An Ode To Alchemist: Chemistry 122

Back again, here’s another entry into the series.

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JoeBuddenTV

Let’s just get to it: JoeBuddenTV was revolutionary.

It was ahead of its time. No other rapper was doing the reality thing like Joe was in 2008. And Joe’s version was unfiltered and unscripted. He set trends and created controversy much like his music career. He did not shy away from expressing himself.

I—like many other fans of him—tuned in to each episode. We were intrigued. His life wasn’t the biggest or most luxurious it was: normal, like ours. The only exception was that he was known rapper.

He was already sharing his life on wax, which was already a lot at the time. He added an extra layer on top of that by letting his fans in a bit more. In his videos, he allowed access to his girlfriend(s), friends, family, and everyone in his life around that time.

No one received more exposure than Tahiry, Joe’s girlfriend of many years. She was beautiful with a great personality. She went from virtually unknown to gracing the cover of a King magazine. She used her newfound fame to earned additional work and income by hosting parties and eventually making it into a season of Love & Hip Hop.

Joe’s bluntness caused riff with a few rappers, most notably the Wu-Tang Clan. I was there at the Rock The Bells festival stop when that “incident” occurred. I was pissed much like Crooked I and Royce Da 5’9″ were. Then, the thing with Ransom happened. Once friends turned foes and the Internet was there as both sides documented it differently.

Some of JoeBuddenTV’s episodes were great while others were just ok. Some provide insight to his life while others showed the background the scenes stuff. There are even a few episodes on the early development of Slaughterhouse from inception to the debut album.

Joe also documented the process of making songs. Throughout the series, you hear beats that eventually become his or Slaughterhouse’s records including “Under The Sun” and “Wack MCs,” respectively.

Below are some of my favorite episodes from the web series. Some are cool for the background on later events while some humorous.

Come Upstairs 4 A Minute…

This was hilarious. Joe is a fool. He teases Tahiry and then compliments one of her features by highlighting it on camera. You could tell their relationship was full of fun, good times. Tahiry, still camera shy, tells Joe to stop but he keeps going. Joe pans over and gets a shot of the lower half of Tahiry and says the name of this episode before laughing hysterically.

The Pow Wow series

I couldn’t pick just one, I chose them all. These videos showed the thought process at the group’s inception. You get to witness Joell Ortiz, Royce and Joe share ideas and just bare their personalities. It was fun to see the group’s organic rise to underground hip-hop kings. The competitiveness the group has is crazy. Joell and Joe kept going back-and-forth on who had the better verse on the first few records they did.

Limewire Love

A Canadian fan gives Joe $100 for his music. The fan never bought any of Joe’s music but he download and listened to it and it helped him with his depression. The fan wanted to show his appreciation and decided to give Joe some compensation. I can guarantee you that there are other fans like that. We might not buy the music but we’ll buy the merch or go to the show. Compensation isn’t everything. Sometimes just knowing you’ve helped someone is a reward in itself. Beautiful.

The Longest Breakup

The relationship finally ends and this video captures the aftermath of the breakup. Joe visits Tahiry to question her and get her side on things and hear her frustrations. She doesn’t hold anything back and doesn’t want to rekindle their romance.

My Ransom Response

At one time they were friends but something happen and Ransom grew tiresome. He ended up dissing Joe. After back-and-forth diss songs, things turned physical. The two ended up fighting with Joe claiming to be victorious. Then, things turned sideways. Ransom showed up at the door of an acquaintance of Joe and proceeded to assault him, while recording it. This video followed and Joe ended the beef.

This was a very mature thing to do from Joe. The beef was only going to get worse. Joe stopped all that before it ended with someone dead. In the end, both men were able to clear the air and the two are now friends again.

DrakeTV

This episode is interesting.

It’s funny because what they discuss in this video was foreshadowing indirectly. Although nothing on here caused the riff between the two in 2016, some of the things said here jokingly ended up happening. There’s plenty of irony in the video as Joe asks Drake who he thinks will be the first rapper to diss him. There are more gems in there that meant something back then but could be tweaked to make it fit the Drake vs Joe beef. From Drake admitting to listening to Joe’s music to his compliment of Tahiry and telling Joe to be scared of Tahiry’s new fame. Amazing.

(Photo Credit: Joe’s Instagram)

Worst of Joe Budden Part 2: Gangsta Party

This song had all the ingredients for it to become a hit.

It failed to do so.

If Only: Joe Budden and Alchemist

Joe Budden and Alchemist are two of my favorite hip-hop artists. One is an amazing producer while the other is a lyrical monster and beautiful and overwhelming storyteller.

If these two happen to one-day work on a collaborative project, I’d probably explode from excitement and anticipation. I mean, Alchemist already did a project that I was anticipating since the inception of the idea, so if this happen, it would probably be too much to handle.

Best of Joe Budden: Slaughterhouse “Goodbye”

One of Slaughterhouse’s best records because of how brutally honest they were. All but Royce Da 5’9″ provided a verse where they acknowledge a period in their life were they encountered tragedy.

Welcome to Joe Budden Week 2017!

In honor of the man’s birthday this Thursday, I’ve decided to dedicate this week and some days next week, to the man by delivered several different blog posts about him and his craft! Many people on the Internet and outside of it do not know how talented he is, they refer to “Pump It Up” as their go-to comment, but I am here to show that Joe Budden is more than! Hopefully these posts change your view on him.

(Photo Credit: Joe’s Instagram)

Bone, Bone, Bone, Bone – Ode to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a long time.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony are legends. They are also underrated. I feel like they aren’t given their proper dues for inspiring the next generation of rappers.

They were influential, to say the least. Which is how we got here.