Joe Budden has finally earned his first gold plaque from the RIAA 20 years after the release of “Pump It Up.”
The Recording Industry Association of America issued Budden and Def Jam Records a gold certification for the 2003 hit on Wednesday (August 30).
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The gold plaque served as an early birthday present for Budden, who turned 43 years old on Thursday (August 23).
Produced by Just Blaze, “Pump It Up” arrived on March 24, 2003 as the lead single from his self-titled album released later that same year.
.@JoeBudden’s "Pump It Up" finally earns first RIAA plaque https://t.co/52WCdDsvQrpic.twitter.com/6S6Fht3Qrf
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) August 31, 2023
“Pump It Up” peaked at No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for Best Male Rap Solo Performance at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards.
It also appeared in the movie 2 Fast 2 Furious. The official music video took inspiration from the horror film The Ring and boasts over 28 million views with cameos from DJ Envy and DJ Clue.
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Fans were surprised that the anthem just went gold two decades later after its early success and mainstream appeal. “This song is damn near diamond in the hood. Justice for Joe,” one fan wrote via 2cool2bl0g.
JAY-Z appears on the official “Pump It Up” remix, and last year Budden revealed that Hov charged him $250,000 to hop on the bubbling track.
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“I don’t think that was a big number, I think that was his number,” the rapper-turned-podcaster said on the FlipDaScript podcast. “‘That’s my number to rap on this new artist’s remix.’ It was just big in my world, but it wasn’t a big number.
“Listen, I’m super young in that moment,” he said. “I wasn’t in the studio when [Jay and Budden’s A&R Skane] had the conversation. I knew that they had some type of relationship. It was a Just Blaze beat, and I was green behind the ears. I just thought that it would get done.”
He continued: “I didn’t know anything about the business and how things like that are supposed to go. That was par the course… It was big to me because it was unattainable… but the blessing was that he gave a number.”
Meanwhile, Joe Budden’s former rap foe Drake playfully jabbed the New Jersey native’s 2003 hit while on vacation last year.
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Drizzy was at an outdoor restaurant in St. Tropez when he clocked a couple of people getting down to Budden’s breakout anthem as it rang off throughout the venue.
“Where else, where else, Joey, would you have them going so crazy? They’re going so nuts. Ay,” Drake can be heard saying while filming the party.
