Pops Culture

When you hear the name Joe Budden a lot of different feelings, or lack thereof, emerge. Love him or hate him, he’s one of the most polarizing figures in hip hop today.

His brash uncut delivery sparked a lot of controversy of late since he’s made the move from rapper to media joegul mogul.  Just ask the Migos, Drake, and the folks at Complex what they think about Joe’s retirement from rap.

But it’s that raw, uncut, damning delivery that made Joe Budden one of the best rappers in the game. It bred a plethora of heartfelt mixtapes, albums, and songs that still resonate to this day.

One of the most notable collection of songs is the Ordinary Love Song; OLS for short, series that sparked a lane for introspective love story telling in hip-hop. Each of the four songs speaks of different relationships Joe’s had with women in his life.

OLS3 “Closure” is the best out of the four because Budden raps on an iconic R&B beat and delivers one of the greatest rap songs ever heard. A performance for the ages.

Off the jump, Joe starts the song mad cerebrally when he asks a girl her thoughts on a picture that involves him being in the presence of an escort whiles he’s in a relationship.

1) Joe starts seeing some red flags, but his love for Esther Baxter was blinding.

When ya baby dad said all that shit that was trife
How you was married, requesting dick pics from Lyfe
Though it all seemed shady, maybe I was crazy
I ignored my gut feelin’, nah, not my baby

2) Esther losing identical twins and the pain Joe felt.

Cause at first you resembled my twin
Fast forward, you gave me identical twins
But then you lost it, honestly that murked my soul
‘Cause though we wadn’t tryna have one, we got off the birth control

3) Joe being accused of cheating with his ex Yaris Sanchez.

While you was disrupting what was seeming like a marriage
You never got embarrassed, interrogating me but that was just Yaris

4) The infamous domestic assault case that Joe faced which involved; in Joe’s words, him restraining Esther after she destroyed his laptop.

So I hemmed you up, wasn’t what I aimed to do
I ain’t attack you, bitch, I was restraining you

That altercation led to the next event:

5) Joe’s hit with a restraining order and loses his house. He decides to live with one of his most notable exes: Tahiry. Even with their troubled history, Tahiry was the one girl that Joe knew could hold him down. A lot of pain in the vocals.

Filed a restraining order so she couldn’t come near me
The fuck else I do but go right back to Tahiry

6) With everything Esther and Joe had been through the two decided to try again which was a mistake because that allowed Esther to have distance and do whatever she wanted.

But during all this time we don’t live together
Stupid me thought you’d go get your shit together
You know, get a job or if acting’s your career

7) Esther cheats with running back Derrick Ward. Peep the football word play here in how Joe addresses Esther bouncing off multiple guys like a running back, scrambling, and handling. Since Esther never wanted to work, it’s no surprise she would gamble on trying to hit the jackpot with another famous guy.

Two weeks removed and you fuckin’ with a running back
Life is in shambles, disguised as a damsel
Lies are a handful
Bouncing off of, different guys lookin’ scrambled
Despised how it was handled
But when you ain’t got a dime, why not decide to gamble

8)  Joe catches on to Esther. Take in the way he uses all different forms of media in these lines, it’s methodical.

The puzzle starts coming together and it’s brutal…

Won’t Skype, Gmail chat, won’t Oovoo
The whole time I’m noticing you actin’ unusual
And I can’t figure out who the fuck you being true to 
Said the Wi-Fi was down in the tele
But you ain’t say you was at hotel his house
Lookin’ like a groupie
Or maybe I misunderstood when you said y’all two was makin’ a movie

9) Through the heartbreak Joe tries to self medicate. He begins to spiral out of control through means of being spiteful and the occasional use of drugs to cope with the pain.

So I counter by filming all my sexual encounters
Mentally not there while I’m screwing
And I only keep going ’cause that’s what your doing

And something to numb the pain:

So you try and take some’in’ for pain, it don’t work
You still feel it all, the Novocaine don’t work

10) Joe learns some harsh truths in this ugly relationship. Not everything ends with closure…That mutt line is the epitome of the word “disrespectful”.

For anything to work, y’all trust is a must
And I learned, gotta let a mutt be with a mutt
So I dead that bitch and though the shit’s been over
Some situations don’t end without closure