Childish Gambino's presumably final album, Bando Stone And The New World, has a little bit of everything for Donald Glover fans. There's some soulful and tender instrumentation, some wild distorted experimentation, and the return of boastful and combative Gambino on more than a few fiery rap cuts here. Of course, people became so beef-pilled in recent months that folks immediately combed through the lyrics to see if anyone caught strays. While there aren't any direct shots on Bando Stone, one particular set of lines on the track "Survival" with Chlöe Bailey is the most likely subliminal, and it's seemingly directed at Joe Budden.
"They in the minor leagues, but I’m pro-Black / I bet he hate his mom, how you know that? / You got a podcast ’cause you can’t rap / You on some Fresh and Fit s**t, talking body counts / I count a body every time I’m on tracks," Childish Gambino raps on the cut. While this might seem like a bizarre and out-of-nowhere shot, there's actually some precedent for animosity here. Budden had previously posited that Drake would absolutely demolish Gambino in a rap battle, whether through straight-up bars or having a troll-off.
Childish Gambino's "Survival": Listen To The Alleged Joe Budden Disses
Of course, Joe Budden's beef-preoccupied mind probably spends more time these days thinking about Cardi B rather than Childish Gambino. They recently engaged in a pretty nasty Twitter spat, as Cardi blasted the rapper and podcaster for his criticisms of her career and releases. Budden seemed to take it all in stride and dismiss engaging with the conversation, whether to indicate his lack of ill will or to not deal with that headache altogether. Either way, it doesn't seem like a very good weekend to be the Slaughterhouse MC.
Meanwhile, other Childish Gambino fans think that the lyrics on Bando Stone might take shots at Drake, Kendrick Lamar, or others. In fact, some folks just want to see him talk about all the rap beefs in 2024, which he already expressed little interest in. More importantly, plenty of other bars on this album indicate that Glover could really care less about rap beef. So whether or not this was actually a shot at Joe Budden, we doubt he wants to make a big deal out of it.