the JOE BUDDEN theory, part 2

*if you haven't already, check out part 1

Just Blaze receives an early morning call from Big Homie, himself, and he's not much amused. He informs Just that he's just heard the leak to Budden's first single, Pump It Up. Homie tells Blaze that he remembered hearing the beat for it before because he had three hot 16's ready for it, but was gonna give it to Bleek for that first hit he's been due. Blaze and Homie laugh for a second, and then Jay gets serious and tells Just that Clue is a snake and The ROC doesn't tolerate snake maneuvering (I know, ironic). Jay hangs up and a mortified Blaze jumps up, drops his action Action Max, screams, picks the Action Max up, places it back in its original box and calls Clue. Clue receives a tongue lashing from Blaze, but the DJ eventually weasels out of it by offering Blaze an autographed Captain Planet DVD set along with production credit for the song.

Peeved about the whole situation, Jay immediately pages Young Guru and tells him to meet him at Baseline Studios where he "gets busy" on the Pump It Up track. When released the next day, Clue has a damn midget fit and runs around like a chicken with its head cut off wondering what to do. Joe doesn't seem bothered at all, almost honored to have his favorite rapper rhyme over his song. Not realizing that his shine is being undermined, Clue tries to explain the severity of the situation at hand to the young rapper. Joe brushes Clue off and goes back to smoking a cigarette and reading his basketball almanac, searching for new punchlines. Understanding the streets are going to eat it up if they let Jay's version stand alone, Clue tells Budden that his baby's mother Angie is in the booth and she's there to reconcile. An elated Joe grabs a carton of Newport's and runs in the dark booth where he's locked in by two of his other partners, Webb and Nitti. Clue tells him its for his own good and he will not let him out until he retaliates against Jay over Pump It Up. Finally, realizing his career might be being fucked, Joe gets to work and it's officially "oin." An hour and 6 cigs back to back later (one every 10 minutes), Joe is let out of the booth after totally tearing the beat and Jay in half.

"Never hear your man say that I’m the Jordan of rap
he’s getting fatigued early and his scoring is lacking
legacy’s getting ruined and you don’t want that,
so pretty much, learn from him, don’t come back
…and you’re not that hot, don’t believe the yes men."

Initially pleased with the result, Clue is soon convinced by Skane to have Joe throw a disclaimer in the song to make it clear that he isn't officially going at Jay, because of scrutiny it would cause at the label, where Hov is a God. Skane wants a career post Pump It Up and Clue agrees. Fans see though the cig smoke and when released, Joe's Pump It Up remix quickly jumps into rotation with mixtapes and radio as they play both versions back to back until calls from Def Jam's hierarchy quickly halt those spins in favor of the album version. Fresh off Ether, Def Jam ain't having their cash cow risk this again. They just say the newer versions are taking attention away from the single.

How concerned...and convenient, after the fact.

Budden's self titled debut album is released in June of 2003 on the heels of another mixtape MC who successfully made the transition into artist with retail viability. Before "Interscope Jackson," was a diamond selling artist, he was merely the latest platinum rapper, trying to solidify his status in the world of music. At the same time, many people were curious to see if Joey would be the next 50.

Silently, Jay-Z was watching all of this. The Marcy product had been very much on edge since barely surviving the Napalm Bomb Nas dumped on his head on his birthday in December of '01. Because of Nas' natural resistance to be widely seen as the star that's always in the spotlight, Jay was able to quickly make his drones forget about the chink in his armor with a few Neptunes and Timbaland beats featured on his album, Blueprint 2. He was once again the top public dog. However, with what further intensified an already unstable relationship between Jay and his business partner Dame Dash, Jay made no attempts to deflate any of the air out of the 50 Cent balloon. Dame continuously told Jay that he had "already crushed money in half a bar," on a previous song and so was not a concern. Soon after the shit blows up in Dame and Jay's face as 50 becomes the hottest thing since the grits on Al Green's stove. Months after In Da Club had dropped, Fiddy's numbers continued to top the charts and he began to secure endorsement and clothing deals; things that took Jay years of hard work to crossover and get.

After learning the hard way, the pair of ROC CEO's vowed not to let such a thing happen again. The next guy with the potential to pop up and move units would be undermined. In the meantime, to damage control the money train that could no longer be derailed, Jay and Dame came up with a plan to do a joint tour with 50 and his G-Unit group that summer of '03. This was a way for Jay to seem like a comrade and not a competitor of 50's. But that was only part of the plan. While on the Roc Da Mic tour, Jay had many conversations with 50 informing him, now that he had made it, he had to maintain that status by not only continuing to make "hot records" but also taking care of the "next dude" who was coming for his spot. That next dude he continuously referred to was Joe Budden. Jay slowly began to convince 50 that Budden was throwing darts at him through mixtapes and interviews. He said the guy was priming himself for a Takeover of his own.

Per Jay's advice, 50 didn't move on Joe personally, but instead used a ploy Jay often used in battle, himself; sending one of his soldier's (ex. Bleek at Nas, Beans at Kiss, whole ROC roster at Jaz) into the battlefield, first...

stay tuned for part 3 of the JOE BUDDEN theory, where jay's plan to use 50 hits a snag, joe finally realizes he's working on the short end of the def jam stick and so decides to do the unthinkable!