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Time is an unrelenting tide every person is forced to tread against on the path to self-discovery.
When feared, this variable can become a crippling adversary capable of robbing potential and birthing idle dreams. Yet, when boldly embraced, this perceivable enemy can transform into an invaluable asset capable of accelerating growth and clarifying purpose.
The path to finding truth is inevitably plagued by a perfect storm of trials and triumphs. Although such a paradox may affirm the belief that every breakthrough begins at rock bottom, retaining a sense of sanity while standing in the eye of your darkest hour can be a seemingly impossible task.
For the rare few armed with the resolve to persevere through life’s toughest tests, success appears in the form of clarity, identifying a cause worthy of championing with unwavering passion rooted in an evolved perspective. Achieving this heightened level of self-awareness not only allows an individual to discover their voice and settle into a new lane, it also activates the law of attraction. Instead of sabotaging opportunity and ruining relationships, one can attract the people, platforms and positions required to rise above past pitfalls and fulfill the mission.
In the case of Joe Budden, reaching this point of realization following a myriad of turning points and transitions throughout his career has empowered the outspoken cultural critic to find refuge in imperfection. By owning unpopular opinion, the emcee turned media phenom is poised to challenge convention and ignite conversations setting a precedent that affecting change isn’t the byproduct of being right, but rather the outcome of unapologetically challenging others to uncover their truth.
Joe Budden's backstory reflects a brief stint in the rap spotlight, most notably tied to his 2003 breakout hit “Pump It Up”. Signing a recording contract with Def Jam, the New Jersey native never reached his projected place as one of rap’s most promising artists. His career experienced a formidable resurgence after dropping a popular series of mixtapes before aligning with a group of skilled lyricists to form Slaughterhouse and releasing a slate of street acclaimed projects under Eminem's Shady/Aftermath imprint.
Budden was an early adopter of Twitter, establishing the reputation as an unfiltered source of social commentary complimented by a signature sarcasm and somewhat antagonizing approach to critiquing the culture. Giving fans a glimpse into his layered personality, Budden later became a recurring part of the Love & Hip Hop franchise. The standout series elevated his public profile, but simultaneously introduced the world to a series of deep-rooted conflicts circulating his life.
Hitting another breaking point, Budden took time to reflect and ultimately return to his core. Sitting comfortably alongside longtime friends Mal and Rory, Joe made a redemptive return to the mic in 2015 and launched The Joe Budden Podcast. The show quickly earned respect and notoriety through delivering sobering reviews and candid takes on trending topics driving culture. Riding the momentum of its success, Budden joined Complex to anchor Everyday Struggle, paired with Nadeska Alexis and DJ Akademics. The standout YouTube series flooded timelines and stirred debate, quickly becoming a beloved fan favorite prior to Budden's sudden departure. In 2017, he stepped back out on his own launching The Pull Up, an interview series showcasing Budden sitting down with top artists for free-flowing dialogue.
In May, headlines surfaced announcing his partnership with mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs and his multi-channel music network Revolt TV. Now, after recently inking an exclusive podcast deal with Spotify and his new series amply titled State Of The Culture airing every Tuesday night at 10PM EST, Budden is proving that every setback and success has collectively prepared him for this moment.
I spoke with Joe Budden about growth, handling transitions and how each season of his storied past has prepared him for this redemptive moment in the spotlight.
Seeing all of the ways in which outlets have attempted to label you or contextualize your role within the space -- How would you define your position and the value your perspective adds to the culture?
Joe Budden: In terms of my position, the onus of that is not on me. It’s totally in the hands of the fans and participants of the culture. They determine how valuable you are. They determine how long you’re around. They responded pretty early to my change in career choice, and it was enough to truly motivate and encourage me. It gave me what I needed to move forward personally and professionally. I would call my journey ‘unique’. While I understand the Howard Stern comparisons to help contextualize my craft for other people, and while I relate to the moral stance he took against a bigger corporate machine, that’s probably where our similarities stop. The rebelliousness and the fight is there. The fight is in so many different creators' stories, there are just different variations of the fight -- I have a fight that’s very specific to me and my journey. I’ve been independent. I’ve been on a major. I’ve been on reality television. I’ve done radio. I’ve toured. I've also been in a group. Whatever we want to talk about, I can talk about it. I want to use my platform to uplift other people who are also qualified to do that.
At what point did you realize that your voice and perspective beyond music was valuable and impactful enough to tangibly move culture?
Joe Budden: I’ll be honest, it was the Drake review. It was the Views album review. I was speaking from the position of being such a huge Drake fan. I guess the way I was picking that album apart stylistically, whether you agreed with it or not — the way that I was nitpicking every nuance of it — some people really enjoyed that, even despite disagreeing with me because Drake is such a huge star. I think that was compelling in the moment, because people were thinking if he’ll say that about someone he likes, or if he’ll critique Eminem in such a harsh way, his only standard is his truth. If you weren’t familiar with how sincere, genuine and passionate Joe Budden was -- You can see the value through these podcasts, because other commentators aren’t delivering their point of view that way.
