Joseph Anthony Budden II is an American media personality, broadcaster, cultural critic, and retired rapper. He first gained recognition in the latter occupation with his 2003 single "Pump It Up", which peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 and preceded the release of his eponymous debut studio album. Met with critical and commercial success, the album peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200, although it served as his only major label release for Def Jam Recordings; he thereafter released seven albums independently to continued critical praise. While doing so, he performed as a member of the hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse, which were signed to Eminem's Shady Records in 2012; the group released two studio albums.
In 2018, he retired from recording and shifted focus onto his career in broadcasting. Three years prior, he began hosting The Joe Budden Podcast, which was received positively and ran for seven hundred episodes. In 2017, he had a much-publicized run as a co-host for Complex magazine's web show Everyday Struggle. He hosted State of the Culture alongside Remy Ma for the network Revolt from 2018 to 2020.