I've never been too much a fan of Joe Budden. Not because I don't like his music, but never had the time or effort to get into his works. I heard some of his features with Freeway, Christina Milian, Lloyd Banks, Lupe Fiasco and Fabolous, but never his own music. Plus, I'd be hearing news about him releasing music, but I couldn't be arsed to check it. I don't even remember hearing "Pump It Up" on TV, and that's the hit he's remembered for. Also, I knew he was in the group Slaughterhouse, who I hardly listen to.
Fast forward to 2017, and Joe is on Everyday Struggle, an online weekday talk show on Complex about current hip-hop news and debates. Moderated by Nadeska Alexis, his co-host is DJ Akademiks, a YouTuber known for reporting on the hip-hop fuckery that currently goes on, who has developed a loyal fanbase for the past 2-3 years. I originally knew about and watched the show because of Akademiks, but as time went on, I found myself agreeing with Joe a lot more, and the points he was making about news and debates. Ak still made solid points every now and then, but you could understand Joe's bigger knowledge on rap and how the game goes. But Joe still has his flaws though, with a bitter delivery whenever expressing his opinions. Like, when Lil Yachty came on the show, everybody took Joe's argument with Yachty out of context, calling Joe bitter & jealous that Yachty's doing much better than him. Or when he said Future wasn't a megastar, everybody was mad at him and tried to call him irrelevant, haha!
But ever since Everyday Struggle, I started to become more interested in listening to his music. Not just "Pump It Up" or the Drake diss tracks he did last year (people thought he did that for attention, when it was to influence Drake and his shitty lyricism at the time). And I think it's better to run it back to his debut album, where it all began. Yeah, Joe might be a one-hit wonder, but was he ever interested in making hits and bangers like that? He already gained a core fanbase with his Mood Muzik mixtape series, and that's probably all that matters to him.
Anyway, Joe Budden's self titled debut was released in June 2003, following the promo single "Focus" in 2002 and the hit single "Pump It Up" the previous month. The album features 15 tracks, with features from Lil Mo, Busta Rhymes & 112; and production from Dub B/White Boy, Just Blaze and Lofey. It received positive reception from critics, but debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200. Joe would later be dropped from the label, because of creative differences, that would lead to his planned sophomore album The Growth being shelved. Luckily, he still continued to release music for his core fans, creating the Mood Muzik mixtape series later in 2003.
Anyway, let's get into it!
1. Intro
The epic opening to the album, where Joe sets the mood. After giving a speech about how he's been wanting to do this for time, he spits a verse where he explains his concerns and his possible verse. He gives thanks to his fans, reminisces about his past street life and describes what you'd expect from the album. The beat is a knocker, and it sounded so wonderful, don't you agree?! Joe comes with a couple solid lines such as "It was y'all that said I should've been signed to Def Poetry/It was y'all that said yes, y'all can floetry". A great start!
2. #1
This one a club banger with a short hook and 7 verses. Joe's flow on this was on point, as he raps about his past life and his memories, and how he's now a famous rapper signed to Def Jam. The beat is funky, and I enjoyed hearing him reminisce about the old days. One of my favourites.
3. Pump It Up
The hit that Joe is best known for. That everyone brings up everytime he gives his opinion. NBA games, NFL, 2 Fast 2 Furious and You Got Served! I don't remember hearing this song when I was younger, I mainly remember his collabs with other artists, including Christina Milian. But hearing this tune is nostalgic for somewhat reason. It's a banger, kudos to Just Blaze!!! Funny thing was that Jay Z was supposed to have this for The Black Album. Imagine if that happened! Nobody ever paid attention to Joe's flow tho, he killed his verses, even if he dumbed it down to make a hit. 14 years later and it's still a tune!
4. Pusha Man
How many songs got this name? Feels like I've seen it too often, haha! But this is alright, as Joe raps about trying to provide for himself. Can't lie tho, the beat was a little boring and the hook was... eh, but Joe managed to save the song with his verses.
