I remember back when Joe Budden dropped his first LP on Def Jam. I’ll admit that I wasn’t really impressed with Joe’s first cd. It was overly commercial and Pump it up was a fun track but it was just pop filler. This is going back to 2003. He had a big hit with “Pump It Up” but his record sales weren’t what he or Def Jam were hoping for. This started a beef between him and the record label. He accused them of mishandling his career and then the two parted ways.
Over the past few years he has dropped a slew of mixtapes and cds mostly outside the realm of the mainstream. Things had changed drastically since his days of appearing in video games, getting radio play, and grammy nominations. He maintained a rabid fan base though through mixtapes and other quiet releases.
Unfortunately I have been sleeping on Joe until just very recently. I discovered and really started to listen to his stuff a few weeks ago on iTunes. And wow, he is now one of my favorite rappers at the moment. “Pump It Up” seriously misrepresented him. I understand you gotta play the game and club tracks like “pump it up” are all part of getting paid and getting radio play. Phenomenal rappers like Eminem and Jay-Z have their share of those.
But most of Joe’s music apart from his Def Jam LP is amazingly deep and thought provoking. A lot of rappers just go through the motions and throw whatever they think people want to here on a cd. It’s evident that Joe is really bearing his soul on his tracks. I couldn’t tell you how many times he dropped a line on a song that I had to rewind and write down.
So if you only remember Joe Budden for “Pump It Up” then you absolutely need to check out his other stuff. He should be the biggest thing out right now.
