Joe Budden Says $250K JAY-Z Verse Is ‘A Rumor’ He Can’t Confirm

Joe Budden has chimed in — again — regarding one of Hip Hop’s most intriguing rumors.

During a recent episode of Revolt TV’s Drink Champs, the rapper-turned-podcaster was asked to shine some light on his efforts to secure a JAY-Z verse on the remix to his 2003 hit “Pump It Up.” It was previously reported that the “Empire State of Mind” mogul was all-in, but it would come at a cost — a jaw-dropping $250,000.

Though the media personality formerly maintained that Hov’s fee was well-founded, when pressed by hosts DJ EFN and N.O.R.E. to confirm the rumors, he did not confirm nor deny the exact amount requested.

“That’s the rumor. That’s a rumor,” Budden said around the 5:30 mark. “I didn’t personally ask him. I couldn’t personally speak to him,” he continued, revealing that, it was in fact A&R Skane who reached out to Jay in hopes of snagging a verse.

Budden went on to insist he never went on a rant regarding the incident, insinuating that there wasn’t yet a platform for it. “Where would I go on a rant?” he inquired. “No. At the time I’m not ranting anywhere. I just don’t know how to receive that.”

“I just know that I don’t have 250 grand,” he said, before mentioning Webb, an executive producer of his 2003 debut studio album. “I think Webb put the battery in my back. [He said], ‘You gon’ let him do that? Nah, you gotta get to the studio right now!’”

Joe Budden first addressed the hearsay last summer during an episode of the Flip Da Script podcast, saying Jay’s alleged fee request was hefty, but warranted.

“I don’t think that was a big number, I think that was his number,” the former Slaughterhouse MC said. “‘That’s my number to rap on this new artist’s remix.’ It was just big in my world, but it wasn’t a big number.”

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Budden shrugged it off and merely claimed he didn’t know what he was doing at the time. “Listen, I’m super young in that moment,” he said. “I wasn’t in the studio when [Skane] had the conversation. I knew that they had some type of relationship. It was a Just Blaze beat, and I was green behind the ears. I just thought that it would get done.”

He continued: “I didn’t know anything about the business and how things like that are supposed to go. That was par the course…It was big to me because it was unattainable… but the blessing was that he gave a number.”

Budden’s comments come after JAY-Z alluded to the fact that he’s never charged for a feature during a sit down with Kevin Hart for his Hart to Heart series last year.

“It’s actually always been mostly relationships,” the Roc Nation boss explained when asked about his collaborations. “Sometimes it’s talent and sometimes someone asks me to be on something. Pretty much every song that I’m on I’m asked to be on. I don’t ask people to be on their songs. I never charge.”