The Joe Budden podcast holds a peculiar space in media being that it consist of veterans that don’t place their stock in funneling celebrity friends to share recycled stories nor is gossip its preoccupation. In spite of not choosing to play in others people yard or turn there space into a podcast bnb their able to give accurate album reviews, make fun of everyone, and put the bullshit to the side long enough to be the Hip Hop’s weekly reality check. This podcast is three the hard way with each individual sharing their perspective which have been melded by their unique industry travels and where it intersects for them, so while it’s namesake may lead you to think it’s the Joe show, Rory and Mal never play the background which results in the shows most valuable asset; the dialogue.
Joe Budden is the obvious draw for new listeners but that’s never meant he’d fall back on familiarity. Instead he’s there switching hats from domesticated boyfriend, disgruntled rapper, tranquil podcaster, industry insider and just an average joe. For what would most be ignominy Joe has flipped into a comedic yet serious and self aware persona that couldn’t give a fuck less. As if his last stand at emceeing by shooting a lyrical Gatling gun and a once bulletproof Drake didn’t demonstrate such, joe the full time podcaster has taking his unweathered status to the next level. Safe to say he might be the most hated for those under 30 but i don’t think he cares as long as he’s right and not in a know it all manner but from a place of tough love and concern for his predecessors.
Raury been around his back friends way too long. Just playing but you can tell loved the culture and inspire of his industry experience still reserves a little naivety willing-fully to remain a fan. His expertise on the podcast is nuance and he’s often the catalyst for one of Joe Budden’s “old man” inspired jokes with him being the youngest of the bunch. He’s also the less weathered of the three and in being so seeks to find the silver lining in situation his comrades find bleek. Rory also seems to be somewhat of Hip Hop purist, identifying more wig lyric driven music than what’s popular in the moment.
Why doesn’t Mal speak much? Thats something that seems to be a family trait with him being the younger brother of Roc-a-fella co-founder Kareem “Biggs” Burke and the formula of less is more has helped extend the family legacy into podcast territory when i thought he was just donning logos from from his favorite Hip Hop era. The capstone of the trio who joined after the podcast had already been running for awhile may be its most important piece. Balance is an intrinsic constituent of the podcast with Mal playing the role of the scale itself by injecting realness in an aloof manner. The attitude is a quite scream of “stop smiling and still don’t nothing move but the money” and when Joe gets a little to passionate for his own good are Rory neutrality turns to plying both sides of the middle it’s Mal who rears shit back into proper perspective. So while the show itself scrutinizes the industry its Mal who’s purpose is to check his co hosts while governing the shows praxis.
By not wasting time appeasing visitors it allows the trio to cover things in depth unlike other podcast heralded by rappers. The format leaves enough leisure for analyzing the intricacies of lyrics long enough to ponder if rather Hov cooks the greens or not. No it’s not all fodder from headlines; the team also gifts listeners with “sleepers” which highlights the great songs that get overlooked. As a fan if i could ask for anything, it’d be to use sleepers to wake people up by playing lesser known artist more on some modern day unsigned hype shit. Between the credibility they’ve earned by being honest even when its abrasive and the attention joe’s outburst bring, the platform could be the perfect place to accentuate artist with work worthy of attention they may other wise not get. It’d be a huge fuck you to labels by curating what listeners like through the authenticity that there show thrives off of while also investing in the preservation of the culture.
-Matthew Carroll
