Photo by Lorne Thomson/Redferns
Swae Lee previewed his upcoming solo album last week with the Drake collaboration, “Won’t Be Late,” but not everyone was a fan. Joe Budden leveled criticisms of the song’s sound during the latest episode of State of the Culture as well as The Joe Budden Podcast, prompting Swae to clap back over the weekend.
“If you like me, don’t speak negatively on my shit when you know I how hard I work, nigga,” he said in a video response. “I ain’t chasin' no sound. This is simply what it is: I make different styles of music. ‘Unforgettable’ is dancehall, soca-style music. I make that effortlessly. I’m not chasing a single.”
Budden previously claimed that the song sounded too similar to past Swae Lee material, including the French Montana collaboration “Unforgettable,” as well as Drake songs like “Controlla” and “One Dance.”
“When do we force the creatives to be creative, as consumers?” Budden asked on State of the Culture. “I don’t think this is a good beat. I don’t think that these lyrics are good. I don’t think this hook is good. I think he was relying on Drake to come save it, but he ain’t like that shit neither, so he gave you that bullshit he gave you.”
Swae objected to this idea, saying that similar sounding songs are just a continuation of his catalog and the styles of music he’s known for.
“I make a thousand songs a week. Stop pullin' y'all opinion out y'all ass and thinkin' it’s valid. Just ‘cause you say something, that don’t make it valid bro,” he said. “Do not involve my music in nothing you have goin’ on, my nigga. Joe Budden, I’m talkin' to you. I see you. Yeah, that tweet was to you and all these other lame-ass niggas that wanna drop their two cents.”
He previously responded to Budden with a veiled tweet:
Budden has been a focus of controversy all weekend. Drake hopped on Budden’s Instagram Live broadcast on Saturday to troll the former Slaughterhouse rapper, telling him to play Pusha-T’s “The Story of Adidion” and Budden’s 2016 Drake diss tracks at his pool party. It’s unclear if Budden’s criticism of “Won’t Be Late” had anything to do with Drake’s comments.
Catch up on all the lyrics to Swae Lee’s “Won’t Be Late” on Genius now.
