Joe Budden has disputed Jim Jones’ claim that Big Sean is a better rapper than Pusha T, saying he’s “emphatically” incorrect.

The Dipset member made the contentious comments during a recent appearance on The RapCaviar Podcast while discussing Billboard‘s Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time list, on which Pusha is ranked 29th.

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Capo acknowledged that the Clipse MC is a talented lyricist, but argued he hasn’t made enough of a cultural impact to be considered a Top 50 rapper of all time.

He went so far as to say this his former G.O.O.D. Music label mate Big Sean is more deserving of the nod.

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“What has [Pusha T] done that puts him in the Greatest Rappers of All Time [list] besides talking about coke that he probably didn’t get himself?” Jones said with a chuckle. “He’s nice! He’s nice as fuck, he can rap his ass off. But what has he done? Nobody has dressed like him, nobody wants to be like Pusha T. I don’t remember nothing.

“And let’s not be evil, but we don’t talk about rap where the n-ggas that’s popping, the bitches wanna fuck and the n-ggas wanna be like. I don’t know too many n-ggas in this game that was leaning towards being like Pusha T.”

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He continued: “I would put Big Sean before Pusha T … Cam’ron before Pusha T. Bro, you go in these clubs, I don’t know no records they play in the club with Pusha T. They don’t play his shit outside … NBA YoungBoy before Pusha T.

“That’s how I feel about Pusha T being on the Top 50. I’m not saying he don’t get busy, not saying he don’t got platinum records, not saying he not part of G.O.O.D. Music, not saying he’s not part of all of these things — but he’s not the leader of his bunch.”

Joe Budden addressed Jim Jones’ remarks on his eponymous podcast this week, and said the Harlem native is flat-out wrong for his assessment.

“I do feel like Pusha belongs in the Top 50,” he said. “Of course I respect what Jim has to say about the issue, but I think he’s putting a Harlem criteria on all of Hip Hop with this, Who wanted to dress like him? Do the n-ggas wanna be like him? Do the girls wanna fuck him? That sounds very Harlem of him.

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“And the answer to that is no, because Pusha T is not selling 100,000 copies week one today. But that don’t take away from his artistry, what he’s done, who he’s done it with, where he’s done it, his songs, his singles — he’s got it.

“I think Jim Jones is incorrect saying that Big Sean should be ranked higher than Pusha T on their list. I am emphatically saying you could not be more wrong … Sean just got here in 2012 — somewhere around there. And he did everything he needed to do, sold a bunch of records, but now, it’s a little on the quieter side. I’m saying this respectfully. We in 2023 — that’s 10 years.”

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When asked if Sean’s purported career decline is due to his well-documented label issues and not necessarily his own doing, Budden replied: “I don’t know and I haven’t spoken to him, so I won’t assume. All I can say for fact is: 10 years later, it’s on the quieter side of things. So y’all out there have to put a little more respect on the people that are 20 years in.”

Recapping Pusha T’s journey in first person, he continued: “I’ve been through mad different waves of music. I’ve been through different labels. I’ve had the Pharrell beats, I’ve had not Pharrell beats. I’ve been in a group. I had to do it by myself when my brother wanted to go be in the church.

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“I know it was a big deal when they broke up, so to get with Kanye, work behind the scenes. He’s done a lot. I can’t put Big Sean in front of Pusha T. I almost can’t even listen to somebody say that!”

Co-host Ish then chimed in and suggested that Jim Jones’ harsh comments about Pusha T might be rooted in loyalty to Drake, who brought Dipset out at Harlem’s Apollo Theater earlier this year.

Capo has been nothing but complimentary of the 6 God since that show, crowning him the fifth member of The Diplomats while also arguing his case as the greatest rapper of all time — above Billboard‘s No. 1 pick, JAY-Z.

“The relevancy that he keeps showing year after year, hit after hit, record after record. Any song that he has put out has seemed to go multiple platinum. That’s never happened before in history,” Jones said of Drizzy’s dominance during a recent interview with Complex.

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“I mean, there are a few other people that do astronomical numbers like that, but he really in it, you know what I mean? From all angles of music. It ain’t no place you go where they’re not going to play some Drake records to get the party started. He moves around here like the real Bruce Wayne. He’s my spirit animal, man.”

Specifically addressing the Drake-JAY-Z comparisons, he said: “What [JAY-Z] has done to this game is astronomical, he’s like Michael Jordan for what he has put on and what he has done since he came in the game and where he’s at right now.

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“But Jay exited music a long time ago. And that space, that void, I don’t know if it’s a void, but Drake has not exited, and he’s still going strong to this day, and it doesn’t seem like he’s stopping no time soon.”