Joe Budden Podcast Celebrates Top 50 Ranking

Joe Budden and The Joe Budden Podcast experienced their fair share of struggles in 2021, but they continued to deliver quality content for their fans. In an Instagram post earlier this week, Joe showed off the podcast’s Top 50 ranking, using it as a reminder to his doubters of who he is.

“Independent. No backing. Black owned. New co hosts. No ads,” Budden stated as he listed off why the ranking meant so much to him. “No gimmicks, no guests, no handouts. Just Joe. Y’all know who the f*** I am.”

The podcast received over two million plays per week for a total of 104,000 plays in 2021. The stats for the show beat out other popular podcasts such as NPR’s Code Switch and True Crime Garage.

The JBP situation

Fans may remember the drama that went down last May between Budden and his former cohosts, Rory Farrell and Jamil “Mal” Clay. Things came to a boiling point when Budden publicly fired Rory on Episode 437. By the next episode, Budden issued a public apology to both men.

“Seeing all of this feedback, and all this- I do need to apologize to Rory as well,” he said. “Maybe Rory and Mal too, but definitely Rory…things sound a lot spicier in the go-out. Ever since that last pod, I’ve just been having pictures in my head of every moment that me and the guys have ever had together. When I say I didn’t ask you to do s*** for me-’cause I don’t ask y’all to do s*** for me but that’s a man thing to me.”

“You just don’t ask men too much s*** but when I said I didn’t ask you to do something, it don’t mean I’m not appreciative. It just means I never asked.”

Rory and Mal would eventually be replaced by Ish and Ice, two longtime friends of Budden. Seemingly, the switch has gone in Joe’s favor so far.

Olan Bryant