Key Insights
- Joey Bada$$ expresses admiration for Kendrick Lamar’s track “Not Like Us” despite previous tensions.
- The artist reflects on his competitive spirit and playful approach to rap battles.
- His diss track “The Finals” includes lines directed at Kendrick, showcasing his lyrical prowess.
- The feud with West Coast artists intensified with the release of “The Ruler’s Back” in January.
Joey Bada$$ has revealed that he is actually a fan of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” despite calling out the Compton superstar.
Speaking on The Breakfast Club, the New Yorker reflected on his war with the West Coast over the last year.
He said: “My energy was more connected to, like, it was really in the spirit of, ‘Yo you having y’all moment, but New York City got something to say too’ type of thing. People had their complications with that, like, ‘Oh y’all had y’all moment. We ain’t say nothing.’”
Joey continued: “But I’m like it’s 2025 and it’s playful. It was a playful nature for me. This rap shit is a sport and I have so many allies on the West. From my perspective, if you really seen it, I didn’t mean no disrespect. That wasn’t my intention, but I’m like ‘Yo we rappin’.”
He concluded by saying: “I was Crip Walking to ‘Not Like Us’ all summer.”
Dropping a number of diss tracks aimed at various West Coast artists, Joey saved some of his most serious barbs for Kendrick.
On diss track “The Finals”, Joey raps: “I salute you Kenny but I know you well aware / You lookin’ for some competition? Then just know that I’ll be right here.”
The track, which is mainly aimed at TDE rapper Rey Vaughn, also includes bars such as: “The way you let Dot dick sit in your mouth / This that same dick linkin’ I was talkin’ about / You n-ggas would do anything for the clout / Crash out over n-ggas who won’t even let you in they house / I bet you ain’t even got his number/It’s funny how the thirst is bein’ disguised as hunger.”
Things kicked off between Joey and the West Coast as a whole when he dropped “The Ruler’s Back” in January.
On the song, he rapped: “Too much West Coast dick lickin’ / I’m hearing n-ggas throwin’ rocks, really ain’t shit stickin’ / ‘Cause if we’re talking bar for bar, really it’s slim pickings / I rap like I draw pentagrams and kill chickens, n-gga / Fuck around with your soul like Ether, quick for a feature / This that black Air Force energy comin’ out your speaker.”
