A supercharged Drake hit back at Joe Budden’s criticism of his latest album, For All the Dogs, lacking any semblance of the artist’s growth or connection to peers around his age on Saturday (Oct. 7). Budden shared his perspective on the project on a new episode of his widely successful podcast.
“I miss the Drake that was rapping for the rappers. I miss the Drake that, when he [dropped], the rappers hit him, not these little f**king kids… I wanna hear adult Drake rapping for adult people,” said Budden in a clip that circulated online ahead of the Sunday (Oct. 8) release of the full podcast episode. Elsewhere in his remarks, he called the album “trash.”
The Canadian-born emcee hit back at the unflattering critique of his artistry with a litany of digs at the “Pump It Up” rapper’s career, calling him a “failure” and a “quitter” who bowed out of the industry before achieving longevity and mainstream success akin to Drake. He added that Budden did not have the “recipe for success.” Though his words were a targeted, blistering rebuttal to criticism, the five-time Grammy Award winner hoped his clapback would also offer a greater takeaway for his fans and other artists.
“[Please], to any artist that’s doing what they feel is right, don’t let these opinions affect your mindset after the fact… I never want anybody in the generations to think that the whole ‘everybody’s entitled to their opinion’ is a real thing,” he wrote.
For All the Dogs includes 23 tracks and features from J. Cole, 21 Savage, SZA, Chief Keef, Lil Yachty, Sexyy Red, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Bad Bunny, Yeat, and Teezo Touchdown. Noticeably missing from the slate of guests is Nicki Minaj, whom Drake told fans they would hear on the album. “Imma give away one thing about the album,” he told “It’s All A Blur” concertgoers at his July show in Detroit. “Me and Nicki Minaj did our first song in, like, a really long time. So, I got a lot of love for her,” he said. Thus far, Nicki nor Drake have issued a public statement about the missing track.