“Truth be told, God been lookin’ out so much rhat I feel guilty when I ask him for more.”
Where do I start?
The year is 2003 and its summer and I’m about to be a senior in high school and CD’s are still a thing now, and the first time I came across Joe Budden music was yup you guessed it ‘Pump it up’. You couldn’t run away from that song at that time especially since they play that song a lot for warm-up music during high school sports. So, I bought the album and was blown away by how different his commercial singles compare to his album songs. Songs such as ‘Walk with me’ and one of my personal favorites 10 minutes spoke to me. From the first album I’ve been a day one fan, I like the fact Joe has said the things I’ve always wanted to say when it comes to dealing with depression, anxiety, relationship, and the everyday struggle of life (pun intended).
So, I go to college in the fall of 2004 waiting for the next Joe Budden. Come to find out that Joe got stuck in the Def Jam limbo with no new project coming out. A year later just browsing through my normal hip-hop websites I find out that Joe released Mood Musik 2, so of course, I downloaded the mixtape and Joe again proved why he is one of my favorite rappers. The standout tracks in my eyes where Are you in that mood yet? If I die tomorrow, Three sides to a story, Dumb out. I could name more songs of that mixtape but Joe delivered on Mood Musik 2.
So fast forward to 2007, it was a rough year for me. I wasn’t going to graduate in time due to all the partying and women chasing I was doing. The people who I thought were my friends weren’t really my friends in my time of need. I’ll spare the details but Mood Musik 3 got me through that tough period. I took two years off from school to sort my life out and mature as a person. I eventually graduated from college in 2010, and I took the worse job you can take for a person with a college degree. I got an overnight shift where I work from 3pm-12am and I had to work on the weekends.
Can you imagine being 24 years old and having to work overnight and have no social life? During that time my state of mind was not in a good place, I was missing out on life and was depressed. All I did was go to work and come home I barely saw my friends due to my work schedule. And just like clockwork Joe dropped Mood Musik 4 which came in at the right time for me. I don’t know how he does it but Mood Muzik 4 got me through that dark period. I eventually left that place and got a better job that has allowed me to have a life.
To wrap this up I’ve been fortunate to see Joe live twice once with Slaughterhouse and another by himself when was still dating Kaylin. I don’t know if he will ever read this but Joe, thank you for the impact you have made in my life and others who suffer in silence when it comes to mental health especially in the African American community where mental health is a big stigma. I hope more and people find your music and can get through their challenges in life as you have done for so many others. I’m happy that you found happiness with Cyn and your relationship with Trey has gotten better.
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