S. Samuel
After catching a backlash for calling out Melle Mel and Method Man, who ranked high on Vibe "Best Rapper Alive" list, Joe Budden has clarified his past statements.
Speaking via a phone interview, Joey broke down the misconception between his challenge with the Wu-Tang Clan‘s Iron Lung.
“I never at one point outta my mouth said I am better than Method Man,” Joe clarified. “To say that would be an incorrect quote and I hate when people do that…No where did I say I should be ranked higher than Method Man on a ‘Best Rapper Ever’ list…Method Man, as most people would agree, is past his prime…I still don’t say Method Man shouldn’t be ranked No. 9, but my point in going to Method Man was, okay, Method Man is accomplished. Method Man is not a bum like these other n*ggas…Today, if you put this Top 10 legend, pioneer in front of Joe Budden with all of his pluses over me, I’m going to out-rap him. And I didn’t even say battle, if we exchange [verses,] I’m going to come out the victor. Victor means have better verses…For me to have a bunch of people who agree with what I said should automatically take me from a 32 to a higher seed…If Bow Wow said to Method Man ‘I’ll out-rap you,’ Method Man is gonna laugh at him. If Plies said to Method Man, ‘I’m gonna out-rap you,’it would be a big joke. It wouldn’t even be taken seriously… I will say it was in bad taste to single him out. There was a large group of people I was talking about, it just so happens that he was the best fit because he was at the top. I could have went on and on and the world would have been mad at Joe Budden not just Method Man and the Wu-Tang Clan. I reached out to him and tried to apologize for the bad taste not for what I said. I stand behind what I said wholeheartedly” (Forbes DVD)
Mef responded to Budden’s initial rant against him, as a result of his placement on the list.
“I heard about the joint on the Internet man and my folks advised me to take the high road ’cause like yo, I’m a smart n*gga,” Method said in an interview. “So, I knew off top this dude tryin’ to bait me. All these years I’ve been putting out joints man, all of a sudden he pick this time to come out with his little comment or whatever, nah mean? Tryin’ to bait a brother ’cause he know my album ’bout to drop…Every week he picks somebody else to mess with and I ain’t heard nobody ever respond to this dude unless they on that same level as him. So as far as battle rapping, Joe Budden gets it in. I’m not a battle rapper. But I’ll tell you this, I’ll meet any challenge from any challenger. On a lighter note, son can’t mess with me. As far as him saying he got love for me, he’s lying. You don’t say you got love for somebody then try to shoot ’em down in the next line…Stop being a cry baby man, make some records…I say put us both on the same record and let the people decide…He been trying to do my style since he came in the door at Def Jam…I’m pretty sure he’s in his lab right now writing 32 bars…There’s never been a time somebody has ghost written a rhyme for me., if anything, I wrote rhymes for other people.” (Ed Lover In The Morning Show)
Melle Mel also called out the New Jersey emcee’s claims.
“I was the first rapper to win a Grammy,” Mel said in a video clip. “I wasn’t surprised to see myself so high on the list in Vibe because anybody that knows about hip-hop they’ve known for years before it became it became the record business and even while it became the record business, I was a staple…My only surprise is that I’m not No. 1. I don’t really consider Joe Budden young and I don’t think he know but I just think he think that Melle Mel would be a softer target. I don’t think he wants to question the fact that Eminem is No. 1…I got a [body] chart, let’s just say if it’s from 1 to 30, let’s say Melle Mel would be the throat part or the mouth part of hip-hop. Joe Budden is down here at No. 32, that’s somewhere around the a** crack or ball sack of hip-hop…You take Melle Mel out the equation, nobody would be the same. All these cats that say they selling dope would really have to sell dope.” (T7 Live)
Composed by Vibe Magazine, the ‘Best Rapper Alive’ bracket features a wide variety of new and old-school emcees.
Challengers include Fabolous, Bun B, Mos Def, Lupe Fiasco, Foxy Brown, Jay-Z, Cassidy, Diddy, Cam’ron, Lil Boosie, Chamillionaire, Scarface, Eminem, Ludacris, Big Boi, Flo Rida, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Killer Mike, Young Jeezy and more. (Vibe)
Check out Joey’s interview below:
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