Taxstone recently called out Joe Budden for what he viewed as manipulative behavior concerning his treatment of former podcast cohosts Rory and Mal. Moreover, he recently spoke to Complex about the state of hip-hop media and a host of other topics. Furthermore, readers may recall that the former Joe Budden Podcast collaborators blasted Joe after Complex named him the top rap media personality in the game. While their comments aimed to be fair to the list, they couldn’t help but bring up their bad blood when debating whether he deserves the honor. On that note, Taxstone had some words for the Slaughterhouse MC and warned others of his tendencies.
“I think Rory and Mal finally figured out that Joe was a master manipulator,” Taxstone remarked to the publication. “They was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome and Joe manipulates everybody around him. Even them dudes sitting with him now are being manipulated. But you gotta understand some people are alright with manipulation as long as they get something out of it. So I think them dudes know that. But I think they just cool with the situation. Sometimes people don’t got nothing going on in their life. They need to be a part of something.”
Taxstone Sends Shots At Joe Budden
Moreover, he also blasted Troy Ave amid their continuing beef and specifically N.O.R.E. for giving Ave media attention. “It’s fools like the people who interview Troy Ave,” Taxstone expressed. “They interview him ’cause they know he’s gonna talk about me. He has nothing going on … So it’s like the podcast game when I see what was going on. Like with Nore. He was on my podcast. And then for maybe two, three months straight, we was on the phone every day, six in the morning, five in the morning, two in the morning, putting together the ideas for Drink Champs. At first, just summed it up to Nore’s looking for numbers. He don’t care. Like, he’ll sacrifice anything.”
For what it’s worth, Joe Budden responded to criticisms that Taxstone, Rory and Mal, and others threw his way, though he didn’t name any names. “To whom this may concern,” he began on his podcast. “Instead of crtiquing people’s placement on this list, we need more crtiquing on why you’re not on it. To everyone not on it, shut the f**k up. There’s some steps that you n***as have missed. To whom it may concern, stop holding a microphone. It’s certain n***as, y’all can’t speak to me, y’all didn’t do the work yet. You didn’t go to the bookstore. Hire the editors. Get people to help. Invest in the staff. Stop check chasing. Stop doing the bare minimum and expecting that to yield results. You n***as are the bare minimum boys.” For more on this drama and the latest on Taxstone, Joe Budden, and Rory and Mal, return to HNHH.