5. You Ain't Gotta Go Home
Maybe if I heard this song between 2003 and 2005, I probably would've loved this. But nah... this is trash. It's a bloody mess, for fawk's sake! And why is Clue on this? Unnecessary
6. Walk With Me
A heartfelt track, where Joey express his paranoia on a slow-paced beat, reflecting on life now that he's famous, dealing with anxiety, haters, fake friends and family that now want to rekindle. He expresses his thoughts in such an effective matter, even touching on his past issues he dealt with as a teen. I love the hook, and the background singing is beautiful. And the beat reminds me of Eminem's production, which actually isn't a bad thing. This was the perfect one for Joey. One of those songs you can vibe out to in the rain or when you're all stressed out.
7. She Wanna Know (feat. Lil Mo)
One of the radio-friendly R&B collabs, as Lil Mo links up with Joey to make a tune about relationship issues. Joe doesn't understand the accusations his girl makes, with a couple sneaky lines like "And fuck I need to cheat on you for, I'm already winnin". Mo's hook is catchy, and hearing both her and Joe complement the hook together is great. Plus, her singing was impressive. This another solid cut. Probably would've been a great single.
8. Survivor
Something personal and meant to be relatable, but it came across as alright. Singer KG (Kiyamma Griffin) comes through, and he was alright with his singing. He basically made this his own song, Joe was hardly rapping on this, only said "and my heart/soul is like" most of the time. Could've been kept off the album, but it's whatever tho.
9. Fire (Yes, Yes, Y'all) [feat. Busta Rhymes]
Just Blaze back again providing a club banger, which was known for its appearance on Mean Girls. Never heard this as well, probably because it never banged around my way. Plus, the fact it never had a video. Busta Rhymes comes through as well, and he kills it with his verse, although the hook is shit. But Joe kills his verses, especially his second one after Busta. He raps about the lack of quality in rap, and how important production has become these days. Even in 2017, that verse still relates, although I do like those type of rappers. But this song is nice, gives me nostalgic vibes even when I never heard it before.
10. Ma Ma Ma (feat. 112)
The better radio-friendly R&B jam on here, a summer jam for me. 112 gets on the track with their singing, and most of the song is Joe rapping about what any other rapper would on a R&B collab. Your cliche jam for the radio and ladies, yet sounds so good!
11. Calm Down
Another heartfelt and emotional song from Joey dedicated to his mother, and the troubles he had with her. He starts off by blaming her for his addiction and depression, and reflected on how he made her cry so much. But by the third verse, he starts to appreciate his mother, telling her that he actually amounted to something after years of addiction and troubles with her. I love this song, and it's something chill and emotional. The hook is alright, and the singing was average. But it doesn't stop the song from being bad or anything. It's the second best of the emotional and introspective tracks.
12. Focus
As heard at the end of the "Pump It Up" video and on Def Jam: Vendetta, Joe comes through with a club banger that I loved from the jump. He spits a lot of random shit, but it's supposed to be a club tune. It still sounds good, no matter what, and this is one where Joe flows on this so flawlessly and impressively. None of the songs on the album has got me in my zone as much as this. Not to mention, I recently heard Elzhi spitting on this with Slum Village on a 2002 Tim Westwood show, and he killed it. The best song on here, hands down!
13. Give Me Reason
This was unexpected, just from the title. I expected a hardcore banger, something like the album intro. This is alright, but the worst Just Blaze produced song on here. Not that it sucks, but there was better. Plus, the hook sucked!
14. Stand Up Nicca
This sounds like some 80s cop TV show theme shit, ha! Another one of the more serious tracks on here, as Joe provides a long introspective verse about the streets, providing for the family, being set up and avoiding the police. It's a dark and menacing cut, where Joe tries to prevent those in the streets from getting tricked and set up. A solid song.
15. 10 Mins.
