Lil Yachty and Joe Budden might have been situational opps years ago, but the world of rapper podcasting has a way of creating full-circle moments. Years after famously scolding Lil Boat during an episode of Complex’s Everyday Struggle, Budden pulled up on a recent episode of Yachty and MitchGoneMad’s A Safe Place Podcast to chop it up, and during the convo, Yachty bet that he could outrap Budden.
It all began when Yachty asked Budden if he still got bars off. Budden said he didn’t, but that he could if he wanted to, because for him, it’s like riding a bike. From there, Boat asked if Budden believed he could write a better verse than him. They then went back-and-forth about beat choice, with Boat poking fun at Budden’s relatively old school sensibilities, and Budden calling out Yachty’s love of video game beats. This part of the convo climaxed when Yachty brought up an Alchemist beat and said he could best Budden even without sleep.
“No, I would still kill you,” Yachty explained.
Now, if you were around for Joe Budden’s apex — think his Mood Muzik series — Yachty’s comments might sound blasphemous. At the top of his career, he was known more for neon melodies and a flippance about old school rap than let’s say, bars. When Budden grilled him about the logistics of his record deal seven years ago, the two became a microcosm of a generational divide in hip-hop. So looking at this argument through that lens, Yachty sounds crazy. But he’s not.
If you’ve been tapped in, you know he can get some flows off, too. All you have to do is check out his Tee Grizzley collab “From the D to the A,” or skim through Michigan Boy Boat to hear for yourself. They can both spit, but they approach beats differently, with Boat usually prioritizing aesthetics and absurd braggadocio.
Their opposite methods shine through when they rap-rap too. Whereas Budden always favors emotionally charged rhyme flurries and elaborate punchlines, Yachty operates in hyper-specific flexes and off-kilter syntax that sounds like a slurry Gucci Mane. As rap’s become more varied and regional styles have permeated both ends of the U.S. — and the globe — East Coast-centric rhyme structures are no longer the default for elite rap-slinging. They might be the standard, but there are plenty of minor thrills to be found in Yachty’s brand of twisty flows and colorful punchlines. Budden is out of practice. There’s no reason to think Yachty can’t get the upper hand for at least a verse. We might have to rock with Yachty on this one.
But don’t just take my word for it. Peep his podcast (the verse part begins at around the 45:50-minute-mark) and some of his better rhyme exhibitions below.
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