DKE's Top Ten Favorite Joe Budden Tracks

What with Joe Budden releasing a series of VERY dope songs recently (entitled “Who,” about the state of hip-hop), and since our blog was in dire need of a new post, I figured I’d give a quick countdown of my personal favorite tracks by the man they call Mouse. He’s one of my favorite rapper, and this is not necessarily his BEST songs, but they’re my favorites…you can definitely make a case for a few other tracks, of course. And I haven’t even heard all of his songs (obviously), so yeah, there’s way more, lol.

First a few honorable mentions that just miss the cut:
My Life (MM3 Bonus Track) – I’m normally against songs with such an absolute name – how can you put your entire life in a song? – but this one is good. A bonus track from Mood Muzik 3, this song has a nice sample, nice beat, good chorus, and some real good lyrics.
Unforgiven – This track, from The Growth has a well done Metallica sample, allowing Budden to get introspective on the beat, saying shit like “Lets talk about the struggle, lets talk about the pain/Some people say they love you, but that don’t mean a thang…That’s my depression talking…maybe it’s really real/Maybe them doctors was right, and maybe I’m really ill.” Flow's a bit off, but lyrically its great
Calm Down – A real introspective track from his self-titled solo debut, “Calm Down” has Budden talking about not only his former drug addiction, but his relationship with his mom and how it survived in regard to the drug habit.
She Wanna Know featuring Lil’ Mo – Yeah, yeah, I know I’m probably one of the few people who likes this. But I like the chorus, its really catchy, and the lyrics aren’t half bad:
”C'mon don't tell me that we already endin’/And fuck I need to cheat on you for? I'm already winnin’.” Of course the main thing that makes this song so great is the horns on the beat, real nice sounding. Haha, I’m gonna catch shit for this, but whatever.

10) Crazy
Though just a verse…well, what does Joe Budden on the Gnarls Barkley “Crazy” beat imply to you (if you’re a Budden fan)? Nice flow on the song, and nice lyrics and punchlines in regard to his life in general. I particularly liked the line, “I’m like Josh Howard, I need time out, but it’ll cost the game” (in regard to a playoff game from a few years ago where Josh Howard called timeout when the Mavericks didn’t want to call one…they ended up losing). Real nice track.

9) Sing For The Moment
Eminem’s “Sing For The Moment” track gets a visit from Mouse, and he once again has some nice thought-provoking lyrics. He talks about problems in the Hood, but unlike most people glorifying it, he spits: They say you soft when you move out the Hood/And so my goal is to make all of my loved ones punks/ My pop my mother, my son, his mother, my girl, my brother/My entire squad will be soft from far.” Also directly talks to his fans, showing both appreciation and inspiration.

8) Three Sides To A Story
DOPE Budden storytelling. This is many people’s favorite song by him, and though its not mine, I realize how dope it is. Nice beat, albeit a little sad, giving a three-way story from the perspective of an ex-convict who goes back to jail due to society’s reluctance to give him another chance. Then it shifts to the kid’s sister, who is molested and pregnant by his step-father. The step-father and brother have a shoot-out, and the girl gets hit by a stray and dies. It’s a sad story, but the narration is downright amazing, and he does an astounding job lyrically.


7) So Long Goodbye
A lot of people wouldn’t mention this in Budden’s best tracks, but I really like this one. A nice sample, and a really sweet sounding song. Budden spits about the problems that are in the game, and about how sometimes he thinks about quitting, before explaining why he doesn’t. Nice lines in here, like “Some people sell out, fuck everything they jot/
From their heart for that number one spot on the charts.”

6) Ten Minutes
This may be a little low on my list, and I may catch shit because of some of the tracks that I put ahead of it. Yes, the beat is nice sounding and Budden’s lyrics on it are real nice, but at ten minutes long, it gets a little boring and repetitive, in my humble opinion, at the end (lol). Still, the lyrics are nice in many spots. You can feel the honesty in the song, in lines such as: Some days I'm not invincible and I feel the pressure/Like if everyone's depending on me, and I just stop...Then what the fuck happens?” Not necessarily worse than the other ones, I just like them a bit more.

5) Walk With Me
Joe literally takes the listeners through a tour of his life. The lyrics are on point, and you can tell that he’s really not feeling his life, and that it’s honest. The beat is nice, and the chorus, though a bit long, is also dope. Nice lines like, “I’ll take you to meet my girl I got to see if you notice/If she love me or if the bitch got an ulterior motive.” He also isn’t afraid to get personal: “Where was the hate back when I wasn't on my feet/An alcoholic, school dropout, just a bum on the street/Where was the hate during my adolescence/Back when that psychiatrist was trying hard to get me on ammonic depressives.” Budden’s never afraid to get personal, and this track becomes dope because of this reason. For the record, this one is pretty much a tie (in my opinion) with the one I put it four, either one could be higher than the other.

