” he captioned the clip, mentioning Joey in the post.
On Thursday (January 9), Ray continued to taunt Joey on Twitter: “Y’all calm down, he might shoot or he can’t see the phone, give him some time.”
Joey has yet to respond.
While some fans believe Joey took a shot at Kendrick Lamar with a bar during “The Ruler’s Back,” Joey has praised K-Dot in the past.
Watch Joey Bada$$’s “The Ruler’s Back” video and Ray Vaughn’s response below.
