Joe Budden posted an image featuring Hollow Da Don on Instagram. The two rappers stood face-to-face with Budden’s caption reading: “Niggas always think they want a problem til they get it… @donLennonlom.”
“He’s the one who said, ‘Let’s take the picture,'” Hollow Da Don says in an exclusive interview with HipHopDX. “It wasn’t my idea. He was like, ‘Let’s take the picture.'”
Originally, Hollow Da Don says he was asked to be on Total Slaughter, but he rejected the offer.
“Well, this is how it came about,” Hollow continues. “I’m the type of person, I aim for the stars…Not literally. That wasn’t a bar. I’m saying like, I like to aim high. So when I went in there, they telling me, ‘We’re gonna have you in the house competing, and um, you know, at the end Mook and Lux’s battle and Slaughterhouse is hosting it.’ I’m like, ‘Well, if slaughterhouse gonna be a part of it, tell Joe Budden let’s really be a part of it. We can get it poppin’.’ And you know, they’re in the office like, ‘Oh, this kid is crazy.’ And they’re all looking at me like I’m crazy, but now, four months later, it’s possible. So you know how it goes, for the cats that might read this and got aspirations and motivations to do shit, not just rapping, but trying to be a doctor or a journalist like yourself, you know, don’t never let nobody downplay you and be like [you’re] not in the position. Nah, if I’m not in the position, I’m about to make myself be in that position. It gotta be logical ’cause Lux shit wasn’t logical. Like after his Calicoe battle, he was calling out Eminem, like, come on, bro. Let’s take some steps here. I’m not gonna go call out Eminem and Jay Z. You know, I take steps, so…Budden is on the menu.”
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Hollow Da Don Compares Himself To Joe Budden
Despite a potential battle against Joe Budden, Hollow Da Don says he understands similarities between the two rappers.
“I think Joe Budden just like me in the fact that he doesn’t give a fuck,” Hollow says. “We care obviously about our career and getting money, but we’re so confident in what we do, we’re not thinking about, ‘Oh, what’s the possible…’ We’re thinking about ‘I’m a fucking rapper. I can do anything that has to do with rap.’ I’m not worried about doubting about the risk. We’re taking a gamble, so let’s get it. And I think that’s the main thing that’s pushing him. It’s like, I’m on his head. He really knows how I feel and how most rappers feel, like, ‘Yo, I’m the best at this shit.’ That’s what I think it boils down to him just really thinking like, ‘Nigga, this is rap.’ Like, we’re not doing gymnastics in the middle of bars. We’re not fucking making animal balloons. This is rap, even though its a different level of rap, it’s still rap.”
While Joe Budden has not battled in the format that Hollow has seen success in, Da Don says he is still a formidable opponent.
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“I told Joe this myself not too long ago,” Hollow says. “Bro, anybody that’s a lyricist, as far as Joe Budden, Cassidy, Lloyd Banks, the list could go on, anybody that’s a lyricist comes from this shit, especially in New York, [New] Jersey, East Coast, Philly. Like, they come from this shit. Now the only thing they need is experience. They need to be in there to witness and see how shit goes and you know what they could work on, but if you’re a lyricist, bro you can at least do this.
“[I’m] not saying you could do this to the level we do this, but you definitely could compete so I don’t put nothing past any lyricist,” he adds. “It aint like I’m hopping in here with a ABC rhymer, like Joe Budden is a fucking lyricist. It’s not like I’m taking this lightly, and I don’t think he’s taking it lightly and he watches the battles heavy.”
Hollow Da Don Discusses Canibus
Another established rapper, Canibus, faced ridicule after competing in a battle against Dizaster. Hollow says there’s a different between Budden and ‘Bis.
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“The difference between Joe Budden and Canibus is Canibus is more, I felt, like he’s more stuck in his time and you know his era and raps how Canibus raps,” Hollow says. “Joe Budden can adapt, I think. I think Joe Budden is smart enough to adapt, and plus Joe Budden…You know Canibus hasn’t done anything since like Joe Budden. Joe Budden is still poppin’. Joe Budden doesn’t have to do this. He’s really about to open a door when this shit goes down and when it goes down like this, shit is going to open a door for Battle Rap as a whole, so I mean if this shit goes down, it’s gonna be remarkable.”
In January, Joe Budden spoke about established artists getting into Battle Rap.
“It’s not fear,” he said at the time. “Fear is the wrong word, but I mean people have a lot to lose. In Hip Hop your credibility is everything. And it puts the artist with more exposure at a slight disadvantage because of said exposure. You know? You getting here and you facing somebody who knows everything about you. They’ve seen everything about you. They have so much to say. They could speak on your failures, your—they can speak on anything. And you just battling an up-and-coming guy. But I think we will see it eventually. Meek has come from that. Cassidy he comes from that. So, you have guys that are well-versed in battling. So, I can’t wait to see it.”
During that interview, Budden also said a battle against Hollow was “a possibility.”
RELATED:Joe Budden Says A Mainstream Artist Would Have Disadvantage In A Rap Battle
