Ray Vaughn Responds To Joey Bada$$ With "Hoe Era"

Joey Bada$$ unknowingly awoke a fearless challenger in Ray Vaughn once he dropped "The Ruler's Back." The New York rapper's triumphant track, released at the top of 2025, not only was about self-confidence, but about putting the West Coast in its place.

He felt there was too much "West Coast d**k lickin'" going on last year, especially because of Kendrick Lamar's take down of Drake. That along with the Pop Out show unifiedoe that entire region of hip-hop. But Joey Bada$$ didn't see all of the hype and it led him to take some indirect shots at Lamar and his compatriots.

Not too long after its release, Ray Vaughn would respond with "Crashout Heritage." He flashed his sharp pen over K. Dot's "heart pt. 6" instrumental. He had some bars for Joey there, but also for Tory Lanez, DDG, and more.

It was more a West Coast repping anthem than anything else with passionate verses all throughout. However, Ray Vaughn is taking things up a notch this time with "Hoe Era." It's more cutthroat and takes some subtle inspiration from another Lamar track, "tv off."

Joey Bada$$ & Ray Vaughn Beef

There's even a clever reference turned diss for Joey regarding that very title. "Goofy, don't let Power get your TV turned off." Overall, this response is littered with witty and clever lines. For example, in this one Ray is talking about Joey's run on 50 Cent's Power series.

Even the title of the track is a diss as the rising TDE talent is poking fun at Joey's label Pro Era. On the second verse, Ray Wop lays down more straightforward bars like, "Standing next to Soul ain't gon' save yours."

This line here highlights why he's decided to drop this song in the first place. Just yesterday, Joey Bada$$ had some sneaky disses for Ray on his off-the-dome verse for Red Bull's Spiral Freestyle series.

There, he said, "I shine through the late night / I ain’t gotta lose no sleep to break Daylyt / Shouldn’t give you n****s time of day / But f*ck it shine a light on em, I’m a light Ray / If you need the attention, tell Top he gotta pay."

Overall, it's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out now as neither one of this talented MCs are backing down.