What came as a surprise to many on Joe Budden’s recently released Mood Musik 3 was “Talk 2 Em” – a track aimed at Jay-Z, his former boss at Def Jam. What was speculation at first was confirmed recently by Budden during an interview with Rhapsody.
“It was disrespectful, but it was a diss with a point: Stop rapping. Hang it up,”Budden said as he explained the reason for the dis. “You’re getting paid to be a president. Be a president. We loved you as a rapper. One of the best to ever do it. Now it’s time to do some other things.”
On the song Budden spits “When the new generation think about Jordan/All they remember is when Iverson crossed him/Take off the blazer, loosen’ up the tie/Nigga fell in love and Superman died.” So what exactly did Budden mean by the Jordan reference?
“If you look at it today, a lot of these younger people didn’t experience Reasonable Doubt, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, and the things that people my age have come to love Jay for. The younger generation is like, eh, f*ck it, whatever. They don’t really respect it,” he explains. “I don’t think he puts that fear in any artists like he once did. It’s like Shaquille O’Neal now. Shaq was one of the most dominant people to ever play. Nowadays, he’s still worth something, but it’s just not the same.”
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Budden also takes time to talk about American Gangster.
“Everybody is calling American Gangster a concept album. It’s a Jay-Z album,” he continues. “He’s talking about the same exact sh*t he’s talking about on Reasonable Doubt. Where’s the concepts? He just needed something to attach it to, which he did. He needs to be a president and start putting out some fucking artists.”
Budden isn’t the first, and may not be the last, in a long line of disgruntled artists who have had words about Jay’s position at Def Jam. “If a million people are calling you a duck, then you probably need to look in the mirror,” Budden says. “There’s not one rapper on Def Jam that has been broken since Jay and L.A. Reid have gone to Def Jam. Kanye, Jeezy and Ludacris sold records prior to them getting there. They really don’t know what they’re doing as far as hip-hop goes. And I don’t think Jay is too concerned with trying to rectify that.”
Jay-Z hasn’t responded as of press time and who knows if he will. But DX will keep you posted if anything else transpires.
