Joey Badass and Ab-Soul had a fiery lyrical sparring session about the beef with Ray Vaughn in Red Bull 1250’s Spiral Freestyle series.
On Monday, Red Bull‘s music venture dropped the first episode of the third season in their Spiral Freestyle series with Big Sean, Soulo, and Joey grabbing the mics to deliver some incredible bars. While Sean Don dropped some heat, Joey and Soulo went back-and-forth with lines focused on the beef between the New York rapper and Vaughn.
At the top of the year, Joey released “The Ruler’s Back,” in which he downplayed the great year the West Coast had following Kendrick Lamar’s remarkable run against Drake in their feud. The bars in that song caught the attention of Ray Vaughn and Daylyt, who both released responses.
Soulo decided to insert himself in the battle with bars highlighting how Joey put him in a “sticky predicament” and saluted the Brooklyn rapper’s Pro Era crew as the “masters.” He then explained how the feud between Joey and Vaughn is straight “hip-hop,” but warned it wouldn’t be a competition if he got involved.
“Lyt was heavy and Ray definitely stepped / But this is hip-hop, you know we still on that / It was healthy for the sport, sticking to the roots, keeping it competitive / Just be lucky that Soul ain’t stepping in,” Soulo rapped.
Joey was next up to bat, and he stole the show by not only calling out Vaughn and Lyt again, but he even referenced Soul stepping up for his TDE labelmate, Diddy’s sex trafficking case, and more.
“They don’t want the war with the Martian, they sendin’ they troops / At the general, but I’m the one who Ab salute / They obsolete, can’t compete ‘cause I’m too elite / Tryna spark a match but they simply lackin’ the heat / Blasphemy, I don’t need no one to blast for me / Charge into the game, call that shit a catastrophe,” rapped Joey.
He continued, “First off, I could never hate the West Coast / But since n***as comin’ for Joe, fuck it then, let’s go / N***as must’ve forgot what Dot said on ‘Control’ / There’s still a buncha sensitive rappers in they pajama clothes. I guess, this ain’t no East versus West / I just think that I’m the best, as a matter fact, I know / These bars could put bad boys on death row / Kinda crazy how Suge and Puff in jail, though (Damn) (Woah) / Yo, I was at the party but I never seen a freak off (Woah) / Instead a battle rapper on stage showing his cheeks off (Ayo).”
Joey ended his verse with a masterful response to both Daylyt and Vaughn with a slick mention to Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith: “I ain’t gotta lose no sleep to break Daylyt (Chill) / Shouldn’t give you n***as time of day / But fuck it, shine a light on ‘em, I’mma light Ray / Now how can I say this all in a nice way? / If you need the attention, tell Top he gotta pay / Look, I said what’s a lil’ pup to a K9, it’s game time.”
LeBron James even took a moment to chime in, writing, “REAL HIP-HOP!!!!Them boys was FLOWING!!!,” over a repost of the video.
