Inside Joe Budden’s Padded Room

It’s not too hard to believe that the record industry drove Joe Budden a little crazy. Being forced by your favorite rapper to ride pine after your debut album spawned a top 10 single and went on to go Gold, would fuck anyone’s head up. And then there were the random beefs. First the war of words with label head Jay Z , then G-Unit and the Game and then most recently Incarcerated P. It seemed the only thing keeping homey sane was his critically acclaimed Mood Muzik mixtape series, where he was able to freely vent his frustrations.

His second full length on Amalgam Digial, Padded Room, picks up where Mood Musik 3 left off, once again allowing Joe to get crazy personal with his listeners and brining them into his world. Way ahead of it’s October 28th release, Joey let us in the studio to hear what he’s got in the chamber. Check out our track-by-track review of the new songs to get a taste of what’s coming from Jersey’s only relevant rapper…

“NOW I LAY”
Producer: Blastah
Quote: “Even when he can’t win, he won’t surrender”
Synopsis: Great intro. Even though the whole “Now I lay me down to sleep,” prayer is kinda cliche, Joe makes it work. Blasta’s beat first starts out with tinkling keys before the blaring horns come charging through. Joey wastes no time and just goes in.

“TOUCH N GO”
Producer: The Klasixs
Quote: “I undress her, throw her on the dresser, normally the girl look like Esther, but if she act up gotta check her, RL Next her, that’s just my regular. ”
Synopsis: Sounds like “Fire 2008″ which isn’t a bad thing. Mad people hate when Joey makes club tracks, but then complain when he only makes emo songs. The Klaixs come through with a beat that’s not cheesy (like “Gangster Party”), but a little on the generic side.

“IF I GOTTA GO”
Producer: The Klasixs
Quote: “I fight to stay alive, every day is work, especially when there’s 6 million ways to get merked.”
Synopsis: The opening wind chime-like sound make you believe this song may actually not be as dark as the title suggests, but this is Joey we’re talking about.

“BLOOD ON THE WALL”
Producer: Moss
Quote: “Don’t worry about me, worry about your Medicaid”
Synopsis: Joey said this track wasn’t even a Prodigy diss track until Jailhouse P came at him. If P didn’t know what a Mood Musik was before, he’ll know when he hears this shit.

“DON’T MAKE ME”
Producer: Blastah
Quote: “If you take live for granted, life will grant you some other shit”
Synopsis: Over what sounds like an 80’s rock sample, Budden talks about fighting his demons and even the angles.

“IN MY SLEEP”
Producer: Blastah
Quote: “My anonymity is my protection, me and hip hop is not connected”
Synopsis: The beat sounds a little like “Flashing Lights”. We all know Joe hates the record industry, but maybe it’s time to move to a different subject?

“OUTCAST”
Producer: Dub B
Quote: “From the school of hard knocks, just trying to make the teacher proud.”
Synopsis: The first Dub B track comes at seven tracks in and it’s one of his best. Over guitar picks and cascading keys, Joe describes, in vivid detail what it feels like to be an outsider in the rap world.

“I COULDN”T HELP IT”
Producer: The Klasixs
Quote: “What kinda mom would you be? You already psycho, I wouldn’t let that pass. I wasn’t thinking long term, I was thinking, fat ass.”
Synopsis: One of the hottest tracks on the album. The Klasixs provide a backdrop of haunting voices and swelling strings for Joe to talk about his inability to not creep on his baby mother. Then he goes on to tell us how he fucked some famous rapper’s wife! Unfortunately, we couldn’t figure out who it was upon first listen, though.

“DO TELL”
Producer: Blastah Beats
Quote: “..the stereotypes, I tried ‘em on, they don’t fit me.”
Synopsis: More of the same, a little monotonous in terms of subject matter.

“MY LIFE”
Producer: Dub B
Quote: “My mom says I’m hell bent, when I’m just tryna help with the rent”
Synopsis: Here we have the story of how Joe grew up to be the man he is today over Dub B’s bouncing keys and obtuse synths.

“BETTER ME”
Producer: The Klasix’s
Quote: “Some dudes get complacent, why? They new born birds, they afraid to fly.”
Synopsis: More of that Mood Musik 3 flavor. If you were a fan of MM3, you’ll love this, but it didn’t really stand out among the other tracks on the album.

“JUST TO BE DIFFERENT”
Producer: KidSource
Quote: “They told me, Get in where you fit in, this is what’s in now. I said, Why try to fit in when you a stand out?”
Synopsis: Joe once again going at the industry for trying to force him to conform. A man of principle, that Joe Budden.

“ANGEL IN MY LIFE”
Producer: Blastah
Quote: I ain’t as crazy as I seem to be, it’s just that nothing is what it seems to be.”
Synopsis: This could have been the title track ’cause he’s talking about him being in Padded Room and him telling people that he’s not crazy. Not sure who this Blastah guy is, but he laced Joe on this album.

“PRAY FOR ME”
Producer: Versatile & Dilemma
Quote: “You make mistakes too, as far as I can see, rich niggas winning the lottery is a mockery”
Synopsis: He reprises the old rapper talking to God shtik, but he kills this shit. He takes it one step further than DMX did with God telling him how fucked up of a person he was during his life and him telling the Lord that he ain’t perfect either.