At its best Hip-Hop is driven by strong, unforgettable personalities that present as three-dimensional artists. For 15- years, Joe Budden has brought the excitement of golden-era Rap to the culture. While he has expanded his brand to television, video games, podcasts, battle rap, and social media, Joe Budden’s trademark has always been music rooted in honesty, fueled by interpersonal relationships, and presented with precise lyricism. The Jersey City Slaughterhouse contingent has amassed a cult career out of slicing his life and soul open, for all to digest.

Budden’s professional rise took shape right around Y2K, care of standout tracks and freestyles at the pinnacle greater New York City’s mixtape era. Back when top Rap artists were not showing vulnerability, the Desert Storm affiliate (Fabolous, DJ Clue, DJ Envy) outspokenly rapped about addiction, his estranged father, depression, and relationship woes. This confessional style of songwriting was only enhanced by Joe’s convicted deliveries, complex rhyme patterns, and aggressive vocals. 2003’s Top 3 self-titled debut provided some with party music (Top 40 single “Pump It Up”), and others with unforgettably reflective headphone Hip-Hop (“Calm Down”). That dynamic quality would earn Joe a Grammy nomination as a rookie, and make him the biggest New Jersey Hip-Hop product since The Fugees.

Even with proven success and acclaim early, Joe Budden would suffer the slings of a changing label guard at Def Jam. It would be five years before stores would get a proper follow-up album. However, the MC’s cult following was fertilized with a stream of off the books work, including songs like the multi-part “Who Killed Hip-Hop?” and his legendary Mood Muzik mixtape series. Through appearances on his project and others’, Joe would be on the ground floor for careers including Kendrick Lamar, his longtime affiliate Emanny, and the late Stack Bundles. Some of Joe’s romantic interests have also moved on to modeling and television careers, propped by their origins to Joe’s lyrics and video content.

Upon returning to studio albums, Joe drove the independent class with successful works such as 2008’s Halfway House and 2009 Padded Room. Without major label budgets, radio, or traditional video platforms, the MC cultivated a market out of using online resources—including vlogging, Twitter, and Facebook. The rapper who so many felt like they knew through his real verses found new ways to give access to supporters. When Budden had confrontations with Raekwon, Consequence, or some crazed teenaged trespassers, it was captured, analyzed, and followed up on social media. Every time Joe could be canned in an interview, he instead chose to be candid—at any cost. Even though Joe’s career is speckled with peer conflict, he’s famously turned negatives into positives, teaming with onetime Rap foe Royce 5’9” in the highly successful Slaughterhouse, plus eventually collaborating with The Game.

Slaughterhouse would prove to be a game-changing vehicle for Joe. The lyricist joined Royce, Crooked I, and Joell Ortiz as four apparent industry castaways bringing mutiny to the tactless Rap at the wheel. Eventually welcomed to Eminem’s Shady Records, Joe’s brand of bully-rap would again surge to the top of charts care of the group’s 2012 #2 LP welcome to: our HOUSE. In promotion, Joe would be integral to freestyles, ciphers, and compilation work that with his label-mates showed a return to form for lyrical Hip-Hop. With renewed mainstream interest, Joe spent two seasons as a key support on Vh1’s Love & Hip Hop: New York reality series. He would stay with the network and merge into Couples Therapy for season 6, alongside Dr. Jenn Mann. The artist who’d been making therapeutic, self-analytical music his whole career put his couples counseling sessions on top-rated TV. At the same time he led a Rap renaissance, Joe put his life in front of lenses—for all to see. Like his career thus far, when things did not go as planned, Joe moved on—tougher, wiser, realer.

“Love” as it were, was a driving force in Budden’s early 2010s solo work. As a flagship artist at eOne, Budden released 2013’s No Love Lost, and 2015 follow-up All Love Lost. Both Top 30 releases, Joe evolved into thematic LPs about his dealings with women. Here, Budden showed his range, alongside a different crop of artists, including Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, and French Montana. One of those singles, “She Don’t Put It Down,” f/ Lil Wayne & Fabolous would be supported through a video reaching more than 10 million YouTube streams—and becoming Joe’s biggest solo hit in a decade. Never tucking in his own style and personality, Joe has proven that he fits into any corner of Rap music. That earnest quality explains the tireless musician’s incessant stream of cult-collected material.

Like Tupac Shakur—another pioneering emotional MC, Joe Budden seemingly never sleeps. He engages with fans and haters on various social platforms. Joe regularly releases standalone tracks, and has maintained his mixtape output. From a lyricist who is regularly in the headlines, Joe has enjoyed being a vocal fan and cultural participant, unafraid to speak openly and subjectively about those around him—at any cost. However, since his career inception, there is no one in the industry that Joe is harder on than himself.

