July 27, 2022
Joe Budden once tried to battle DMX on the set of the 1998 Hype Williams movie Belly.
The former Slaughterhouse rapper recalled the encounter during a recent appearance on the Flip Da Script Podcast, explaining how he approached the late Ruff Ryders legend after spotting him shooting a scene in the film outside his mother’s home in New Jersey.
“I used to say I battled DMX, but that wasn’t really a battle,” he said when asked if he battled anybody of note during his early career. “I was battling, he wasn’t battling [laughs].”
He added, “It was me just rapping, but he was supposed to rap. This was on — they shot [one of the scenes in] Belly outside of my mom’s building, which was Jersey City. So I caught DMX on one of them nights, but he had to go shoot a scene.”
Although his attempt to battle DMX was unsuccessful, the encounter led to Budden being connected with Swizz Beatz, who he revealed tried to put him in a group with Cassidy and Drag-On. However, that plan also failed to materialize.
“And that’s where I got — damn, who’s number did I get? I don’t remember — brain freeze — but I got somebody’s number and that’s how we stayed in touch,” he continued. “Swizz was trying to put me in a group with Cassidy and Drag-On. That was super early. That was before y’all came into play.
“It just didn’t work. I didn’t even learn about that until a few years later. I was just coming around rhyming, maybe Swizz had plans. This was before anybody was anybody.”