Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I want to get us out of a place where the veterans are chastising the new artists and vice versa. I think we should all just support each other.
I read every fan forum and every blog, and every message board, and every chat room. I read it all. There's nothing online that I'm not aware of.
I was just rapping as a pastime and I became good at it. So much so that by the time my Def Jam contract was in front of me, I didn't have a rap name.
If I'm trading bars with somebody, it certainly is not because I have a release coming. Joe Budden prides himself on the music and not the sales aspect.
I think Def Jam happened to be one of the labels that really didn't have a good grip on things that were going on. I'll say that - that's my political answer.
Even in this podcast media lane, sometimes you still have to wear your MC hat and let people know how you feel about yourself as an MC, which is very confident.
I never cared, I was careless, Fear bein afraid or maybe I'm afraid to be fearless. Or fear bein' fearless but fearful, So even in my carelessness...gotta be careful.
I'm a firm believer in everything going digital, in a matter of years. I wanted to kind of be one of the pioneers, one of the people that jump on that bandwagon early.
I know that I'm kind of a big deal online, but I think that some of that is starting to seep into the streets, and you want to kind of continue to make sure it does that.
I would have had a clause in my contract; I would've definitely put some fine print in my contract that said, "If the president leaves, I'm leaving." That'd be the bottom line.
Technology being the way it is, and record sales being the way it is, there are not too many things that you need to depend on a label for that you can't go out and do yourself.
I have some things that I've been workin' on, such as delivery, wordplay, breath control, just a lot of other things that artists work on, that the listener may not be listening for.
I'm proud to say I'm the only Slaughterhouse member who has not rewritten a verse yet, and that's the ongoing joke in the group, 'cause everybody has rewrote their sh*t except for me.
Like I said, as long as I'm consistent and I try to put my best foot forward, and work as hard as I possibly can, everything else will fall into place - God'll take care of everything.
I think, it's so difficult to create a buzz anywhere, whether it be online, the streets, radio, anywhere, that if you are able to create a buzz somewhere, it definitely means something.
People put mixtapes out every few months, every year. They come often. Not 'Mood Muzik.' It's a totally different type of monster. And when you hear it, you should be able to understand why.
In this day and age, you gotta be a profiler to really know who people are, which most of us are not. So, we need time and life to start happening for people to really show their trust colors.
I will alway support anybody being vocal about their mental illness, how they're dealing with it, and how it affects them. And I'll always support people waking up and paying attention to that.
For Joe Budden fans, and for Joe Budden, I like to focus on the creative side, and havin' a thought and bein' able to execute it in the booth. I think that song best displays me being able to do that.
I have a few theories and trains of thought that I wouldn't expose because they are not anyone's business. I hold them sacred, it's how I feel, it's my opinion, not up for debate, and not meant to be shared.
You don't need to be at a major, not at all. Technology being the way it is, and record sales being the way it is, there are not too many things that you need to depend on a label for that you can't go out and do yourself.
While I understand the Howard Stern comparisons to help contextualize my craft for other people, and while I relate to the moral stance he took against a bigger corporate machine, that's probably where our similarities stop.
You put your blood, sweat, and tears into an album and you think that's where it ends, but no - when you go on tour you're still carrying the life of that album and the life of those songs until you put your next project out.
There's no one aspect of my life that is more hidden than others. I mean, everything is pretty much an open book in every regard: relationships, personal, business, music, family, problems, demons, everything is well documented.
I couldn't tell you what the standing is in radio, I'm in the streaming world. I'm in the podcasting world. Radio just sounds archaic almost. It's a never-ending battle. I'm so glad I'm retired so I don't have to see the nonsense.
It sometimes becomes difficult to tell when you're even creating a buzz. You know, everything in this game, it so relies on timing that that part is really important, and it's something that everyone tries to pay a lot of attention to.
I get a lot of support from the West Coast. But I think that's beginning to change. I think, as the awareness goes up, and as I continue to be consistent, more people from my area come around, and they're converted into Joe Budden fans.
