Ray Vaughn of Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is clarifying his position in the ongoing bicoastal rap battle that ignited after Joey Bada$$’s January release, “The Ruler’s Back,” which many interpreted as a diss towards the West Coast. Ray Vaughn responded a week later with “crashout Heritage,” and the exchange has escalated as.

The two rappers have exchanged diss tracks over recent months, with Joey Bada$$ releasing five and Ray Vaughn four. The conflict has expanded beyond a one-on-one battle, drawing in artists from both the East and West Coasts.

Daylyt, a California battle rapper, was among the first to respond to Joey Bada$$, though his initial track gained less attention until Ray Vaughn’s response. Reason, along with New York artists like Nyck Caution and CJ Fly, have also joined the fray.

In a recent interview, Ray Vaughn discussed his “smoke” with Joey Bada$$, the involvement of other West Coast artists, his battle strategy, and potential outcomes.

Ray Vaughn on Responsibility and Respect in the Battle

When asked about his reasons for engaging with Joey Bada$$,Ray Vaughn stated,”yeah,it was definitely my responsibility for our coast. It’s like somebody gon’ say something, we gotta say something.Can’t just let him talk like that without grounds to stand on. He ain’t had no grounds to say it. I just take it like, ‘you calling somebody out and who you calling out [Kendrick Lamar]ain’t gonna even mention you.’ So, it’s like, ‘Alright, without a doubt, here you go. I’m right here.’ That’s all it was.”

“It was definitely my responsibility for our coast. It’s like somebody gon’ say something, we gotta say something.”

Ray Vaughn expressed concern that the widespread participation diminishes the impact of his individual contributions. “I hate that perspective because it makes me feel like people don’t respect what I’m doing as much because everybody else is jumping in on him. So, it’s like when I drop, it don’t have the same impact or effect because somebody else just dropped, and it looks like, ‘Oh, they’re going in over there [on the West Coast].'”

He continued, “I don’t like it. That’s fun for the sport part of it. But for the culture part of it, if it was just me and Joey head-on, then that’s like, ‘Oh, let ’em buck.’ It was OK for some people to get off, I guess, but for me, I can handle joey on my own. But no matter what, it’s gon’ to be perceived differently because if 10 people is jumping one person, then they gon’ look at it like, ‘Oh, he’s a man. He hard for even standing up and fighting all 10 of them and talking about, ‘Come on.’ So, you’re going to always champion that person.”

Ray Vaughn also noted the shift in perception: “He was the top dog in this situation when it started. He came down off his high horse to me. So, it changed me from being an underdog because now he’s getting jumped and nobody like to see nobody get jumped.”

He clarified his stance on others joining in: “I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m just saying the timing of when everybody [from the West coast] cracked off, they cracked off on the second time we sparred. The first time we did it was in January and nobody was paying attention. So, now, when it’s getting covered, and people see the numbers and the views, everybody got something to say and want to come battle for the West. I’m not saying ‘don’t do that,’ but now it looks a certain type of way toward my situation against him.”

Strategy and Future of the Battle

Discussing his approach to creating diss tracks, Ray Vaughn explained, “I look for shock value, I look for bars and I look for subject matter. Those are the main things for me. You know, other people’s opinions might be different, but that’s what I like to see.If I see a lot of that going on on one side,then it’s all good. They probably going to tip the scale.”

When asked if he felt he had the upper hand, Ray Vaughn responded, “I feel like I was getting the upper hand until everybody started jumping in. when everybody jumps in, again, it changes the narrative on how it’s going to be painted out to people. So, it don’t matter, my punches aren’t as effective. I might say something that somebody just dropped and said. So now, my shock value doesn’t hit the same as somebody else probably has said that. It’s like people were looking to me and him the most. They treated it like us. But when you accept the outside noise, it clouds everything up. For that simple reason, it looks like it’s slighted, in my opinion, where I can’t argue that.”

regarding the future of the battle, Ray Vaughn concluded, “It’s hip hop, man. I don’t know. I know not negative. It ain’t smoke. We don’t got no real smoke. It’s more like sport. Say it to your worst, I’m saying my worst, we rappers. If you a man and you engage in battle, it’s like, ‘OK, you putting yourself on a platform for somebody to say the craziest sht about you.’ You expect that. I don’t put nothing past nobody.So, I go straight there as I know that I’m putting myself on a platform for the same f*king thing to be done to me.”

From a competitive standpoint, Ray Vaughn believes a rap battle concludes when “somebody make a hit. If I don’t drop something that’s smacking, a smash, too, Then it could of jade the opinion, ‘OK, well, this done as y’all got