Joe Budden first met Drake in person in 2009, when Drake was a guest on his web series “Joe Budden TV.” On the episode, a nascent Drizzy talks about wanting to stay away from beef. The YouTube description for that video still reads “if u couldn’t tell by now, i support this dude whole heartedly.... as it turns out, he doesn’t plan on dissing any1 anytime soon...” Seven years later, a shortlist of rappers with whom Drake has clashed includes Common, Kendrick Lamar, Meek Mill... and, recently, Budden himself. Budden has now responded with “Making a Murderer (Part 1),” a new track that isn’t meant to fan the flames of the beef, Budden tells Pitchfork, but rather to show Drake what competitive hip-hop is really about. (It also samples the 2009 episode. Read the lyrics here.)
The emerging conflict between the two rappers began on May 4, when Budden gave an honest critique of VIEWS on his “I’ll Name This Podcast Later” podcast, saying Drake sounded “real fuckin’ uninspired.” A week later, French Montana shared a clip of a new Drake collaboration. The 10-second video didn’t reveal much of Drake’s verse, except for a telltale intro: “Pump, pump, pump it up”–a likely allusion to Budden’s biggest hit.
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At that point, Budden tells Pitchfork that he knew he had to be ready on “high alert.” There’s no telling what a “genius” like Drake could do next. Budden packed his bags and hit the studio for four days to prepare.
A month later, as Budden foresaw, Drake fanned the flames with “4PM in Calabasas,” a song with cryptic disses that only those involved could truly understand. Budden, who likes it more than most VIEWS verses, says it’s Drake’s “verbiage” that calls him out, no line in particular. He also believes the podcast was fresh on Drake's mind, saying that he addressed “every single point that [Budden] had mentioned the week before.” Still, Budden kept waiting. He wanted to see what came about from the French collab. It’s been seven weeks since that clip popped up online, though, and Budden is tired of waiting. He is ready to make the next move in the chess game: “Making a Murderer (Part 1)” is his play.
The new song (produced by AraabMuzik) is very clearly aimed at Drake, but Budden doesn’t want beef. “If it were really a matter of importance,” he says, “him and I could jump on the phone.” Instead, Budden wants to reignite the “uninspired” MC, and bring back real hip-hop, as he sees it. “I come from a hip-hop where if you didn’t have something to say, then, nigga, what the fuck were you rapping for,” Budden says. In fact, he’d welcome Drake’s response, so long as it comes in a verse. Drake once rapped, “Trigger fingers turn to Twitter fingers;” Budden wants to turn that back around: “I’m tired of rappers addressing things in every other manner in passion but rap.”
In addition to Drake, "Making a Murderer" targets Meek Mill and alludes to past conflict with Jay Z. He calls out VIEWS and even riffs on a strange 2010 Sprite commercial where Drake’s face comes apart like a cyborg. It’s part of a larger plan to bring back competitive hip-hop:
If anything, Budden says what he is doing is a fun and beautiful celebration. “I’m not addressing Drake, or addressing Meek because I am malicious toward either of them or I wish either one of them harm or ill will,” he says. “I am celebrating hip-hop. I want the people who I deem–I want the people who are talented to be talented.”
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“I just want this to be a moment in hip-hop because it is” Budden says. “Me, as an MC, I’m my own worse critic. I’ve listened to that song [“Making a Murderer (Part 1)”] a million times and it’s chilling. It’s chilling when you just understand it. It’s a clear message, line in the sand, to all MCs. I’m not playing no more.”
Budden and AraabMuzik have also announced a new collaborative project called Rage & The Machine. In addition to “Making a Murderer,” they’re putting out their first song from their forthcoming debut LP. It’s called “Flex” and it features Fabolous and Tory Lanez. It’s a total coincidence, Budden maintains, that Lanez has his own issues with Drake; their work on “Flex” is wholly unrelated to personal differences.
