Gunna's New Album Is Better Than Young Thug, Lil Baby & Lil Durk's, Argues Joe Budden

Gunna may still have lingering naysayers and doubters, but Joe Budden believes that the Atlanta rapper outshined Young Thug, Lil Baby and Lil Durk with his new album.

On the latest episode of The Joe Budden Podcast which premiered over the weekend, the former Slaughterhouse member and his co-hosts discussed Thug’s new album Business is Business and debated whether it matches up to Gunna’s own new offering, A Gift & A Curse.

The crew were in agreement that despite the narrative that he snitched on Young Thug by taking a plea deal in the ongoing YSL RICO case, Gunna’s new project is better than Thug, Baby (It’s Only Me) and Durk’s (Almost Healed) respective releases.

“Don’t ever say that again. Don’t ever disrespect rats,” Budden joked in response to QueenzFlip posing the question whether Thug dropped a better album than Gunna. “We gotta start upping the respect level for the rats around here.”

He added: “They can’t trick me with their little rap conditioning and rap ideologies, fuck outta here. That Gunna shit sound good. It’s better than [Thug’s album] and the rest of them street n-gga albums that have dropped. It’s better than all of them — with no features and no Metro Boomin, with no help and no support. He did it!”

Despite enjoying a handful of songs on Business in Business — including the Future and Drake collaborations — Budden criticized Thug’s album for being “copy and paste” and lacking fresh material.

The New Jersey native also said it’s fair game to compare Gunna and Young Thug’s albums because he believes the two rappers orchestrated things to be that way given there was just a week between their releases.

Musical comparisons aside, there has been brewing tension between all four rap contemporaries over the last few months.

In May, Lil Durk claimed that Gunna snitched on Young Thug during an appearance Akademiks’ Off The Record podcast. “That man told,” he stated. “You should’ve went in there and kept your mouth closed.”

Earlier this month, on the track “Bread & Butter,” Gunna seemingly took shots at Lil Durk and warned his haters that he can have them “hit” while seemingly pledging his allegiance to Thug.

“Never fucked a n-gga, always stayed solid/ Kept it real with n-ggas, never lied and always stay honest/ Love my bro so much, I never change on ’em/ Hunna Wunna goin’ do the work, bring you the damn profits,” he rapped.

Gunna also appeared to take aim at Lil Baby for switching up on him, and even accused him of being in business with a snitch.

“Peepin’ shit, I’m seein’ n-ggas fall back/ You bitch-ass n-ggas got me as the topic of the chat/ You switched on me when you know you in business with a rat/ And the boy that’s like your brother, and nobody speak on that,” he spit.

“The city see it clearly if I had to state a fact/ You still fuck with a n-gga that done got yo’ partner wacked/ Had these n-ggas talkin’, only knew ’em ’cause of Slatt/ You rap boys need more streams, heard he put my name on wax.”

Gunna appeared to be referencing recent allegations against Lil Baby’s label boss, Quality Control Music co-founder Pierre “P” Thomas. Last month, alleged paperwork surfaced stating that Thomas had fed information to the police back in 2010 over the murder of a close friend.

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The QC mogul vehemently denied the allegations, writing on Instagram: “I’m a [G.O.A.T.], don’t ever confuse me with a [rat]. Now take that fraudulent incident report and stick it up y’all ass. I love my freedom so stop playing with it.”

Soon after this, Gunna denied taking shots at Lil Baby, clarifying in an Instagram comment: “I’m just lettin’ the world hear my story.”

In any case, Lil Baby seemingly fired back at Gunna in a recent song snippet after allegedly unfollowing him on Instagram earlier this year. “Pussy n-ggas taking pleas/ I know Slime ain’t happy,” he rapped on the track.

Young Thug, meanwhile, addressed an unnamed “homie” who snitched on him on his Business is Business track “Jonesboro,” which many fans interpreted as a thinly-veiled shot aimed at Gunna. It should be noted, however, that some of the album was recorded before the YSL RICO indictment in May 2022.

“Y’all n-ggas just a bunch of dykes, fucking n-ggas/ N-ggas told and he was my homie/ I can’t miss him, ain’t nobody feel him,” he rapped.

Gunna has continually expressed his support for his YSL comrade and insisted on several songs on A Gift & A Curse that he didn’t snitch.

“That’s four walls talkin’ to you, tellin’ you you gone/ Only I done criеd, ’cause this feelin’ for my bro (King Slime)/ And you know my mind, you done watched that n-gga grow/ I know you hear the lies, it’s your lil’ brother, my folk/ Yeah, I had popped out, but don’t let ’em say I told,” he rapped on “I Was Just Thinking.”

And on “Rodeo Dr,” he rapped: “I know you heard I been pullin’ up pressin’ these n-ggas who claimin’ I ratted/ And been all on the yacht with my muthafuckin’ shirt off, look at it, my whole body tatted.”