Why Joe Budden thinks hip-hop is getting
Joe Budden has always been critical of artists and has never been afraid to share his opinions. On his podcast, The Joe Budden Show, he regularly takes shots at MCs and has caused a lot of controversy with some of his comments in recent times about Drake, Kanye West and other rap megastars. Budden has not only dissed Drake, but also spoken disparagingly about Nicki Minaj, Logic, Eminem, Lil Yachty and even his former co-host friends Rory and Mal.
Last year, hip-hop celebrated its 50th anniversary, and most were revelling in the milestone occasion. However, Budden had a more cynical perspective, and during an appearance on The Gauds Show with Ray Daniels, the ‘Pump It Up’ emcee admitted that he is very pessimistic about the state of the culture and the direction in which it is heading.
Recently, many have been documenting what they believe to be an extreme decline in the quality and popularity of hip-hop. Furthermore, many commentators have explained that they are concerned that rap music is becoming ever more artificial and homogeneous in the era of streaming and social media.
Budden described the future of the genre as “dark”. That said when asked to elaborate on why he held this belief, the New Jersey native referenced streaming technology, explaining, “Everybody can’t go do a show, everybody can’t get a song on a playlist. Everybody can’t access their fans, or the information behind these units that they’re moving. It’s dark out there.”
He continued, “[People] don’t know how to respond to AI. Label people are leaving for the tech companies. They’re playing all types of stock games at the top… their artists are not getting one red penny. It’s disgusting out there.”
Cultural commentators and artists have been warning about the problems streaming presents for a long time. However, until recently, they haven’t been listened to. Earlier this year, during Drake’s feud with Kendrick Lamar, Budden opened fans’ eyes to the reality of MCs using bots to inflate streaming numbers—a practice that Budden said industry insiders told him about years ago.
Although Budden didn’t seem too happy with the direction of hip-hop last year and was incredibly dissatisfied with Drake’s album For All The Dogs, there are still a number of MCs who are delivering great bodies of work.