Drake & Joe Budden’s Beef: A Timeline Of Disses

A holiday-themed review of Drake’s For All The Dogs Scary Hours Edition (otherwise known as Scary Hours 3): J. Cole and Rosalía are on Drake’s nice list, while Joe Budden and Pusha T remain on Drake’s naughty list. There’s a lot to unpack — too much, really — so we’re just going to focus on Budden, who slammed Drake for “rappin’ for the children” on For All The Dogs upon its October 6 release. Drake seemingly responded on the Scary Hours Edition track “Stories About My Brother,” rapping, “Imagine us gettin’ our validation from an ex-musician searchin’ for recognition.” But there’s a lot more — seriously, just an overwhelming amount — where that barbed bar came from.

Below is what you need to know from Budden and Drake’s timeline of beef and disses.

“Good Riddance”

2009: Multiple outlets, including HipHopDX, traced Budden and Drake’s connection to 2009 due to resurfaced video from the early days of Budden’s Joe Budden TV YouTube channel. In it, Drake says he is “honored to be around” Budden because he used to listen to him. However, there was a song called “Good Riddance” around the same time in which Drake rapped, “If I copy Budden’s flow, you mimickin’ his career / And the same money we hearin’ you giving to charity.” It’s not totally misguided to wonder whether that ancient bar is the root of Budden’s bitterness, considering Drake went from a self-proclaimed fan to mocking Budden’s career trajectory.

Joe Budden Hates On Views

May 2016: During an episode of Budden’s since-renamed podcast I’ll Name This Podcast Later, Budden criticized Drake’s album, Views, by saying Drake sounded “real f*cking uninspired” (as relayed by Complex). To be fair, Budden acknowledged Drake’s rap (and pop culture) prowess, saying, “When he puts something out, you stop what you’re doing, right?”

“4PM In Calabasas”

June 2016: It is believed that Drake threw subliminal shade Budden’s way in his single “4PM In Calabasas,” though Drake never mentions Budden by name. In the 68th episode of Budden’s aforementioned podcast, he addressed Drake’s credibility as a songwriter and the perceived diss toward him in a 20-plus-minute segment annotated by Complex at the time.

Joe Budden Drops “Making A Murderer, Pt. 1” And “Afraid”

July 2016: Budden (again, seemingly but more or less definitely) referred to Drake as his child in “Making A Murderer, Pt. 1.” The song’s interlude is audio from the aforementioned video of their first meeting, during which Drake outed himself as a fan and gushed over Budden. Later in the song, Budden raps, “You made me proud, lad, but it seems my child mad / With all the clout that he grabbed, it’s still doubts from his dad.”

Drake then responded with “No Shopping,” leading to Budden’s “Afraid,” which samples Drake’s “The Resistance” and finds Budden going at Drake repeatedly throughout. Perhaps most notably: “Yeah, Aubrey, that’s the one we trusted / Not this new Aubrey with his stomach sculpted / I’m disgusted, you’re such a f*ckin’ incumbent / Can’t govern, trust in the public becoming a f*cking puppet.”

Um, Liposuction?

July 2016: So, about that “Aubrey with his stomach sculpted” line. After the song’s arrival, Budden doubled down, tweeting that Drake had gotten liposuction (twice) from the plastic surgeon, Dr. Michael “Dr. Miami” Salzhauer. Uproxx did the important follow-up investigative journalism of getting plastic surgeons’ opinions on whether Budden’s outrageous claim could be true.

Joe Budden On Hot Ones

Yep, still July 2016: Budden stopped by Hot Ones, where he addressed Drake fans who had recently appeared uninvited outside of his home.

Drake Trolls Joe Budden’s Pool Party

August 2019: Drake is as elite at trolling as he is at rapping, as evidenced by an impressive commitment to troll Budden’s private pool party, which Budden made the mistake of streaming live on Instagram.

An Attempt At Squashing Their Beef

April 2020: The beginning of 2020 threw many confounding things our way, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and a potential Budden-Drake resolution — which, to be clear, are equally confounding. Budden went live on Instagram, and Drake was active in the comments. Eventually, Drake joined Budden on the Live, and they had a friendly exchange. Budden joked that Drake was avoiding him, to which Drake said, “I never avoid you; we’re just never in the same place.”

Petty Drake Thrives In St. Tropez

July 2022: Take it or leave it: Drake posted a video to his Instagram Story from a restaurant in St. Tropez that was playing Budden’s “Pump It Up” (as relayed by XXL at the time). “Where else, Joey, would you have them going so crazy?” Drake is heard saying in the video. It goes without saying by now that it was in a mocking tone.

Joe Budden Slams For All The Dogs

October 2023: Skipping ahead to the present to preserve whatever is left of our collective sanity. Budden did not care for Drake’s For All The Dogs album. Right after Drake dropped it on October 6, Budden dedicated a portion of his podcast to torching it. DJ Akademiks posted a snippet on Instagram, where Drake left a lengthy comment that felt like it was a decade in the making.

This is what Drake wrote:

“@joebudden you have failed at music. You left it behind to do what you are doing in this clip cause this is what actually pays your bills. For any artist watching this just remember you are watching a failure give their opinion on his idea of a recipe for success…a quitter give their opinion on how to achieve longevity…you switched careers cause the things that pop into your brain had you broke living cheque to cheque and the raps you write had 450 men showing up to your shows in dusty Enyce jeans to screw up their face to Mood Muzik 29 and pretend you are the goat…pls to any artist that’s doing what they feel is right don’t let these opinions affect your mindset after the fact…

This guy is the poster child of frustration and surrendering. You retired and we never hung up your jersey we don’t even remember your number. We know you for doing this…you withdrew from rap not cause you accomplished all you need to it’s cause it wasn’t working for you. I never want anybody in the generations to think that the whole ‘everybody’s entitled to their opinion’ is a real thing…this is a man projecting his own self hate and the fact I did and continue to do everything he wanted to do for himself. If you need it put in simpler terms I own a 767…he owns a modest house in the 973 and flies first class on special occasions.”

Drake Gets The Last Laugh (For Now)

November 2023: This morning, November 17, Drake dropped “Stories About My Brother” as part of For All The Dogs Scary Hours Edition. In it, he raps, “Imagine us gettin’ our validation from an ex-musician searchin’ for recognition.” Welp!