Joe Budden Suggests Drake's Arrogance Is Why Everyone In Hip-Hop Hates Him Right Now

BYGabriel Bras Nevares4.8K Views
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Jay-Z's 40/40 Club Celebrates 18th Anniversary
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 28: Joe Budden attends Jay-Z's 40/40 Club 18th Anniversary celebration at 40/40 Club on August 28, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage/Getty Images)
It's very lonely at the top, but is it by consequence or by design?

Everyone who's made it to the top has probably ruffled some feathers along the way, and also likely created a lot of undue jealousy within folks who were more resentful than secure. But according to Joe Budden and some other members of his podcast, Drake's position in the Kendrick Lamar beef is one of his own doing. "The most important line in this battle starts to come true, which is 'It's not just me,'" he remarked on the newest episode of his show. "'I'm what the culture [is] feeling.' When you pair that to the weirdo chart activity, when you pair that to... Yo, dawg, when 'Not Like [Us]' dropped, I learned that Mustard had a problem with Drake. I start scratching my f***ing head. N***a, you got a beef with Mustard?

"It's not a two-sided coin," Joe Budden continued. "I'm saying that one person has offended about 100 people in the music industry, and you can hear it. Every step of the way in this battle, it comes up. Every step in the battle, he says something else that reminds me, 'Oh, s**t, he got a beef with -– Oh, s**t, Ja Morant.' N***a, Jack started tweeting! Jack! From Twitter! Start tweeting, it's weird.

Joe Budden Theorizes On Why So Many People Are Not Supporting Drake Right Now

"Ice, I don't care what you n***as say on some fanfare s**t," Joe Budden went on. "If we were in real life, and this existed with somebody, how would we treat that person? That's why I don't care about the fans' opinion about a beef. The industry is sending a clear-cut message that you have worn out your welcome. This is not a Kendrick, just West Coast thing. Yeah, Kendrick, they just went and tapped somebody on the shoulder, like, 'Big dog, help. Help.' Metro is on Twitter saying, 'Aye, Drake, you know that I can't say whatever our real problem is because both of us are going to look crazy.' That mean that he's told somebody whatever that real problem is, and it looks crazy.

"This is not just coincidentally, 'We are all mad at Drake's success, and we are acting out,'" he concluded. "This is bigger than that is all I'm saying. So for him to not recognize it, I agree with Emanny, it just boils down to the arrogance, I think. It says something that nobody outside of Birdman is saying something in support of Drake. It's not up for question, I'm telling y'all something. I'm telling y'all factual music business s**t. It's no longer just odd, it's by design, it's calculated."

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.
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