Joe Budden

Joe Budden出生于美國(guó)的Spanish Harlem，十一歲的時(shí)候，Joe Budden就搬到了Jersey City，自從父親離開他和母親以后，他就需要為自己的飯碗而忙碌了，同時(shí)他也開始從街道上接觸hip-hop音樂，紐約皇后區(qū)的Run-D.M.C.和LL Cool J是他最初的偶像，然而他與大多數(shù)說唱歌手不同的是，他在作品中十分嚴(yán)肅認(rèn)真的討論了毒品問題。于是他16歲輟學(xué)后，就開始為周圍的人們演唱，也使他的演唱水平大有提高，并且有機(jī)會(huì)參與了一些說唱明星的專輯的混音工作。與其他說唱歌手的悲慘經(jīng)歷有所不同的是，Joe Budden是十分幸運(yùn)的。依靠這些工作，Joe Budden不但有錢治好了母親的病，而且使他的說唱事業(yè)也大為改觀，他在錄音工作室的幕后工作中，從當(dāng)時(shí)還未出名的50 Cent和the LOX身上學(xué)到了很多有價(jià)值的東西。
不久，他就被星探帶進(jìn)了Def Jam唱片公司，唱片公司隨即在2002年12月24日為他發(fā)行了一支單曲《Focus》，僅過了兩個(gè)多月2003年2月4日唱片公司就又為他發(fā)行了另一支單曲《Drop Drop》，兩個(gè)半月后的4月29日唱片公司又發(fā)行了單曲《Pump It Up》，連續(xù)三首單曲的成功使唱片公司在一個(gè)月之后的6月3日就迫不及待的為他發(fā)行了第一張正式唱片《Joe Budden》
在接連三首成功的單曲之后，Joe Budden終于推出了自己的專輯，結(jié)束了數(shù)年的錄音室混音工作。唱片公司為了這個(gè)年輕人的專輯可是沒少花功夫來做宣傳，以至于在推出后不久就登上了Billboard 200前十的位置。
引子過后的開篇第一首歌《#1》很嚴(yán)肅的討論了現(xiàn)實(shí)的問題，以及他所居住過的Jersey City，而且還對(duì)提拔和幫助他的說唱前輩表達(dá)了敬意。第二首《Pump It Up》入選了電影《2 Fast 2 Furious（速度與激情II）》的原聲帶，也是Def Jam公司大力推薦的一首單曲，富有跳躍性的節(jié)奏，是Joe Budden較有代表性的作品。之后Joe Budden在《Walk With Me》出奇真誠(chéng)的靜心懺悔了他在街道的成長(zhǎng)中所犯的錯(cuò)，甚至包括他過去的對(duì)別人的謾罵的自白。在以罵出名的黑人說唱中，這樣的自白又帶有懺悔色彩的內(nèi)容實(shí)屬罕見。專輯的另一個(gè)亮點(diǎn)是Joe Budden和另一位著名的演員和說唱歌星Busta Rhymes合作對(duì)唱的《Fire》。
Joe Budden不像是其他的說唱藝人那樣抓緊任何一個(gè)時(shí)間在吹牛，或者就是對(duì)一切看不順眼的事物開始謾罵，詛咒。在說唱樂界Joe Budden更像是一個(gè)另類，因?yàn)樗坪跤行┨\(chéng)實(shí)，太善良了，甚至他曾經(jīng)說很樂意接受聽眾的批評(píng)，并努力給聽眾更多更好的作品，這種謙虛可是沒有幾個(gè)說唱藝人會(huì)有的。他的說唱中更多的是對(duì)現(xiàn)實(shí)中種種弊端的討論，沒有客套話和很多涮嘴皮子的東西，直接而深刻。也許這張不同于傳統(tǒng)說唱內(nèi)容的專輯會(huì)為充斥著謾罵，詛咒和吹牛的說唱音樂開啟一個(gè)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.