Release Date: Feb 24, 2009
Genre(s): Rap
Record label: Amalgam Digital
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Like many rappers who get into the game at a young age, Joe Budden was screwed over again and again by labels that caused his sophomore full-length to be on the receiving end of delay after delay. Hell, before its name became the aptly titled Padded Room, Budden’s followup was originally called The Growth. But after being pushed back numerous times by Def Jam, the album was ultimately canceled.
"Development hell" doesn’t even begin to describe what Joe Budden has gone through. Since the rapper released his debut album in 2003, he’s endured enough industry torture to write his own version of Dante’s Inferno. Budden’s self-titled album performed respectably for Def Jam, spawning the good-time summer hit “Pump It Up,” but the label stifled his follow-up at every turn.