For me, honest critique is not all about your feelings and your ear. Honest critique is sitting down with an album that you may not put on in your spare time, and really digging into that album, so you can talk about the beat selection.
That's the part I kept trying to say on Queen Radio: I don't have to believe you because you're saying it. I'm not saying you're a liar, I learned that long ago too. There's a big difference between you're a liar and I don't believe you.
I could've never envisioned things goin' this way in a million years. But, I'm a firm believer in my higher power havin' a plan, and he's never wrong, and he's not open to suggestions. I'm sure that everything [has] happened for a reason.
I was fortunate enough to have gone through the major label process and kind of have the inside scoop on some things, some information I wouldn't have normally had. To go from a major to an independent, I don't think it's an easy transition.
Early on, it was real tough for me to stick to my guns and say 'I'm retired, I'm not rapping, don't ask me for nothing.' But I had to do that because I love rapping and I love music, so if I don't do that, you can't be halfway in it and halfway out.
Mixtapes are extremely important, especially for New York or North East artists. They allow you to be creative, to get feedback and criticism, but most of all, it gets your name out there. I would say about 90-100% of my success was down to the mixtapes.
I think the time in between albums, as much as it was not anticipated, it was much-needed, and very helpful, very useful. I've done nothing but hone my craft, and get better, and learn, and gather information in the process. So I'm grateful for it in retrospect.
It is a different world, the underground. When you hit mainstream, you hit a saturation level and that turns some people off. When you are on more low-key stuff, it works to your advantage and it creates a buzz on the streets. At that point, the sky is the limit.
I may catch some flack for this, but the Jersey style I feel is just very different from New York. When I hear a Jersey MC spit, I can just hear New Jersey in them. To where as NY, that style has been broadcasted so nationally that it's just a natural sound in music.
I'm the first person to shamelessly admit that I don't know it all. With that said, my attitude is if such that if I don't know something I want you to enlighten and inform me so we can grown and get somewhere together - even if that means we ultimately agree to disagree.
I always call niggas fools for wanting to learn the hard way. When I'm really the fool for tryna teach 'em. When the blinds leading the blind. You can't reach 'em. If niggas ain't as hungry as you then why feed 'em? Niggas ain't tryna be lead then why lead 'em? Having big problems with your dogs, why breed em?
If I were to go the major route, again, attention would probably be the first and foremost. You want attention, you want support, you want to be treated properly, and I don't wanna have to go anywhere and teach people how to treat me. As far as money, acclaim and fame, those things are a plus - accolades - they're all great.
When you're young and you're comin' up, and you dream of gettin' this record deal, and then you actually get it, and, you know, its apples and oranges from everything that you pictured. The line was pretty self-explanatory to me: once I got in my major label agreement, I definitely couldn't deal with it. It was drivin' me crazy, givin' me gray hairs at an early age.
I believe that life is meaningless without hope, which is really what that line is about. Without hope, what are we living for? I wouldn't wanna see where exactly I'd be in five years. I wouldn't wanna know my exact date of death. I wouldn't want to know my exact cause of death. Certain things I just want to allow to take place rather than just have the knowledge beforehand.
Success to me is self-determined, the life I live today, to come from a kid strung out on angel dust, homeless, at some points sleeping in the street. No money, not knowing where the next meal was coming from. No sex, no relationships, people that didn't love me, didn't care about me, to where I am today... that's successful. When I signed my record deal I always wanted to be respected by my peers for my ability and my skill level.
I chose the name "Padded Room," because, when I'm in the booth, it would be the padded room. When I'm in the booth, I can say a lot of things and speak about a lot of things that normally I wouldn't be able to speak about to a friend or to family or to a crowd. A lot of times, the things that I say, if you had to categorize it, they would probably call me nuts or crazy. So, you add that aspect of "The Padded Room," which would be almost like an insane asylum.