Joe Budden Didn’t Need To Listen To Earl Sweatshirt’s New Album To Decide He Hates It

When it comes to media coverage of new rap releases, one voice fans seek out — if only for entertainment value rather than insight — is Joe Budden. The ex-rapper has been ruthless about demeaning contemporary artists’ albums on his podcast in the past, calling Logic one of the worst rappers ever, trolling Jay Electronica on the release of his long-awaited debut, and goading Eminem into a war of words, amidst dealing with his own personal drama after being accused of sexual harassment and shady business practices by his former employees.

He continued that trend on the latest episode of his podcast as he addressed Earl Sweatshirt’s newly released album, Sick!, which contains the tracks “Tabula Rasa” and “Titanic.” While the project was received well by fans on social media, Budden expressed an opposite view, staunchly declaring that he refused to even give it a cursory listen. Despite this, he still had plenty to say on the subject as he raked Earl over the coals, although Earl’s name is mysteriously censored — even though Joe’s comments make it fairly obvious who he’s referring to.

“I’m just being honest this year,” he said. “Hell no, I ain’t hear that bullsh*t! And I’ll tell you what, I’m never gonna hear ’em! I am never gonna hear that. I don’t care. That sh*t could be [Michael Jackson’s] Thriller. When would I put that on?” He expounded on his reasoning by pointing out he’s never heard a request to play Earl from a specific demographic. “Let me tell you how shallow I am,” he explained. “If a baddie comes in and throws on [Earl] and there’s some slaps on there, and then maybe another baddie comes… but I’ll be honest, that ain’t happened.”

He also blamed his reticence to play Earl’s new music on the LA rapper’s deteriorated relationship with Tyler The Creator. “Is [Earl] on Tyler’s last album?” he asked. “Is [Earl] on Tyler’s album before that album? How about the one before that one? All right, yo. Forget it. But you expect me to listen to it. [His] man won’t call him to come to the f*cking studio. Yo, when your man stop inviting you to the studio, you’re not getting me to listen to what you’re doing. Sorry, that’s like a rule of thumb for me.”

Unfortunately for Joe, fans don’t agree with his insistence that he’s just being honest, attributing his attitude to leftover resentment after Earl roasted him with an unflattering impression during an episode of Loiter Squad in 2014.

You can check out Joe’s full comments above.