S. Samuel
Slaughterhouse's Joe Budden recently talked about his one-time rap nemesis Jay-Z offering him advice on how to control the hip-hop game and how vital it is to stay relevant in an ever-changing industry.
Budden recalled a brief conversation with Hov which has stayed in his mind throughout the years.
“When I was coming up, I bumped into Jay-Z at the Def Jam offices and I was at the height of my success [around 2003] and he said, ‘You’re doing great out there. Now go keep it up.’ And that stuck with me. Anybody can go out there and score 30 on any given night and never do it again. But the talent is being able to do it on a consistent basis. So that’s what I’m trying to see from the younger guys. That’s what I’m doing now.” (“The Life”)
Last year, Budden discussed his low profile in the mid-2000’s.
“Let me give you a quick history lesson,” Budden said in response to a reader’s question about his hiatus from the music scene. “I got signed to a major label [Def Jam] in 2002. I was very young, probably 22-years-old. I put my debut album out in 2003, things changed over there and I decided I wanted to re-route the course of my career. I wanted to take control, I wanted to be more hands-on, I just wanted to go in a different direction and I started doing a lot of different things. The underground scene [is reliant] on new media, so if people didn’t have a computer or if people weren’t Internet-savvy, it was hard for people to keep up with what I was doing. I always say that the alternate route is a long one but it will eventually get you to the exact same destination. That’s pretty much what happened with me — no major label, I took the bull by the horns doing everything myself and my team and I recommend more artists do it like that.” (Hip Hop Nation)
He also offered his take on maintaining longevity in hip-hop.
“[The key to longevity,] you want to practice, you always want to work on your craft and continue to get better everyday,” Budden said during a Hip Hop Nation radio broadcast. “And you want to be as persistent as possible. You will run into a lot of people who are naysayers, people who will be non-believers, people who will tell you you’re not fit for this, and you know, it takes a strong-willed individual to be able to block all that out and pursue your dreams.” (Hip Hop Nation)
The rapper previously opened up about what song he regretted making at the start of his career.
“I got a bunch of them. In the early stages of my career, I was signed to a production company who had a lot to say on what I would record. Plus, I was so open minded that I was willing to try almost anything. Records like ‘Porno Star,’ ‘Roll Your Backyard,’ and ‘Jingling Baby’–those records are so far from anything that I would write personally. I was in the strip club about five years ago and I heard “Roll Your Backyard” come on and it was like my soul was cringing. It almost felt like I was going to throw up. That’s when I decided I would never make another song that I didn’t want to make.” (VIBE)
Check out some recent Joe Budden footage below:
