Joe Budden

Joe Budden出生于美国的Spanish Harlem，十一岁的时候，Joe Budden就搬到了Jersey City，自从父亲离开他和母亲以后，他就需要为自己的饭碗而忙碌了，同时他也开始从街道上接触hip-hop音乐，纽约皇后区的Run-D.M.C.和LL Cool J是他最初的偶像，然而他与大多数说唱歌手不同的是，他在作品中十分严肃认真的讨论了毒品问题。于是他16岁辍学后，就开始为周围的人们演唱，也使他的演唱水平大有提高，并且有机会参与了一些说唱明星的专辑的混音工作。与其他说唱歌手的悲惨经历有所不同的是，Joe Budden是十分幸运的。依靠这些工作，Joe Budden不但有钱治好了母亲的病，而且使他的说唱事业也大为改观，他在录音工作室的幕后工作中，从当时还未出名的50 Cent和the LOX身上学到了很多有价值的东西。
不久，他就被星探带进了Def Jam唱片公司，唱片公司随即在2002年12月24日为他发行了一支单曲《Focus》，仅过了两个多月2003年2月4日唱片公司就又为他发行了另一支单曲《Drop Drop》，两个半月后的4月29日唱片公司又发行了单曲《Pump It Up》，连续三首单曲的成功使唱片公司在一个月之后的6月3日就迫不及待的为他发行了第一张正式唱片《Joe Budden》
在接连三首成功的单曲之后，Joe Budden终于推出了自己的专辑，结束了数年的录音室混音工作。唱片公司为了这个年轻人的专辑可是没少花功夫来做宣传，以至于在推出后不久就登上了Billboard 200前十的位置。
引子过后的开篇第一首歌《#1》很严肃的讨论了现实的问题，以及他所居住过的Jersey City，而且还对提拔和帮助他的说唱前辈表达了敬意。第二首《Pump It Up》入选了电影《2 Fast 2 Furious（速度与激情II）》的原声带，也是Def Jam公司大力推荐的一首单曲，富有跳跃性的节奏，是Joe Budden较有代表性的作品。之后Joe Budden在《Walk With Me》出奇真诚的静心忏悔了他在街道的成长中所犯的错，甚至包括他过去的对别人的谩骂的自白。在以骂出名的黑人说唱中，这样的自白又带有忏悔色彩的内容实属罕见。专辑的另一个亮点是Joe Budden和另一位著名的演员和说唱歌星Busta Rhymes合作对唱的《Fire》。
Joe Budden不像是其他的说唱艺人那样抓紧任何一个时间在吹牛，或者就是对一切看不顺眼的事物开始谩骂，诅咒。在说唱乐界Joe Budden更像是一个另类，因为他似乎有些太诚实，太善良了，甚至他曾经说很乐意接受听众的批评，并努力给听众更多更好的作品，这种谦虚可是没有几个说唱艺人会有的。他的说唱中更多的是对现实中种种弊端的讨论，没有客套话和很多涮嘴皮子的东西，直接而深刻。也许这张不同于传统说唱内容的专辑会为充斥着谩骂，诅咒和吹牛的说唱音乐开启一个新的方式。
The ridiculous success of 50 Cent in early 2003 opened the floodgates for other street-level, mixtape-bred rappers, one of whom was Joe Budden, a Jersey City rapper with a distinct loose-cannon style molded from years of freestyling. Born in Spanish Harlem and raised in Queens, Budden came of age across the Hudson River in Jersey City, which he proudly continued to rep in his rhymes despite its somewhat unsavory reputation relative to more traditional hip-hop breeding grounds like Harlem, Brooklyn, the South Bronx, and Queensbridge. Following some troubled teenage years, Budden cleaned himself up and focused his sights on hip-hop fame. He teamed up with producer Dub-B (aka White Boy) and began making demos, one of which ended up in the hands of DJ Clue. Soon afterward, Budden was a mixtape fixture, freestyling over popular beats on mixes by New York's leading DJs, most notably Clue, DJ Kayslay, and Cutmaster C. In particular, his "Grindin'" freestyle turned heads, as did one of his White Boy productions, "Focus." It wasn't long before Budden joined On Top management and went to work with Just Blaze, one of New York's hottest producers of the moment, best known for his work with Jay-Z but also respected for his sure-fire freelance work, such as Erick Sermon's "React" and Cam'ron's "Oh Boy." Indeed, a sure-fire hit resulted: "Pump It Up," a club-ready track that connected everywhere, from MTV to the streets. While all of this was going down, industry heavyweight Def Jam signed Budden and prepared his self-titled debut album, which charted well its opening week, earned some critical support, and foreshadowed a bright future for the refreshingly unique rapper.