The year of our lord 2024 can only be classified as historic within the evolving museum of Hip-Hop culture. From J. Cole positioning himself as part of the Big 3 to his disgraceful bowing out to make way for his contemporaries, Drake and Kendrick Lamar, to settle their differences in back-to-back lyrical warfare, the West reigned supreme with Kendrick winning the beef and releasing a cult classic album GNX to close off the year on a high note which ended with “Not Like Us” and “Like That” being Grammy nominated and Kendrick headlining this year’s Superbowl Halftime Show.
Where does this leave the East Coast? New York, the Mecca of Hip-Hop, has been relatively quiet when it comes to the conversation of the coveted crown of rap, which has always been a relatively subjective stance that every MC has taken with the weight of responsibility that comes with being king and Joey Bada$$ is no different. Hailing from Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY, the self-proclaimed Bodman of the game took to the mic to partake in the competitive sport of rap, intricately installing the East Coast back into the fold with his comeback single “The Ruler’s Back.”
Joey Bada$$ | SUPPLIED
Produced by Conductor Williams and Mario Luciano, the former who has been behind the boards of some of the warfare that is exciting the hip-hop community at large, Joey Bada$$ flexes his business-minded hustle by using the visuals of “The Ruler’s Back” to show off his new house and Mercedes-Maybach GLS SUV. The grainy film aesthetic is an ode to his signature homage to Golden Era Hip-Hop and his proud preservation of the tradition. This traditional preservation further extends in the referencing to one of the greatest MCs of all time, Jay-Z, through the referencing of The Blueprint‘s “The Ruler’s Back” and referencing Reasonable Doubt‘s “22 Twos” to take subtle jabs at the West, explicitly gunning for the crown that sits dangerously in Kendrick Lamar’s hands.
With a fascinating lyrical chess and finesse, Joey orchestrates a multi-layered response demonstrating the genre’s brilliant capacity for nuanced dialogue. Rapping “I’m taking a calculated risk, too legit to quit,” Joey uses clever wordplay to invert Kendrick’s own critique from “Euphoria,” where Kendrick had previously dismantled Drake’s supposed strategic positioning with their feud. What’s particularly brilliant here is Joey’s masterful deployment of MC Hammer’s “2 Legit 2 Quit” reference. In the hands of a lesser artist, this might read as a mere nostalgic callback, but Joey transforms it into a pointed commentary on authenticity and commitment.
Classifying the perceived gravity of engaging Kendrick Lamar in a battle to claim the king of New York, which Kendrick snatched in Big Sean’s “Control” back in 2013 as less of a threat, Joey throws subtle shade at J. Cole through the “too real” implication. Acknowledging Cole’s decision to step back from potential conflict, Joey positions himself as cut from a different cloth, essentially saying, “I’m not here to play it safe.” In an electrifying display of American hip-hop’s enduring East Coast-West Coast competitive dialogue, Joey unleashes a masterclass in confrontational lyricism that cuts straight to the heart of coastal dynamics. His bars where he raps, “Too much West Coast d**k lickin’/I’m hearin’ niggas throwin’ rocks, really ain’t shit stickin’/’Cause if we talkin’ bar-for bar, really it’s slim pickings/ I rap like I draw pentagrams and kill chickens” serve as a searing critique of what he perceives as blind West Coast worship, delivered with the kind of raw intensity that defines New York’s uncompromising rap tradition.
Joey Bada$$ | SUPPLIED
What’s particularly fascinating is how Joey weaves together occult imagery with street-level authenticity – the pentagram references aren’t just shock value; they’re positioning him as a dark arts practitioner of bars. When he invokes “This that black Air Force energy comin’ out your speaker”, he’s taking a swipe at the symbolism contained in Kendrick Lamar’s 2024 Instagram-post song “Watch The Party Die,” featuring those very same black Forces. We’re witnessing a sophisticated meditation on power, respect, and the ever-shifting dynamics of rap regionalism, delivered through a prism of contemporary urban symbolism.
What I find fascinating amid the witty bars and visuals, which have grossed 1.3 Million views and counting in the space of its first week, is the unbridling confidence Joey portrays not only of himself but the faith he has in the East Coast claiming their stake as Hip-Hop royalty. With his West Coast contemporaries like Tyler, The Creator, Doechii, Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, and Kendrick Lamar himself eclipsing Joey with a boundary-pushing year with unparalleled lyricism and art direction in visuals, one would truly question the credibility through which Joey considers himself a contender for the crown, especially with a shoe-string budget video such as “The Ruler’s Back” which only shows us his newfound material items and glimpses of him rapping in the studio.
Joey Bada$$ | SUPPLIED
In the same breath, I am not one to count him out as his creative direction is one that prioritised lifestyle, which is a central component of his “OG Era” that he is slowly pivoting into celebrating over a decade of success in music, activism, fashion and film with cult classic performances in “Mr. Robot”, “Wu-Tang: An American Saga”, “Power Book III: Raising Kanan” and “Two Distant Strangers.” While it is one thing to celebrate his attempt at being a jack of all trades, the ways the West has eclipsed him in pure artistry alone over the course of last year clearly indicates his struggle to be the master of all trades.
With West Coast Mc’s like Ray Vaughn who has already responded to Joey with his “Heart Part 6” remix “Crashout Heritage” not to mention Daylyt who responded with “Hiyu”, one thing is for certain: the competitive nature of the culture-defining East-West Coast warfare is far from being definitively settled. What better way to start 2025 than with not-so-friendly sparring setting the tone for a continuation of Hip-Hop’s significant driving force: the spirit of competition and crown-claiming expressionism?
Watch “The Ruler’s Back” here:
