Joe Budden Recalls Trying To Battle DMX On The Set of ‘Belly’

Joe Budden’s success as a media personality has broadened his reach like never before. However, at one time, the New Jersey native was still an aspiring emcee looking for a big break—one he thought he’d found during an impromptu battle with late rap legend DMX.

During an appearance on the Flip Da Script Podcast, Budden was asked if he’d ever had any notable battles during his formative years as an artist. He responded by recalling when he and DMX went back and forth on the set of the 1998 film, Belly. “I used to say I battled DMX,” Budden said, before immediately putting the encounter into context: “That wasn’t really a battle. I was battling, he wasn’t battling.”

 

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While Budden was able to showcase his talent, his plans of getting into a full-on cipher with X would not come to be. “It was me just rapping,” Budden said of the one-sided exchange. “But he was supposed to rap.” However, X’s busy filming schedule would result in the budding thespian having to exit stage left, closing Joe’s window of opportunity to close before his eyes.

Budden also revealed Swizz Beatz’s plan to place him in a group with Ruff Ryders artists Cassidy and Drag-On during the late aughts. However, the proposed trio would never come to be. “It just didn’t work out,” he said. “I didn’t even learn about that until a few years later. I was just coming around rhyming… This was before anybody was anybody.”

Watch Joe Budden’s interview on the Flip Da Script Podcast below.