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Jersey’s most underrated MC has been submerged in the swamps of his home state for years; never really getting the credit he deserves as a dope artist. Even with the latest release of his mixtape Mood Music Volume 3, Joe Budden has still yet to receive the kudos he rightfully deserves.

DJ Ill Poetic flips the script with ill results on his latest project Joe Budden vs. Portishead MM3rd where he drops Joe’s acapellas over beats stemming from the infamous British trip-hop pioneers Portishead’s latest album Third and some of their previous work.

At first the idea of a rapper rhyming over something other than standard Hip-Hop production may have some heads screwing their faces; but the “mood” that Joe and Portishead create on this disc will have you bobbing your head and zoning out simultaneously.

Portishead are known for their blunted beats and melancholy lyrics courtesy of lead singer Beth Gibbon’s haunting voice. Their paranoid, film-noir sound seems to mesh perfectly with Budden’s self-depreciating bars on the opener “Hiatus” where he spits “I cry too / I can’t cry no more / Believe my own nonsense / I can’t cry no more” over a paranoid drum break.

On “Roll Call” Budden amps the anxiety over a frenetic machine gun staccato as he calls out commercial Rap and lets the true Hip-Hop purists know that he’s striving to keep Rap’s “Golden Era” alive thorough his music: “Don’t mind me / Last of a dying breed / Wanna take Rap / And take it back to the nineties.” The beat definitely isn’t classic East Coast; however its next millennium business mixed with Joe’s hungry, blue collar aesthetic.

Other standout tracks on the tape, which is mixed and layered beautifully by Ill Poetic, are “Warfare” and “Ventilation.” It’s unfortunate that Joe remains so criminally slept on, and this daring and innovative mixtape is yet another example of how Joey Jumpoff is putting the heat on the Rap game whether you know it or not.

Definitely give this a listen. Just make sure you remember to refill that prozac prescription first, because the “mood” this mash up creates isn’t pretty. It’s just plain dope.

Joe Budden

“Dear Diary”

Joe Budden

“Secrets”