Joey Bada$$ wants smoke with the whole West Coast. That's what it seemed like, at least, when he dropped the song "The Ruler's Back." He tacitly called out Kendrick Lamar and every other rapper on the West Coast for being overrated. He got a few responses, albeit not from Dot directly. Joey Bada$$ was just getting started, though. The New York rapper issued another diss song, "Sorry Not Sorry," on Jan. 20th. This time, however, Joey is taking aim at artists beyond the West Coast. At J. Cole in particular.
Joey Bada$$ didn't reference J. Cole by name on "Sorry Not Sorry." His wordplay made it very clear that he was unimpressed with the Dreamville veteran. "I'm bigging up my city, that's something I had to do," he spits. "Might delete later, I know damn sure that Joey won't, f*ck it, I want all the smoke." The rapper is not only continuing to bomb on Kendrick Lamar, he's using Cole's failed attempt to do the same as a cautionary tale. He's basically telling the listener that he's not going to succumb to the same regret that J. Cole did, when he removed his Lamar diss "7 Minute Drill" from streaming.
Joey Bada$$ Referenced J Cole's Last Album
J. Cole's decision to do so was one of the most controversial incidents in the "Big Three" battle. Which is saying a lot for a battle that had criminal allegations and court cases brought into the mix. Joey Bada$$ is not impressed by J. Cole's decision to throw in the towel, making his bars both an acknowledgment of what happened and a diss to Cole for his inability to stand his ground. All that wrapped up in a lyric that directly references Cole's last release, Might Delete Later. This is a far cry from the statements that Joey Bada$$ has made about J. Cole in the past.
In a 2017 Beats interview, Joey Bada$$ cited J. Cole as one of his favorite rappers when he was a teen. He also cited Kendrick Lamar as one of his favorites, ironically. Joey and Cole collaborated on the "False Prophets" remix in 2016. They also linked, officially, for the song "LEGENDARY" off Joey Bada$$'s 2017 album ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$. There's clearly an appreciation of artistry on both sides. Joey wants to stake his claim as one of the best, however. We'll see where it goes.
