Joe Budden has always been a fixture on the internet with his personal blogs, but the New Jersey emcee upped the ante in 2009 with a very public breakup with longtime girlfriend Tahiry, and notable beefs with Saigon and the Wu-Tang Clan.
In January 2009, Budden launched the first diss track entitled “Letter to Saigon” after more than a year’s worth of interview jabs with Saigon over a misunderstanding from a freestyle. Budden used the record to ridicule the pushbacks of Saigon’s debut LP, and derided him as a “insecure n#### trying to prove something/Getting desperate ‘cause his music don’t move nothing.”
Saigon quickly issued a statement welcoming the battle, and promised to outclass Budden on a lyrical level.
“The little homosexual n#### made a diss record, he want me to bite his head off,” he said. “I said I’m not a battle rapper, but I’ll take this razor and run this s### across your f###### Adam’s Apple. But I’m going to battle this n#### just to show him that lyrically, he’s not in my league. Never been, never will be.”
Saigon’s first salvo was “Underachiever,” where he took aim at Budden’s long-time girlfriend Tahiry, who regularly appeared on the rapper’s Joe Budden TV web series.
“He kissing the b#### knowing Fab was nutting in her mouth/Clue f##### her on the couch in the lounge of the Baseline studio/This booty hoe made her his spouse… Forget about Ransom, come and see me/I’ll lay your ass out on Joe Budden TV/They call this kid Mouse, ’cause he ran with the mice and the rats/ I was out with knifes and the gats.”
Two more venomous disses would follow in Budden’s “Pain In His Life” and Saigon’s “Pushin’ Buddens” before the beef was squashed with the help of mutual friend Just Blaze. Budden chronicled the entire beef on Joe Budden TV, and the conflict held much media attention leading into the February release of his Padded Room album.
In May, the Jersey City native used his video blog to single out Method Man and Melle Mel in his critique of Vibe’s 50 Greatest Emcees of All Time list.
Both veterans responded in interviews, but Budden chose to focus on Method Man after the Wu member received vocal support from Redman, Busta Rhymes, and Raekwon. Additionally, Wu member Inspectah Deck penned a diss called “House N####.”
“Everybody took offense…you name it, they took offense to it,” Budden began. “Number one I’m entitled to my opinion. If a n*gga get offended at me having an opinion, suck a d*ck. Number two, what world are we in? [Are] we not rappers? We all rappers, some bigger than others. But we rap. Let’s rap. I want to rap, I want to always rap.”
A truce between Budden and Meth brokered by Royce da 5’9 seemed complete before news hit that Budden was assaulted on August 9 by Raekwon’s entourage.
The confrontation occurred backstage at a Rock the Bells tour stop, which featured both Wu-Tang and Slaughterhouse. A video feed shows Raekwon and his entourage enter Budden’s dressing room, where he was blogging with colleague Mickey Factz.
The feed shut off, only to air again later with Budden holding an ice pack over his right eye. He explaining that he had been punched in a “f##### move” after being forced by Raekwon to issue an apology over his Wu-Tang comments.
“Them n##### came in here with a goal. The goal was to catch the blog king slippin’ and have the big 6-foot-4, 300 pound n#### punch me in my eye,” Budden stated. “I guess it makes me look soft? I don’t really know. My thing is … no comment man. Maybe the n#### watches Joe Budden TV. But I’m all right, I’m safe, still sexy, I think. Eye is a little swollen…You guys think this was a tough-guy move? You guys think this was dope? I personally don’t. I think it was a f##### move, personally…This is what happens when people lack common sense.”
In October, Joe Budden and Tahiry confirmed their breakup after a 5 year relationship. Over the past year, their relationship details became very public courtesy of Joe Budden TV, Tahiry TV, and her KING Magazine spread. The Slaughterhouse member began the speculation of the split a full month before by leaking a heated breakup conversation.
The former couple held a final public spat by arguing live on Shade 45 when Budden called into Tahiry’s scheduled interview.
To close out the year, Budden revealed a new girlfriend, rapper/model Somaya Reece, on Joe Budden TV.
Next month, Joe Budden will release his third studio album, The Great Escape.