Lil B & Joey Bada$$ Make Diss Songs Against Each Other
Rap has reached into weird directions when entire rap feuds can flare up and die down literally overnight. Here’s the history on this one: Last year, on Joey Bada$$’s breakout single “Survival Tactics,” Joey’s Pro Era collaborator Capital Steez, who has since taken his own life, had one stray line about Lil B: “They say hard work pays off / Well, tell the Based God don’t quit his day job.” Lil B let that one go, possibly because he never heard the song. But the day before yesterday, Bada$$ tweeted the line at Lil B, and then it was on.
Yesterday, Lil B posted a new track called “I’m The Bada$$” on YouTube, targeting Joey in something resembling his usual diffuse love-everybody style. The only line that really attacks is “If you really think you a Bada$$ / I turn you into trash, little bitch.” Here’s the song:
That Pink Flame cover art. Jesus. Anyway.
At first, Joey acted all unimpressed on Twitter, claiming that he was going to ignore it and that he was offended Lil B didn’t go harder. But by the morning, he’d already made and posted his own song about B. It’s called (naturally) “Don’t Quit Ya Day Job,” and it’s mostly gay-baiting and random stuff about the Bay Area, all rendered in Joey’s usual bloodlessly impressive polysyllabic boom-bap. Here it is:
And just like that, it seems to be over. This was a fun bit of overnight Twitter diversion, but I miss the days when these things would play out over months and people would take time turn these barbs into actual songs.