In 2016, Joe Budden drove headlines and audio/video platforms. In a year marching up to Rage & The Machine with producer araabMUZIK (Slaughterhouse, Cam’ron, A$AP Mob), Joe has never been more in the middle of the music industry. In the run up to Rage & The Machine Joe launched an onslaught of verbal jabs (“Making A Murderer, Pt. 1,” “Wake,”) at acquaintance Drake after social media yielded a rift between the two. Joe premiered “Making A Murderer, Pt. 1” with Pitchfork and both songs reached multi-million Soundcloud plays each; and doubled that on YouTube. As that real-time Rap dispute developed, Budden aimed to let his music speak the loudest, at a time when his brand never appeared bigger. Like he was on those definitive DJ Clue and Cutmaster C tapes at the top of the millennium, Budden is still an emcee’s emcee—indicative of his massive 2016 Funkmaster Flex spot. In the studio and out, he still speaks his mind any chance he gets, and refuses to be a predictable, conventional celebrity. Lead video single “Flex,” featuring Fabolous and Tory Lanez is Budden owning this shining moment. For 15-years in a career of chutes, ladders, and no shortage of excitement, Joe has been anything but an average. Rage & The Machine made simultaneous #1 debuts on the iTunes and Billboard (Rap/Hip Hop & Independent) Charts upon its release and Joe raged his way thru a sold out 20-city trek (The Rage Tour) in support of it.

When you hit #1 (in multiple creative genres), there is usually no place to go but down. That adage isn’t applicable to Joe Budden. No longer bound by the confines of being solely an “artist,” Joe expanded his ever-growing brand and metamorphose into a true three-dimensional icon, rising to the top of three vastly different arenas; music, television and media. And he’s accomplished it all by remaining the same ole’ Joe—authentic, raw, vulnerable, unfiltered and unflinchingly honest.

Joe Budden’s brand has never been bigger. His tenure on Complex’s Everyday Struggle transformed the daily show into an industry staple (with over a 100 million views on YouTube alone—check stats) and resulted in some of the most ubiquitous and captivating moments in pop culture with Lil Yachty, Migos & Chance The Rapper; transforming Joe into a virtual Trending Topic.

With his top rated, listened and viewed weekly groundbreaking podcast (The Joe Budden Podcast) he continually dominates headlines and timelines resulting in millions of Soundcloud and Youtube streams with exponential growth from new subscribers; including selling out a recent bi-coastal 9-city tour of his podcast weeks in advance. Further, Joe has appeared on six episodes of Hip-Hop Squares, as a special guest on Charlamagne’s MTV 2 show Uncommon Sense and Viceland’s The Therapist.

In May 2018, after a long courtship, Sean “Diddy” Combs announced that he had signed Hip Hop’s preeminent creative to his REVOLT MEDIA & TV Network which gave Joe the freedom to create, executive produce and host “State Of The Culture,” a brand-new talk show due to premiere this summer, where he’ll lend his distinctive voice and unique perspective on current topics, politics, social issues, and more, all through the lens of hip hop. Compared to standard talk shows, “State of the Culture” will deliver raw, unfiltered, and informative debates and interviews where Budden digs deep with prominent celebrities, artists and personalities. “Finally, Joe Budden is officially part of the REVOLT family,” said REVOLT Chairman Sean “Diddy” Combs. “Joe has an authentic approach and he’s never afraid to speak the truth. His many talents deserve a platform that pushes the culture forward and we are excited to produce next-level content with him.” In addition, Joe also unveiled a new YouTube show “The Pull Up” and the intimate concept show has already become a hit, amassing over 500K views per episode.

The same characteristics Joe Budden exhibited to standout in the musical arena and amass a cult following are still the primary attributes he has displayed during his meteoric ascension as a media creative. Authenticity—true authenticity, is the purest form anyone has with his, or her own, audience and a major component of Joe’s allure’s is that while you may not always agree with him, or what he says, there is no denying that he has engaged and captivated the digital age audience who can’t wait to see what he will do—or say next. That unique brand of candor continues to evoke emotion, from Joe, his topic matter and his guests—and this is merely the beginning of his renaissance.

Eschewing convention, Joe has refused to be a predictable or conventional celebrity. In bringing his own flavor and vision to the media and television arenas, Joe Budden has ensured his brand of entertainment will be complicated, enlightening and yes—sometimes messy. And his audience will always be given a front row seat.