S. Samuel
Responding to an on-air diss by Joe Budden, Method Man shot back at his former Def Jam labelmate and said he'd "meet any challenge from any challenger."
The beef initially sparked last Thursday (May 14) morning when Joey discussed a recent video discrediting Vibe‘s new “Best Rapper Alive” bracket with New York radio host Ed Lover.
“In the beginning of the video that I put out there, I explained it,” Joey said in an interview. “You have these guys that hide behind these publications, we have no knowledge of them. We don’t know them, their credibility…I’m not stupid, I know exactly who Method Man is and I know who Redman is, I know what these guys have done for hip-hop…My point in that video was, today, in 2009, I’d clean Method Man up…I can prove what I’m saying…If he sits at your show and does 32 bars, your face is gonna remain exactly the same. It’s not gonna change for one verse. For the majority of rappers on that list, if they have a problem with something I said, get in the booth.” (Ed Lover In The Morning Show)
Following Joe’s interview, Mef phoned into the radio program to share his reaction.
“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. “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)
Joey caught the online community by surprise by calling out established rappers in his latest Joe Budden TV clip.
“They’re doing a play-off style bracket,” Joe said in a video. “I’m ranked 32. Redman 9, you can make an argument. Love Method Man to death, he’s No. 9. You mean to tell me that if Method Man was standing in front of my face right this second and we had to rap, back and forth, that Method Man would be the victor? Against me?” (Joe Budden TV)
Vibe’s 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 Joe and Mef’s interviews below:
[For more on your favorite rappers from the Big Apple peep SOHH NYC]
