Judging by his ever-growing list of Drake diss tracks, and his occasional Twitter rant, you’d think Joe Budden’s beef with the Toronto rapper was something strictly motivated by ego. But, according to the Slaughterhouse MC, his shots at Drizzy could also benefit his bank account.
In an interview with ESPN Radio’s Be Honest with Cari Champion, Budden says Drake challenged him to release 25 diss tracks before the Summer Sixteen tour stop at Madison Square Garden next month. And, if he was successful, Drake promised to give him $10,000.
"For me, there was absolutely zero to say at all. And then he sent me a very passive aggressive Insta-DM. I didn’t even know how to take it," Budden explained around the 22-minute mark. "And then he continued to send them. And then I said, 'Whoa, okay.' And that’s why I said I couldn’t tell you that we’re cool today, because it sounded like a man who was very hurt and just didn’t want to talk to Joe or hear from Joe or just that relationship was over. I haven’t spoken to him, so I can’t even begin to even pretend to know where his brain is."
Budden also said he never took any of Drake’s disses personally and that he only wants the best for the VIEWS rapper. But he also wants Drizzy to know he shouldn’t try to go toe-to-toe with him.
Champion later asked Budden to expand on the aforementioned "Insta-DMs," which Budden refused to read verbatim. But he did reveal the gist:
"I’m only not putting it out cause I’m a real nigga. You just don’t move like that, you don’t screenshot […]," Budden said at the 25:55 mark. "He started off with, 'I would like to formally invite you to one of my four Madison Square Garden shows Aug. 4. You and however many people you’d like to bring.' And after that it said, 'I bet you can’t release 25 diss records between now and then.' So then it was the laughing emoji. And then he followed that with, 'If you can, I will give you $10,000.' And then LOL and a bunch of exclamation points. I didn’t know how to take that."
Budden later stopped by Uncommon Sense to discuss the issue, and Charlemagne the God revealed a little more about the DMs after seeing them. "Drake Insta-DM'ed Joe Budden a picture of Joe's face," Charlemagne said. "It was Joe's own face and it looked like Joe was crying. Like it's the weirdest thing. He invited you to his show and told you to bring as many people as you want. And then he said 'I'm gonna pray for you and I hope you get through this.' It sounds like two men who have shared a hookah with each other."
If Budden is telling the truth, it explains why he's consistently dropped diss tracks and why he recently claimed there were 20 more on the way. You can listen to the full interviews above.
