In 2009, Joe Budden was at the forefront of direct-to-fan engagement with his JoeBuddenTV vlog series. The NJ rapper invited fans into the world beyond his point-and-shoot camera, chronicling his rocky relationship with then-girlfriend Tahiry, and his strong opinions on everything and everyone related to rap. It was a different time, when conservatives were still skeptical about Drake. the singing rapper from Canada who was angling for rap's throne. During a special installment of JBTV that year, Budden and Drake hung out on a Manhattan sidewalk and Budden grilled the young rapper on what proved to be inevitable: what would happen when someone sent a shot Drake's way? What would provoke him enough to record a response? His replies are enlightening in hindsight—after mistaking "diss" for "disc," Drake mentions a hilarious fan-made conflict between him and Cudi, and then guesses a female would try to diss him before a rapper did, before asserting that he'd never reply.
As a bonus, peep an even earlier moment in Drake's beef history: a 2006 phone call to a local Toronto rap station where Drake is embroiled in conflict with a rapper named Littles, who's accused him of wearing thongs. Then, read Drake's 2009 FADER cover story. Look how far we've all come!
