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— by Shaheem Reid
Mixtape-marauder-turned-dance-floor-destroyer Joe Budden has got a story to tell, and it's riddled with more innuendos and speculation than an episode of "CSI." While there's no mystery as to why he's one of the most talked-about new rappers in the game — his first single, "Pump It Up," has the streets on fire — questions seem to follow him wherever he goes, the latest one being, does he really have beef with Jay-Z? MTV News recently got Budden to fess up about the feud rumors, his upcoming LP and what it's like to finally be clean and sober.
MTV: A few months ago you said the album was going to come out "When it's time." Why is the time now?
Budden: I think the last time we spoke, "Pump It Up" was out, but "Pump It Up" grew beyond my imagination. For the masses [to get interested in you], all it takes is that one record. With all the radio play and the video doing well, it was time. Back then I was saying, "I'm going to come out when it's time," and now that I'm coming out, I'm saying 'Give me some more time.'
MTV: Obviously Def Jam is really hyped about putting out your album, but the excitement didn't always seem to exist during your almost three years on the bench. Now that you're arguably the artist with the biggest buzz on their label, do you feel like, "I told you so"?
Budden: I don't feel like "I told you so." I'm just grateful for it all. Day one for me started on the streets. [The fans] are the ones that said, "He's nice. We need to hear him." It wasn't any record exec, any A&R — my production company said, "We gonna get it poppin" " — but overall it was the streets.
MTV: The streets have been talking about you and Jay-Z for the past few weeks.
Budden: Hov!
MTV: Jay rhymed freestyle over your beat for "Pump It Up" on his S. Carter Collection mixtape. Then, another freestyle with you rapping new lyrics over the same beat hit the streets. Even though you give props to Jay in your lyrics, some people say you were getting at Jay.
Budden: Some people say, "Hov was getting at Joe." I'm not that self-centered, though, to think that this man is getting at me. Hov is one of my favorite artists, and that's real talk. For me to come at him [was like,] "No way." It was all in fun. He took the beat — that was an honor to hear him rhyme over the beat — and he killed it. It was a challenge as well as fun for me [to come back]. The streets ate it up, though. "Joe and Hov is battling." I pick up a mixtape [and it's] Joe Budden vs. Jay-Z. It's all in fun. Me and him spoke about it afterwards too.
MTV: How surreal is it for people to even talk about a Joe Budden and Jay-Z mixtape? You've come such a long way since getting your life together a few years ago.
Budden: I'm here to tell the people if I can make it and be a productive member of society, anybody can. I was getting high and robbing and doing all the stuff typical urban youths might do. I just tended to do it a little extra. Everybody else could use drugs, [but] the drugs were using me. I was walking around like a dead man — my eyes, my skin ... [they] wasn't a good look at all. I'm talking about since the age of 13. My whole teenage years were cries for help. I didn't want to live like that. They say "pain shared is pain lessened." That's all I try to do in music; write what's going on with me.
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Photo: Def Jam
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