Your approach sends a message that it doesn’t matter who is right or wrong, the point of conversation is simply about sharing your truth — How important is creating a platform that empowers people to be comfortable expressing their honest opinions?
Joe Budden: It means everything. You want to make people feel comfortable so that you can have an honest conversation without attacking them. You want to have interviews that go follow your agenda without it being based on algorithms or doing it strictly for the numbers. In the end, it all comes down to the question: what are we doing this for? That’s the exact same thing I asked myself before signing my first record deal. What do I want out of this? Why am I rapping? It's because I have something to say, I would like the respect of my peers and I would like to teach to an audience. For me, that hasn’t changed from podcasting to broadcasting. I still want to teach, I still want to exchange information, and it isn’t really about being right or wrong. That’s a horrible era we’re in and have remained in culturally. Learning new information is only going to come from having very uncomfortable conversations and a clashing of cultures. I’m the first person to shamelessly admit that I don’t know it all. With that said, my attitude is if such that if I don’t know something I want you to enlighten and inform me so we can grown and get somewhere together — even if that means we ultimately agree to disagree.
You speak about fans qualifying your value and position, yet there will always be people who question what qualifies you to have such a large platform — What do you say to those who believe you aren’t qualified to be a credible voice?
Joe Budden: For people who would be skeptical or question what qualifies me to have a platform — Those people are who they are, and their perception is never going to change. I’ve heard people say they would never take real estate advice from a homeless person, because they're homeless. I’ve never looked at it like that. In fact, that’s probably the first person I want speak with about real estate. This is because the homeless person likely has a lot of experience moving around, adapting to different places, he’s probably lost a home, or he could’ve once been a millionaire. That’s the reality — we don’t know someone's story until we engage them in conversation. Before I judge someone, I need to talk to them and learn what their journey’s are. For the people who say that about Joe Budden, they will always feel like that. I’ve never been platinum. I’ve never sold out an arena. I’ve never been on an arena tour. I came up in a different era of Hip Hop. Today, in a time where it feels like there is nobody in a position to boldly say certain things, it feels good hearing it come from me. It feels good to see that I’m the same person who has been certain, been consistent and been brutally honest. For all of my mishaps and hurdles, the constant would be that I’ve always stayed true to myself and owned who I am.
It’s easy to think you’re capitalizing on a sudden moment of success without factoring in all of the experiences that have led you to this point — What has the journey taught you about purpose and what success really looks like in your life?
Joe Budden: The two biggest lessons I’ve learned throughout my journey to this point are calling and responsibility. With a great audience comes great responsibility, so everything has to be thoughtful and intentional. With this newfound path I’ve taken, it’s a very different type of responsibility. In rap, we almost resolve all responsibility. As an entertainer, you can do what you want, go where you want, and say what you want without really caring for the consequences. That logic doesn’t apply to having this type of platform, because you are accountable to what you say. I wrestle with that a lot. Regarding calling and purpose, when I look back at my journey it was all a preparation for this exact moment in my life. When I did the morning show for Hot 97 in 2003-2004, I had such a good time and it was so fun. More importantly, it was preparation. But, I stopped that to rap. I can look back and see all the different places that I may have played around with broadcasting, all of which have prepared me for this moment which is beyond my wildest dreams. Everything changed so quickly that it feel like God is up there accelerating things. I feel blessed. I wake up every morning and cry tears of gratitude and joy. It’s incredible to think about how far God has brought me.
What sparked your initial conversations with Puff that ultimately led to your partnership and how has the collaboration further shaped or inspired your approach?
Joe Budden: When I left Complex, the two people who called me consistently were Charlamagne Tha God and Puff. It meant a lot to not only receive that support, but it’s what their support was saying. Their words made me feel very confident moving forward, and as a creator, that’s all we need. Moving forward, my fight is getting a lot of these older cultural leaders to think that way. In order to fight the good fight, all of the execs in the culture need to kick it. I think Puff and Jay-Z should kick it. I think all of the older powerful people within our culture need to kick it with each other. Even if we have different agendas, we must have commonalities.
Describe your ultimate vision for State Of The Culture and how this show differentiates from your other established platforms?
Joe Budden: The podcast is me and two of my longtime friends just kicking it every week; very conversational. The Pull Up is really just me working on my interviewing skills in the privacy of my home. What makes State Of The Culture different from everything out there is that I’ve never done a show with people who were equally as blunt and outspoken as myself. People like Remy Ma and Scottie Beam are all of that. There probably isn’t another show with a more outspoken and honest panel. Secondly, I think the topics we tackle separate us. This is a collaborative effort between Puff and myself, and what we roll out will be indicative of that. It’s different from anything I’ve ever done and I’m really excited about it. There’s a lot of brilliant people behind the show, and we’ve all spent months working to make a great product. Please give us time to mature and develop. But, when people see it, I’m sure it will be nothing like what they’ve ever seen before.
