Joe Budden looks unhappy at a bowling alley
Joe Budden (b. August 31. 1980) is an American rapper and actor from Jersey City, New Jersey. To date, he has released fifteen or so musical projects, from mixtapes to studio albums. His eponymous debut was well-received, containing the Just Blaze-produced single "Pump It Up," for which he was nominated for a Grammy in 2004. He is also known for his "Mood Muzik" series of mixtapes, released in the aftermath of his departure from Def Jam, at which point Joe really tapped into the "angsty 15 year old" market. Joe Budden is also one quarter of the rap "supergroup" Slaughterhouse.
His Life[]
Joe Budden, to quote one JBTV user, "has the weirdest problems." Renowned for his poor decision making, Joe is exceptionally talented at making bad choices that reflect on himself, his music, and his fans. He often does these things despite the cautions of his audience, his friends, and probably himself.
Joe has a penchant for dating strippers and other "video vixens," and has yet to have a happily-concluded relationship with one. Girlfriends of note include Kaylin Garcia, Esther Baxter, Somaya Reece, some girl named Angie with whom he has a son, potentially Yaris Sanchez, and the omnipresent Tahiry Jose, his co-star on the VH1 show Love & Hip-Hop.
Joe has a problem with drugs and addiction and has rapped frequently on the issue. His standard M.O. is to claim to be clean, then come out a few months later and admit he was on drugs, but is now clean. His drugs of choice are pain pills and Molly, apparently.
His Music[]
Joe Budden burst onto the rap scene with the hit "Pump It Up." In the song, Joe instructs an ambiguous other (perhaps the audience) to "pump, pump, pump it up" repeatedly, occasionally pausing to deliver verses that nobody remembers. Following the release of his first album, Joe spent a long time having a really, really messy breakup with Def Jam, which he proceeded to whine about for an even longer time.
I should note: despite the slander of the rest of this site, Joe Budden is a talented lyricist. He is profoundly gifted with the ability to be introspective and acknowledge flaws in his ego.
Unfortunately, Joe Budden cannot write a song to save his life. Your average Joe hook looks something like this:
- On everything I love, right hand on the Bible
A Koran, be on whatever religion you suscribe to
I'm going through the motions like a drive-by
Wait too many rules in this bitch I won't abide by
Uhhh, on pace, never stagnant
Only give em a fraction, this is a re-enactment
Don't believe what you see we just actin'
Or am I just rehashin'?
Truthfully am I goin through the motions?
Or are they goin through me?
- On everything I love, right hand on the Bible
- Joe Budden, "Going Through the Motions"
Joe also has an ear for beats comparable to people who go to school for deaf people and are held back because they are also retarded. His musical difficulties are complicated by the fact that, in the early 2000s, Joe had some kind of health problem with his throat that rendered his ability to rap fast seriously diminished, a fact that apparently Joe hasn't recognized.
As a result, Joe's music is often left unappreciated by contemporary audiences. True Joe Budden fans believe this is because mainstream rap fans are sheep who only like Lil Wayne and cannot appreciate "real hip hop." In reality, Joe's music is often overlooked because it's very often not very good. When he makes good music, it's nice, but it's irregular at best. Usually it's pretty mediocre.
Joe's work with Slaughterhouse provided the impetus for his attempt to regain mainstream acknowledgment, an impulse fully realized in his most recent album, No Love Lost. The album was handily outsold in first-week sales by a bunch of people, including some Christian Rock group named "Red." It did, however, sell better than his albums on Amalgam Digital, although that is not saying very much.
Joe's current musical interests seem to be expressed perfectly in his group SLV, comprised of him, his friend Emanny, and some other people. SLV's aim is to make music tailored discintly to ratchet Twitter hoes with whom Joe and his friends flirt literally every day. Joe sings on a number of their songs, producing a sonic experience that threatens your sexuality more than an insult from Kelly Blast.