Joe Budden says J. Cole is “pandering” for working with BTS’ J-hope

15 March, 2023

joe budden j cole bts j cole

Rapper and internet personality Joe Budden has hit out at J. Cole for “pandering” in his recent musical output.

In a new clip posted on his YouTube channel, Budden accused Cole of coming up with a false story about the inspiration of his recent single ‘Procrastination (Broke)’. Back in January, Cole said he had come across producer Bvtman when he searched “J. Cole type beat” on YouTube, which had given him the motivation to write the song.

“He got a bag for that YouTube trick he pulled on y’all,” Budden said. “I found out that the guy who just so happened to do the ‘J. Cole type beat’ – that was the first one to pop up – is like the most popular producer on YouTube.”

“And it’s pandering,” Budden added. “There’s nothing wrong… Y’all swear I hate people, and I don’t. I love J. Cole, so don’t spread that. But the story that they put out versus what the fuck was really happening, like stop y’all. I’m just not stupid.”

“I’m sorry that so many of y’all hate me ’cause I’m not stupid. And I can see through what your publicist is pumping in you, what your lawyer is pumping, your label, A&R is pumping in you.” A couple of Budden’s co-hosts then tried to defend J. Cole’s story, which led to Budden doubling down on his “pandering” claim.

“I’d roll with that if four, five months later you didn’t pop up with the K-pop guy who’s supposed to be in the army,” Budden said, in reference to BTS member J-hope, who recently released the song ‘On The Street’ with J. Cole. “This is why people pander, by the way, because it works. Let’s land the K-pop star-J. Cole merger.”

The internet personality later added that his point wasn’t about “whether I like it creatively or not, my point is just recognising what it is”. And when asked by a co-host if there was anything wrong with “pandering”, Budden answered: “Nothing, if that’s what you do.”

This is not the first time Budden has made controversial comments about BTS. Last year, the rapper was slammed for assuming BTS are from China, and added that he “hates” the K-pop group.

The post Joe Budden says J. Cole is “pandering” for working with BTS’ J-hope appeared first on NME.