Are you in that mood yet?

Unreasonable Doubt
written by JusHH

“If skills sold truth be told…”

Truth be told, if Jay-Z began his career in this current state of Hip-Hop, his name would be Joe Budden. The New Jersey representative currently resides somewhere in the back half of my all-time Top 10 favorite rapper’s list. His Mood Muzik 2 mixtape is one of the greatest pieces of work that I’ve ever heard and he continues to leave people’s jaws on the ground every time he touches the mic (Don’t believe me? Listen to his “Who?” series.). Truth be told, if Joe Budden came out in 1995, he would have been Jay-Z.

Now I’m not going to sit here and say that Joe Budden is a better rapper than Jay-Z or even say that they are equal but the talent gap is the distance between Kobe Bryant and Lebron James – clearly there but relatively irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Jay-Z wasn’t always the international superstar with the “it” factor; he started off as a n***a from Brooklyn who had a way with words. He was just able to build on his career and develop into what he is today. When Joe Budden debuted in 2003, he too had a way with punchlines and knew how to handle a bass line. He had the wit and charisma and the backstory to hang with anyone in the game. His lead single “Pump it Up” was a certified smash record. It was played at every party, club and BBQ that summer. Even Jay-Z “jacked” the beat and delivered a memorable verse. Most thought that verse effectively nullified any impact Joe Budden would have until he responded a week later with his own retort, “Pardon the future, sing the track now, it’s been a good week Hova, you can give it back now.” Trading lines with Hov, the rookie more than held his own and in some people’s minds, had a better verse than Jay. There definitely seemed to be a mutual respect there. Jay-Z the veteran superstar who had done it all in the game and preparing for retirement and perhaps the one dude with the gift of gab good enough to pass the torch to.

Unfortunately, Def Jam f**ked it up. With “Pump it Up” tearing up the charts, the album sat… and sat… and sat. Months passed as the song and its unofficial remix ran its course and died out, killing Budden’s momentum. This is especially not good when the attention span of Hip-Hop had dwindled down to the length a Lil’ Jon ad-lib. Def Jam finally released the album minus the fanfare and yes it flopped. A debut album not selling in 1996 wasn’t a deal breaker if you had talent and could develop a core fan base. But as ringtones and iTunes started to dominate the scene, labels were only looking at the bottom line and were no longer willing to wait for an artist to develop. Joe Budden’s career sat… and sat… and sat.

But Hov and Budden’s paths would cross again. When Jay-Z, took the job as President of Def Jam my first thoughts were, “yes, Joe Budden is gonna get a chance to shine.” Who else would understand Joe Budden’s situation better than Hov? He saw how his own debut, Reasonable Doubt, failed to generate any first week sales worth mentioning and how he was still able to build a successful career around his skills. Who else would know how to market a young, charismatic, NY/NJ dude with the ability to rap circles around anyone? Even Joe Budden was excited about the opportunity to have Jay-Z spearhead his career, hell he looked up to him and wanted to model his career off his. But before you could say the word “protégé”, the Brooklyn legend was knee deep in developing Young Jeezy and Rick Ross. Nothing against those two but they can’t see Joe Budden lyrically with NASA’s telescope. I knew that, Joe knew that and Jay knew that but still, Joe Budden’s sophomore effort never saw the light of day. He remained a footnote on the Def Jam roster.

Feeling betrayed by his idol, Joe set off on his own campaign through an enormous amount of freestyles and the Mood Muzik mixtape series. Verse after verse created all kinds of buzz on the internet while Jay-Z held the reigns to Def Jam and his career. It was like the kid at the playground trying to get his big brother to look at him while he did a backflip on the monkey bars. He’d keep flipping and flipping and then run over and ask, “did you see me?” Well whether Jay “saw” it or not, only he knows but he sure didn’t show it. But then in 2006, the great Jay-Z decided to make his return to the booth stating that one of his reasons was to “save Hip-Hop” from wack music. You could imagine how Joe Budden must have felt. Feeling that he was the life saver that Hip-Hop needed only to be ignored again as Hov made his own project a top priority.

So as Jay-Z once again became raps #1 superstar, Joe still remained unknown by most. But like he said himself, he’s “the only thing that gets better the longer you leave it on the shelf.” His metaphors improved, his stories more fascinating, is delivery more powerful… Joe Budden was a beast. As he was preparing for the 3rd installment of the Mood Muzik mixtapes, it created a massive buzz. In certain circles, it was the most anticipated project in the game from someone not named Weezy. Websites had trailers and snippets for the release. The mixtape was released to minimal fanfare by Billboard’s standards but the streets were on fire. And on the song “Talk 2 Em”, it was clear that he had a bone to pick with President Carter:

“…F**k ya bunch of money, put ya ego to the side/ and maybe its time to study ya understudy/ I mean, are we hustling or are we grown up?/ everytime I hear you, you changing ya tone up/ when the new generation think about Jordan/ all they remember is when Iverson crossed him/ take off the blazer, loosen up the tie/ nigga fell in love and superman died…”

Now there’s been speculation as to whether Jay-Z intentionally delayed Joe Budden’s album while he was running Def Jam. (I’m sure somewhere in Joe’s mind he thinks that too) Who knows what really happened over there but my point is this. Imagine what rap would have been like if today’s standards applied 12 years ago? Imagine never hearing The Blueprint or never seeing the Diamond get thrown up at the Garden. Imagine how many fewer songs you’d have on your iPod or how many “fanatic” moments you would be giving up? Imagine a Hip-Hop world without Hova. Now just substitute Joe Budden and you might be able to see what the world has been missing this whole time. He is Jay-Z back in 1996. He is the red pill in Hip-Hop’s Matrix . Listen to him, you won’t be disappointed. Even if his skills haven’t been sold, he’s truly one of the best.

Truth be told.