Rod Wave shocked his fanbase following the release of his latest single, “Cold December,” when he explained that he did not want to drop the song but his label essentially forced his hand. In the video, the Florida-based singer states that he feels as though he “sold his soul” because he doesn’t enjoy performing, hinting that he just wants a regular life. He explained that he doesn’t like attention and never goes out of his way to receive it.
As his fans continue to react to the video, Rod Wave’s comments made their way to the Joe Budden Podcast where the hosts discussed what they interpreted from the post. Joe Budden speculated on what he thinks Rod might have meant when he said he will soon be finished “as Rod Wave” and more, speaking on mental health in the music industry.
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“At 22-years-old, his interpretation of the music industry is probably different from what he’s experiencing now and he’s a primary act,” said Joe Budden at the 3-minute mark. “Which means he’s being exposed to quite a bit and [the label is] leaning on him quite a lot. The weight could get heavy. We just saw Yung Bleu go through it. He dropped, didn’t put on a bad show, then said ‘I’m depressed’ and put out a project that said ‘I’m depressed.’ We saw someone else come out publicly recently and speak to just not being okay. Mental health has been a thing for artists for the past few years… Big Sean… we can go on and on. But for a newer act– Rod Wave hasn’t been around for so long– for a newer act to pick all this up and feel this way so early, I wonder if he means when he says he’s only here for a little minute as Rod Wave that he’s already trying to figure out a way to get from underneath that.”
He continued, explaining that at a certain point in his career, Joe also tried to rebrand himself, change his artist name, and start brand new.
“That was the first thought that I had too when there were some contract issues and my name was Joe Budden as a rapper. I was like, well, I’m pulling a Prince and I ain’t Joe Budden no more and we just gonna rap under something else and start a new group, a new entity, a new something. I wonder if it’s some of that here,” pondered Budden. “I don’t think a 22-year-old is gonna stop making music. I don’t think that.”
They went on to discuss Rod Wave’s situation for approximately a half-hour on-and-off. Watch the video below to hear what Joe Budden, Ice, and Ish had to say.