Joe Budden Shuts Down Claims He Was Paid by TDE to Back Kendrick Lamar Over Drake.
There’s been a lot of talk online lately about whether Joe Budden was secretly paid to support Kendrick Lamar during his rap battle with Drake is clearing things up himself, and he’s not holding back.
On a recent episode of his Joe Budden podcast, the rapper turned media personality directly addressed the rumors. Some people, including rapper Daylyt, suggested that Kendrick had Budden on his side the same way Drake has DJ Akademiks supporting him online. That led to speculations online that Budden might have been getting paid by Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE).
In a response, Budden states that he has never been paid by TDE, Kendrick Lamar, or any artist. “I am not being paid by TDE,” he said. “I have never been paid by TDE. I’ve never been paid by any artist. I can’t be bought. That’s what makes me so different from y’all who shake a-s for the f–king… I get calls every week from record labels offering to pay me a lot of money to talk about sh-t that I don’t care about or probably just want to talk about for free, but in my own way that I want to talk about it. Don’t pay me to big some sh-t up that I’m not gon’ big up. Paying me is a mistake. For money, [he hasn’t gotten a call to not talk about something].”
“I didn’t think that Daylyt was saying I had been paid,” Joe Budden continued. “But I understand what he was trying to say. He’s saying that my reporting is favorable to TDE. And it has been while [Kendrick] was f–king kicking a-s.”
“Truth of the matter, I wanted to see all three of the ‘Big Three’ fail a little bit,” he added. “Kendrick just didn’t at the end. He went up. I’d like to see them all pegged down a notch. Get some humble pie. It didn’t work it at all. And I called it before the battle. I said after this battle, somebody’s gon’ make us look at somebody different. I didn’t know he was gon’ hit the two-for-one special on it and make both these ni–as different. But that’s water under the bridge for me. If this Drake sh-t [ICEMAN album] comes out and it’s sounding like what we know it has the potential to sound like, I’ma be the first one to come in here and big that ni–a up on his process and overcoming hardship with one of the tougher years to have in hip-hop.”
Check out the clip below.
Joe Budden DENIES being on TDE’s Payroll:
“I am not being paid by TDE. I have never been paid by TDE. I have never been paid by any artist, I can’t be bought”
Joe goes on to confirm he has received calls to not talk about certain things & he receive calls from labels each… pic.twitter.com/wtgXY326aX
— Caleb (@CalebFromX) April 25, 2026
