During the latest episode of his eponymous podcast, retired rapper Joe Budden revealed he’s not a fan of the themes explored on Drake’s new album For All The Dogs. In his brash criticisms, Budden attcked Drake’s personality and urged the Certified Lover Boy to shift towards more mature content.
“This is like [Lil] Yachty rapping,” Joe said of the album. “I want to hear adult Drake rapping for adult people. He rapping for the children. I had to look up how old this n*gga was when I finished listening to the album … You gonna be 37 years old. Get the fuck away from some of these younger n*ggas, and stop f*cking these 25-year-olds. … Why are you still f*cking the 25-year-olds? You’re a 37-year-old billionaire.”
Budden went on to draw a comparison with J. Cole, commending the Dreamville rapper’s evolution towards more mature themes in his music. “Cole used to rap about kid sh**,” he continued. “And then he started to grow up. And then the rapping sounded like an adult rapping.”
Drake, who has a long history of beef with Budden, didn’t take the criticism lying down. He alleged that the former Slaughterhouse emcee only became a podcaster because he failed as a rapper.
“You left [music] behind to do what you are doing in this clip because this is what actually pays your bills,” Drake wrote in a lengthy comment. “[Y]ou switched careers cause the things that pop into your brain had you broke living cheque to cheque and the raps you write had 450 men showing up to your shows in dusty Enyce jeans to screw up their face to Mood Muzik 29 and pretend you are the goat.”
“[Please] to any artist that’s doing what they feel is right don’t let these opinions affect your mindset after the fact…this guy is the poster child of frustration and surrendering,” Drake added. “You retired and we never hung up your jersey we don’t even remember your number. We know you for doing this…you withdrew from rap not cause you accomplished all you need to it’s cause it wasn’t working for you.”
He continued, “I never want anybody in the generations to think that the whole ‘everybody’s entitled to their opinion’ is a real thing…this is a man projecting his own self hate and the fact I did and continue to do everything he wanted to do for himself. If you need it put in simpler terms I own a 767…he owns a modest house in the 973 and flies first class on special occasions.”
In a retort, Budden maintained, “@champagnepapi you’ll grow up sooner or later, Father time is undefeated.”
Joe Budden’s disdain for Drake goes far back as 2016, when Drake allegedly dissed Joe Budden on French Montana’s “No Shopping.” On the song, Drake rapped, “Pump, pump, pump it up/She got a good head on her, but I pump it up/I’m not a one hit wonder, they know all my stuff/You let me turn into the nigga that you almost was.”
Many internet users, including Joe Budden speculated the song was about Budden. In response, the Mood Muzik creator unleashed four diss tracks aimed at Drake starting with “Making A Murdrer Pt. 1.”
Drake did not respond to any of Budden’s disses directly. In 2016, Joey was asked about his issues with the Toronto rapper after he reportedly stated that he wanted to ruin Drake’s career.
“I didn’t say I would ruin Drake,” Budden said in an interview on Hot 97. “Drake is a superstar, a pop superstar. He has transcended hip-hop. There’s nothing that anybody in hip-hop can do singlehandedly to ruin him. Nobody’s oblivious to that.”
Regardless of Budden’s critique of ‘For All The Dogs’, the album was well received by devoted Drake fans. Early projections indicate it is set to achieve one of the biggest streaming debuts of the year, with an expected range of 530-650 million streams (400-500,000 SEA units).
