Rapper turned podcaster Joe Budden has made his career on being one of rap’s most prolific antagonists, issuing inflamatory takes in a never-ending effort to get more attention for his podcast than his music ever got. But every once in a while, he seems to recognize when he oversteps his bounds, issuing apologies to both Logic and Megan Thee Stallion in recent years for making jokes that made light of their legitimate issues.
You can add YoungBoy Never Broke Again (aka NBA YoungBoy) to that list after this week, after Budden make efforts to deescalate his simmering feud with the Louisiana lyricist. On the latest episode of his inexplicably popular podcast, Budden said, “I owe NBA an apology too. Let’s start with accountability. I owe him an apology. He don’t even bother nobody.” He also noted that he “didn’t feel good about” the coverage the dispute prompted from “the biggest blogs,” which he perhaps felt painted him in a less-than-positive light as an over-the-hill grouch who finds inordinate joy in picking on pretty much any rapper younger (and more successful musically) than he was 20 years ago.
Budden had previously called YoungBoy’s music “horrible,” and credited his streaming success to record label trickery, rather than genuine popularity with an audience Joe hasn’t been in touch with since his mixtape days. YoungBoy responded on Instagram (because he’s still on house arrest), telling Joe to “shut the f*ck up” and weirdly using his last album’s first-week numbers as a defense. Fortunately, we all know neither rapper is willing to get physical with the other because neither is a woman.
