Joe Budden Praises Drake's "4PM In Calabasas," Says Diddy Needs To Respond

Joe Budden finally heard the "inspired" Drake he'd been missing tonight on "4PM in Calabasas." A few lines on the song take aim at Diddy, and Budden feels the disses are hard enough to necessitate a response.

BYAngus Walker
Link Copied to Clipboard!
152.4K Views
Craig Barritt/Getty Images

There was a flood of new music on tonight's episode of OVO Sound Radio. It was thought that Drake would pay tribute to Gucci Mane in his DJ mix, and he took it a step further and surprised listeners with a brand new collab with the unshackled Brick Squad boss himself: "Back on Road." A bit later, Drake's current No. 1, "One Dance," received a fittingly poppy remix from another Canuck in Justin Bieber. And lastly, Drake signed off by adding another installment to his storied time-sensitive city songs, this one called "4PM in Calabasas." 

The beat, produced by Frank Dukes and Vinylz with co-production from Allen Ritter, contains what sounds like the classic Bad Boy loop -- according to Joe Budden, who praised "4PM in Calabasas" on Twitter upon hearing it, even though he feels the song disses Puffy and, perhaps, himself. Budden might've created tension with Drake after giving Views a lackluster review on his podcast, saying, "I felt that that kid on that album I heard sounds real fucking uninspired." About a week later, French Montana previewed a snippet of a forthcoming collab he has with Drake, who begins his verse with, "Pump, pump it up," perhaps a reference to Budden's biggest hit, 2003's "Pump It Up." 

"Sounded inspired," Budden first tweeted about "4PM in Calabasas." "He snapped just now, even if he dissed me and Puff the whole time," he went on, "He ain't sound that inspired in a minute (to me)." 

Upon early listening, it's more difficult to locate any clear shots at Budden than those that seem to be aimed at Puffy. Aside from the potentially Bad Boy-inspired production, it starts when Drake raps, "The higher I get the less they accept me / Even had the OGs tryna press me, Ha-ha-ha-ha." Those ha-ha's seems to mimic Puffy's nonchalant laugh on the hook of his Mase-featuring hit single "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down." Drake begins the next line by naming the title of the album that song appeared on -- "No Way Out cause I'm already in it." Later on, Drake makes explicit mention of the title of the same song: "Can't nobody hold me down, especially not right now." 

Can anyone spot any more lyrics designed to inflame the Bad Boy CEO? 

Though Budden may have been dissed, he doesn't seem to be plotting a response track. "Ain't no move," he replied to a fan who asked him to make one, "Now we all get to listen to great Drake music." He didn't extend to Puff the same courtesy he gave himself, though. "Puff gotta fire back for the culture," he wrote, before tweeting, "Can't let a nigga grab the classic Bad Boy loop, then sing all your hits as he disses u & not fire back." 

A Diddy response, ahead of his final album -- which happens to be a sequel of No Way Out -- would certainly set the hip-hop world upside down. Get out the popcorn. Like last summer, Drake is coming out swinging. 

Listen to "4PM in Calabasas" here


Joe Budden

Joe Budden Praises Drake's "4PM In Calabasas," Says Diddy Needs To Respond
  • Link Copied to Clipboard!
About The Author
<b>Feature &amp; News Contributor</b> Brooklyn via Toronto writer and music enthusiast. Angus writes reviews, features, and lists for HNHH. While hip-hop is his muse, Angus also puts in work at an experimental dance label. In the evenings, he winds down to dub techno and Donna Summer.