The album is over, and the title basically says it all. 10 minutes of Joey taking a smoke break and rapping about his life. Long tracks can either be good or bad, and this is one where it doesn't disappoint. The content switches up a lot, along with the beat. The first verse is Joe repping his hometown and how he came so far. But he switches up in his second verse, talking about his father being in jail and how it affected him negatively growing up. The beat brings in the guitars and lovely violins too. The third verse reflects on a time he had an affair with a girl who had a man. He regrets doing this, messing up a family for the girl and her man ("But for me it's just sex/For her it's cheatin'"). He ended up liking her and he never wanted that to happen. I love this song. I managed to be interested for the whole 10 minutes, and Joe said a lot on this. Not just 3 minutes of rapping and 7 minutes talking ("Last Call" is still a GOAT outro tho). A great ending to the album!
Final Thoughts
Joe Budden's self-titled album is... alright. It's not my best official introduction to him, and I understand that. You could see there was room for improvement and Joey was just blowing up around this time.
The album starts off decently as the intro and the banging "#1" helps set a mixed mood for the album. The subject matter is around the place, especially for a Def Jam artist who expresses his personal issues emotionally. He obviously needed his radio friendly attempts such as "Pump It Up" and "Fire"; or R&B jams like "Ma Ma Ma" and "She Should Know", which were aight. But it was a complicating matter: one minute, it was banging tunes ("Give Me Reason", "Pump It Up" and "#1"); the next, it was introspective ("10 Mins.", "Walk with Me") and sometimes boring songs ("Survivor").
The production was solid, and shaky at times. White Boy provided a couple dope beats, including the banging "Focus", the slow paced "Walk With Me" and the chill "Calm Down". Just Blaze deserves a Nobel Prize for his production on "Pump It Up", it knocks like a MF. "Fire" and "Give Me Reason" were solid from Just too.
There was a few standouts on the album, which I love, mainly the emotional ones, to be honest. "Walk With Me" is a 6 minute slow-paced track which sees Joe reflect on his life as a famous rapper, being paranoid and anxious, dealing with fake friends, family that want to rekindle and those that hate on him. "Calm Down" is dedicated to his mother, appreciating her but also reflecting on the times he upset her with his addiction and depression. "Ma Ma Ma" is your cliche radio friendly track, with the same old content that almost every rapper has done with a female singer or group, yet sounds so good! "#1" is a banging tune, where Joe remembers the good ol' days, now that he's blowing up. "10 Mins." is a great outro, touching on a lot of moments in his life, such as Joe's father facing time in jail, having an affair with a girl who was still in a relationship and having haters and doubters who didn't expect him to succeed.
But, almost half of the album is lackluster. "Survivor" was boring, and the singer on it basically was the main artist, and wasn't even credited as an appearance. It was almost like Joe wasn't there. "Pusha Man" was meh. The beat was boring and the hook was mediocre, in my opinion. Joe did his thing with his verses. "Give Me Reason" was the worst of the Just Blaze produced joints. I didn't like the hook, and everything else didn't stand out to me. Not saying it sucked, but it was average compared to the rest. "You Ain't Gotta Go Home" was shit, the worst and most forgettable song on the album. It sounded like a mess and it went on for too long. DJ Clue wasn't even necessary on it with his talking. And I didn't review the 2 bonus tracks cos they were garbage too.
So yeah, there you have it. This album was just meh. The production is decent but shaky at times, and there are a lot more lows than expected. The subject matter is a complicated issue, and you can see a lot of the songs weren't necessary. I'm glad he got dropped from the label, cos he actually got better over the years with his Mood Muzik mixtapes and Love Lost projects. Imagine if he was still on Def Jam and continued to make albums like this, yikes! There are still some good songs on here, but I dunno about the rest. It's not cohesive, doesn't flow well. If you wanna know my favourite songs: check down below and listen.
Recommended Tracks
Focus
Pump It Up
Walk With Me
10 Mins.
Calm Down
#1
Ma Ma Ma
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