Joe Budden Reveals Why Planned Collabs With Drake Never Happened

Joe Budden and Drake have one of the strangest dynamics in hip hop. Drake grew up idolizing Budden, and the latter laid the groundwork for Drake’s emotional style. Budden has stepped back from the game, of course, and become a podcaster who is regularly cited as one of the 6 God’s biggest critics. The pair have repeatedly dissed each other over the years, through social media and song. And yet, they nearly collaborated. Twice. Joe Budden dropped this shocking information during a recent episode of his show.

Budden was discussing the J Cole podcast Inevitable, and the revelation that Drake was asked to give Cole a hit for his debut album. This sparked a discussion about the impact of a Drake feature, and then Budden told his co-hosts that he almost recorded with the 6 God on two separate occasions. The first time was in 2006, when Drizzy was still putting out mixtapes. Things failed to come together, and then suddenly, Drake was the biggest star in hip hop. Joe Budden claimed that he linked up with Drake one other time, and discussed teaming up for a song.

Budden alleges that Drake wanted to give him a song with an R&B hook, but the former rejected it. He told his podcast co-hosts that he did not want that kind of song. “That’s not the type of record I wanted to make with him,” Budden explained. “I wanted him to tap into his rap bag. I wasn’t chasing hits at that point.” The former rapper claimed that Drake was actually the one who instigated plans for a collab, and promised to get a verse to Budden. “All that phony n**ga sh*t,” Budden claimed. “[It] never came.” Joe Budden joked that Drizzy did him the same he did J Cole.

One of Budden’s co-hosts questioned whether Drake believes the podcaster is more critical of him because he didn’t get the feature he was promised. Budden admitted that it was a possibility, but he ultimately felt like the failed song attempts were water under the bridge. He did admit, looking back, that it was foolish of him to turn down a Drake hook at a time when everything the 6 God touched turned into a radio hit. Another layer of the Drake and Joe Budden dynamic, peeled back.