Drake Won't Respond To Joe Budden And It's All Jay Z's Fault

“Drake, here’s how they gon’ come at you
With silly rap feuds, trying to distract you”

Whatever the case, Hov was regular season, Steph Curry accurate in his assessment of what the future held for the Canadian rap prince. So now, after six years and plenty of barbs, jabs, and baiting, Drake is right back where Jay said he’d be. Joe Budden is the 6 God’s latest detractor, and while a formidable and maybe unbeatable foe on the mic, he’s probably going to get the treatment Drake promised his opponents long ago.

“Diss me and you’ll never hear a reply to it”

Budden’s gripes are real, and, in his latest diss “Wake,” his statements are mostly factual. Drake is a biter and he does seem to avoid Pusha T — though Push has apologized for his Drake jabs himself, time and time again — it’s all there and Budden is right.

But Drake has been running Billboard’s singles and albums charts since Jon Snow was still dead. He’s breaking Eminem records and reaching heights only Michael Jackson has seen. By most metrics, he’s the most popular artist in the world right now.

Joe Budden? Well, he’s admittedly a podcaster, and not really much more these days. When Mouse goes in, he’s as talented an MC as there is, but on the relevance scale, he and Aubrey couldn’t be further apart.

I haven’t sold records in over 10 years…. I’m ok. I love music. https://t.co/ooSq17Av2O

— Joe Budden (@JoeBudden) July 1, 2016

It’s no slight to Budden, but Floyd Mayweather doesn’t go around taking every fight he’s challenged to. It has to be opportune, beneficial, and worth his time. That’s the privilege you gain when you wear the crown. Drake gets to pick his spots, and really he has to. He’s well aware, as he mentioned it on his perceived Budden diss “4 PM In Calabasas.”

I got a lot to lose cause in every situation
I’m the bigger artist, always gotta play it smarter

Jay left his share of beefs unanswered as well. Most notably of those squabbles was his small feud with Jim Jones, who launched an attack at Hov, only to watch him ignore it and drop a DeShawn Stevenson diss song instead. Kings can’t be bothered by each stone tossed at their feet, but they just can’t ignore all of them, either. When they do shift out of their shiny seat to dish out some punishment, it has to be the “ants with a sledgehammer” variety. There’s no chance of that here, so really there’s no reason to even issue a response.

There’s nothing for Drake to gain. Maybe pride, but you can rest assured he’s got enough of that, ego, confidence, and whatever other self-esteem booster he could possibly need. Rap’s elitist and traditionalists fans will scoff at Drake for not responding, but they’re still not done scoffing at the ghostwriting scandal. That’s another battle he can’t win.

Plus, Joe has shrouded himself in IDGAF armor. He’s taken the 8 Mile approach and attacked every criticism of him head-on and they clearly don’t shake him. Unless Drake has major dirt on Joey, he has essentially taken the bullets out of Drake’s gun.

Joe knows it, too. He’s choosing his opponent just as much as Drake carefully chose Meek Mill. Joe raps better than Drake, at least in this setting. We’re not talking some hard-nosed MC who cut his teeth in street corner battles and cyphers at block parties. According to Budden himself, Drake is just “a movie star.” Despite whatever Joe is saying about a response, he’s not really expecting one, and that’s just what he wants. This retweet drives the point home.

Im late to it, but realising that the mission was never about @Drake and @JoeBudden never expected a response. Its bigger than that

— Kyran Mann (@kyran_mann) July 5, 2016

In the end, Drake is simply following the advice Jay gave him firsthand. It’s not an excuse for his actions, or lack thereof, but really just an explainer. He’s following Hov’s shared wisdom to a T, all of it. Not just the silly rap feuds edict, but the other part that Jay tossed in at the very end as well. The jab at any and all detractors — past, present, and future.

“F**k n***as, bitches too, all I got is this money, this’ll do”