4) Ransom Disses (Heart of the City/Ransom Note)
The reason these two are together is because they’re two disses at another rapper, Ransom, so they’re strongly related. These may not be this high normally, but they really show Budden’s punchlines and differ from the usual depressing topics he covers, so they earn a spot in the top four. I don’t like the talking he does (goes on and on lol) at the start of the songs, especially “Ransom Note.” The lyrics are on point though, he hit him with some nice lines. From “Heart Of The City”: “It's no wonder he aint gettin no bookings for shows/Cause your fans is like mine dog, looking for growth” & “Fuck how your glock pop off, how your flock not soft/You gettin no where fast being a Lox knock off,” plus nice one-liners like “Your tapes bang like hardwoods – they not classics.” “Ransom Note” also has some nice lines: “The fans can easily solve my shit/Cop his tape, maybe he'll hop off my dick” and “And this is when I know I heard it all/His stupid ass proud to live on the third floor/He like "Im in the hood all day, I gets it poppin'/you wack motherfucker, you ain’t got another option,” plus another one-liner: “Your career felt about short as a good weekend.” And trust me, that’s just the start, this has waaayyy more dope lines…I can pretty much quote the entire two songs, lol.

3) Dear Diary/Dear Diary (Remix)
Before I get into this one, it was also interchangeable with number two, “Broken Wings.” This one, like “Broken Wings” is really nice lyrically and is just him going on and on about his problems and life. Both versions, the original and remix, are produced by WMS the Sultan, and both are very dope. Love the instrumentals for each version, and like the tone that they sent. Some great lines in here, man, he really gets personal and just raw. I really, really liked some lines in the middle: “They tried to warn me, fought with my girl every night about you/Shit only hurts 'cause she was right about you/She run around wanting to shoot you the fair one/I keep telling her "chill, I don't care none"/I got another side I never showed to you/The side where everybody is disposable/See, relationships are never a threat/'Cause I'll erase the history and act like we never met/Become done giving a fuck and done calling/I got your e-mail, I was done way before then.” Another line I liked was about his baby mama problems: “Is she wrong using him so I can come back/Or am I wrong for wishing I could have my cum back?” And, like I said, both versions are real dope…WMS killed this shit.

2) Broken Wings (Freestyle)
Nice sampling of the ‘80s single, with the same title, by the band Mr. Mister (also sampled on the Pac track, “Until The End Of Time”). The beat’s the same, and he uses the chorus as well. Every line, literally, on this track is quotable. For real, very, very well written. Crazy flow, and some real dopeness in this shit. “You don't feel what the pencil scripts?/Then eight times outta ten you ain't been through shit,” “Was once tight, grew apart for dollars/Was on the same panel, now we Star and Barbara/Two different “Views” two different lifestyles/I think 'long the way one of us got confused,” “It's so sweet/Thought I was fucked up with no shoes 'til I met me a nigga with no feet,” and “Some wanna threaten me, ruin my health/Let me teach you a little something 'bout depression/Ain't shit you could do to me I ain't already thought about doing to myself.” He also has a dope few lines where he compares himself to Alex Rodriguez in regards to his label situation, ending cleverly with “Should get traded, but he don't wanna move/'Cause this the only city he got somethin' to prove/And that's why I'm seen with heaters/'Cause you can't be the man when you on the same team as Jeter.” Just a track that is dope beyond belief.

1) Whatever It Takes
As dope as every other track on this list is, before I even started writing it, I knew beyond a doubt that this was number one. The lyrics are Joe Budden’s “Find A Way,” but on this beat, it gets much, much doper. Nice sample, and ohhhh man, the lyrics are DOPE! Once again, almost every line is quotable…which, considering its very lengthy time, is quite impressive (“Broken Wings” isn’t as long). Maybe its just because I can connect with the lyrics so much, but its also definitely the lyricism and flow that impresses me on this song. “See I'm depressed lately, but nobody understands/That I'm depressed lately, I'm sorta feelin' repressed lately./But y'all been hearin' an' seein' me less lately/Like, has anyone noticed the regress lately?/Look deep nigga, don't I seem stressed lately?/Seemed disturbed, lotta' regrets lately?” and “They say he whines too much, he's too bitter/They call it, complainin', I call it, explainin'/How normal niggas could get caught-up in the game and/Lose they mind, and y'all call it entertainment” and “Now, if it goes to the wire, got the soul of a fighter/Bruised-up and sloppy, or damaged like Ali/Up-late talkin' to the fans on the website/That's the only thing that send yo' man off to bed right?!” Then it enters the last stretch, so to speak, with some really, really dope lines: “Fuck the world, fuck my moms and my girl!/Well, maybe not mom, jus' lemme' remain calm./This too won't last, this too shall pass/At least that's what I say y'all, that's what I pray for,” finally leading to the great ending, where he speaks from his depression’s point of view: “Been with you since 10, but you startin' to confuse me/'Cause it's been so long, and you still try'na lose me/Like, how could you show me such cruelty?/When everybody turns their back on you, Joe it's you and me/Joe, you don't want me to see you right?/Then why you always come get me, how we re-unite?/Tell me! I know you feel for me deep in your heart;/Doctors, meetings, pills couldn't keep us apart./But, now you got a deal an' you wanna get rid of me/We're roommates, I'm in your head, Joe you live with me." Overall, a really, really amazing track, one of my favorites ever.

I know I missed some, and I also know I overwrote, but fuck it, I was bored, and we haven’t had a post in a while. That’s my list, what’s yours?