THE END OF JOEY’S HOE ERA
Ray Vaughn - Hoe Era (prod. by Tariq Beats, OHGODDC!)
These days it seems everyone goes through a “hoe era” at some point in their life. Although, that’s usually reserved (unfairly and totally sexist-ly) to describe women in college… but not this time! Enter Ray Vaughn, stoking the flames of his beef with Joey Bada$$ once again. Many thought the rivalry between the two had calmed down since things appeared quiet, but Joey popped out with a freestyle featuring him next to Big Sean and TDE’s own Ab-Soul.
Of course he couldn’t help but get a few jabs in, while simultaneously insisting this is all in the spirit of good fun a la Kendrick in his “Control” verse.
Unfortunately for him, Ray Vaughn didn’t care.
“ I CAN SEND HIM TO THE STARS
I’M A VAPE LORD
BUT STANDIN NEXT TO SOUL
AIN’T GONNA SAVE YOURS
BUT EVERY VERSE HOEY TALKIN BOUT ‘I’M BACK’
WE DON’T GIVE A FUCK BOUT
WHERE YOU WAS OR WHERE YOU AT ”
Produced by frequent collaborators Tariq and OhGodDC, Ray relentlessly empties clip after clip on Joey and all of Pro Era over a west coast banger sprinkled with a sample from Tekken. (Yes… literally Tekken 4, the beach level specifically) Ray is after more than just sending shots back though, as the pockets and flows chosen, even the beat itself, sound like a radio friendly hit ready to take off. He even borrows from South Florida’s classic Trick Daddy record “Shut up” as a post hook.
There’s honestly too many bars to unpack so I recommend just reading along while the slapper does what it does in your car’s speakers. Or perhaps you need a little motivation to power through those last reps of your superset at the gym. Either way, Ray Vaughn just dropped a disgusting slip and counter to Joey Bada$$’s goatee. You can check out the lyrics here on Genius.com.
You can also find the record below:
The internet is in a frenzy as well surrounding this record and has been abuzz with reactions and reviews going crazy over the speed of the response and how it’s a summer bop. Popular reviewer and hip hop historian Scru Face Jean dropped this hilarious breakdown which is already at 180k views in 3 days. Since it was his first listening, he could hardly contain himself or make it more than 5 seconds without pausing to catch his breath. You can find that here:
No Life Shaq also jumped on early and lost his mind with his reaction video. Get a good laugh below:
With this kind of escalation and Ray sending these kind of shots at Pro Era and Joey Bada$$, a response is for sure incoming. But while you wait, take a listen to Ray Vaughns debut TDE project/mixtape that released late last month, “The Good, The Bad, The Dollar Menu.” You can find that album and it’s respective review here.
