Joe Budden says he’s “way bigger than” YoungBoy Never Broke Again.
The remarks were delivered on Twitter Spaces, with Budden running down a list of first-week numbers to bolster his argument.
"I just wanna say I’m way bigger than him. Stop this," Budden said, as heard in the rip below.
From there, Budden said “young idiots” were being “fooled by these label metrics." He then proceeded to read off a number of first-week sales for multiple NBA YoungBoy projects over the years including Fed Baby's, 3800 Degrees, Until I Return, and more.
"The point is, you doing a lot for somebody that don’t sell more than 60,000 records. Like, stop it," Budden said.
To be clear, YoungBoy has indeed seen opening weeks of more than 60,000 units in his career, including with AI YoungBoy 2 in 2019 (110,000 equivalent units in its first week) and Top in 2020 (126,000 in its first week). Budden’s self-titled debut album, released in 2003 through Def Jam, opened with 94,000 units.
On the RIAA certifications side, Budden’s 2003 hit “Pump It Up” was certified Gold (i.e. 500,000 units) in August of this year. Meanwhile, NBA YoungBoy’s 2023 RIAA certifications include Gold distinctions for several singles, “No Switch” and “Bring the Hook” among them, as well as multiple Platinum feats, including his 2018 debut studio album, Until Death Call My Name. YoungBoy's most recent release, Decided 2, debuted at No. 17. The tape marked his fourth project of 2023.
As reported over the weekend, YoungBoy recently responded to Budden's podcast-delivered criticism by inviting him out to Utah for a sit-down interview.
In November, Complex shared a shot-in-Utah video interview focused on YoungBoy, where Sneaker Shopping creator and host Joe La Puma was invited to sit in on a usually closed-off studio session.
Revisit the full experience below.
