The battle continues!
On Thursday, May 15, 2025, Joey Bada$$ released “The Finals,” a four-minute diss track primarily aimed at TDE’s Ray Vaughn. Within the song’s first 16 bars, the Brooklyn native raps, “You’re the next n—a that’s getting dropped off [of] the Top [Dawg Enetertainment] roster, and I’m [going to be] the reason.” While the line is aimed in the direction of the Long Beach native, it does allude to Reason, the Carson native who was previously signed to TDE before parting ways with the label last year. In a matter of 24 hours, Reason has cooked up a response to the multi-hyphenate.
“Dear Joey Joe, [I] ain’t expect my name to be spoken,” Reason raps. “That s—t really hurt my?heart.?I can truly?say that it’s broken. I get it’s?just a bar, but when I sit down and focus, it’s a coast jealousy that you n—s thought we ain’t noticed.”
Throughout the four-minute track, Reason weaponizes classic New York tracks, soundbites from Empire State legends, and clever wordplay to fire back at Joey Bada$$.
“The best rapper in New York on a podcast/I’ll button up this shirt and give out jaw taps/This ain’t clout chasin’ nigga, what you call that?/This ain’t about paper n—a, what you call that?” he continued.
“The Dead Apple” is the first track from Reason in a back-and-forth that dates back to January 1, 2025. Celebrating his birthday, Joey Bada$$ released a Conductor Williams-produced track called “The Ruler’s Back.” Paying homage to fellow Brooklyn native Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Joey Bada$$ rapped, “Too much West Coast d—k lickin’/I’m hearin’ n—s throwin’ rocks, really ain’t s—t stickin’.”
Joey Bada$$’s birthday celebration prompted responses from Daylyt, Az Chike, and Ray Vaughn before he hit back with a verse on Big Sean’s Red Bull Spiral Freestyle and the aforementioned track, “The Finals.”
