Joe Budden Seemingly Denies Dissing Rory & Mal On Drake “Family Matters” Freestyle

Joe Budden speaks onstage during day 2 of REVOLT Summit x AT&T Summit on September 13, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Joe Budden had fans thinking he’d dusted off his microphone to take shots at Rory and Mal on a diss over Drake‘s “Family Matters” beat, however, he has seemingly denied being behind the track.

On Tuesday (May 21), the renowned podcaster hosted an X spaces session, during which what appeared to be the former lyricist freestyling over the instrumental to Drake’s “Family Matters” song played. Seemingly adopting a similar cadence and delivery to that of Drake on his retort to Kendrick Lamar, a voice eerily similar to Budden’s sends blatant shots at his former cohosts, slyly referencing the duo’s own cohost, Demaris.

“These bum-a*s dogs, no bite and no bark/ Get the f**k out I only need Parks,” the voice rhymes at one point during the chat. “I couldn’t trust y’all if I went to Paris/Get the f**k out, you ni**as is average/I be with Parks, you go get your Paris,” he adds, referencing Rory and Mal’s new podcast cohost.

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The barbs continue, as the voice adds, “It’s clear to me you can’t see the books/It’s clear to me that y’all think I’m a crook/It’s clear I gave you your last little look,” before fading out. However, hours later, Joe would comment on a repost a snippet of his X spaces session on Instagram, simply writing “AI smh” as a caption.

The post served as indication of a denial that he’s responsible for the making of the track, which quickly caused a stir among fans of both sides on social media. While Budden isn’t taking credit for those verbal darts, he and his former collaborators turned competitors have been at odds since Rory and Mal’s departure from the Joe Budden Podcast due to financial disagreements in 2021.

Joe Budden speaks onstage at the REVOLT X AT&T 3-Day Summit In Los Angeles – Day 1 at Magic Box on October 25, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.

Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for REVOLT

Rory and Mal, who have since launched their own hit podcast, New Rory & Mal, responded to a slight made by Budden accusing them of doing the “bare minimum” to help their platform grow and evolve over time. “Outside of maybe two or three jokes since we put our response video out two years ago, I have not said a f**king word,” Rory said at the time.

“Matter of fact, if anything, I’ve been objective and complimentary in a lot of places. And if you look at that clip, I even said you deserved to be on that f**king list. By the way, I’m talking to Joe [Budden]. I don’t do this ‘who we may concern’ bullsh*t and subs. You’re f**king 45 — talk to people. Don’t bleep my name anymore on the podcast. Shut the f**k up!”

See Joe Budden’s response to the alleged Rory & Mal diss track below.

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