Joey Bada$$, Ray Vaughn, and more have been setting the internet ablaze this year, particularly over the last week, with their regionalism-motivated rap battle. Dee-1 recently took to social media to explain why he is not a fan of the exchange.
“Peace and love to all these brothers, you heard me. Respect to their talent, but we can do better,” the 40-year-old rapper said in an Instagram video. “And to all of the fans and the industry people that’s cheerleaders on the sidelines for this, why don’t you cheer just as hard for these brothers when they’re not having beef with each other?”
The New Orleans artist expanded his argument to cover the racial elements of it all. He took issue with non-Black people finding entertainment in the “dysfunction” of Black people by way of lyrical jousting. As for the Black people who also enjoy rap battles, he asked them to consider the cost of when the tension leaves the booth and potentially affects people’s well-being. He also expressed disdain for those who try and stop that from happening.
“These people be trying to micromanage beef, that’s how you know this stuff is fake, man,” Dee-1 asserted. “‘We want y’all to diss each other, but just don’t let it get off wax, right? We don’t want it to turn from beef to bullets.’ In real life, you can’t micromanage when people beefin’; if it’s up, it’s up. But y’all say ‘No, keep beefin’. Just don’t let it get serious.’ Nope, nope. We smarter than that.”
His caption summarized his qualms as well. “I see it so clearly now how we get used for other people’s entertainment,” he wrote. “Because they rarely ever cheer as hard for us when we’re not beefing. And 99% of the time the issues between artists aren’t even that serious. But the results of the beef often are. That ain’t hip hop, that’s @hipocriticalhop.”
Joey Bada$$ set off the series of diss records in January on “The Ruler’s Back,” where he quoted Jay-Z and said there was “too much West Coast d**k lickin’.” Daylyt and Ray Vaughn fired back a week later on behalf of their coast, CJ Fly jumped in to stand up for New York, and now, in this last week, there have been songs released by West Coast reps Reason, AzChike, and Hitta J3 plus New York wordsmiths Kai Ca$h and Really Jae’Won, the latter of whom is Jadakiss’ son. Check out a playlist of the tracks below.
Coincidentally, this East Coast versus West Coast feud comes just a year after Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s battle, which was heavily influenced by California residents’ support of the Compton rapper. Months after the back-and-forth settled, K. Dot shared an untitled record where he referenced Dee-1. “Sometimes I wonder what Lecrae would do/ F**k these ni**as up or show ’em just what prayer do?/ I want to be empathetic, my heart like Dee-1/ But I will—/ It’s time to get these devils out the way, heavy metals on my sword,” he rapped.
Leave a comment