Joe Budden has apologized to Beyoncé for criticism of her country track “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
On Thursday, the rapper-turned-podcaster retracted his recent remarks on The Joe Budden Podcast. During the podcast, he initially declined to comment on the track, citing that he’s “not a country music critic.” Despite his co-hosts’ persistence, Budden stood firm, stating, “I’m not listening to the Beyoncé country album!”
In another episode of his show, Budden shifted his stance and commended Bey’s musical direction.
“I want to apologize to Beyoncé,” Budden said. “I like that song. I like the other song too, but I like that song a lot. And let me tell you something, let me be totally phony and get on the total opposite of everything I said the first time.”
Budden joins a chorus of celebrities sharing their thoughts on Beyoncé’s recent foray into country music. In the previous month, after the surprise drop of “Texas Hold ‘Em” and another single “16 Carriages,” Azealia Banks made her disapproval known, expressing her sentiments in her unfiltered manner.
“I love you…but them r&b runs over the leslie feist beats is giving pickmesha…. Nothing country about it,” Banks wrote on Instagram. “You’re setting yourself up to be ridiculed again. There’s a theatrical element to country music !!! Them critics are not just going to accept an ugly blond wig and bullying from jay-z !!! It’s giving big time musical grift… You’re just really not hitting the button.”
Nevertheless, Texas Hold ‘Em” has emerged as a chart-topping success. The cowgirl-infused tune secured Beyoncé her ninth No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, marking her as the inaugural Black woman to claim the summit of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
If I got stung by a Million plus Beez I’d change my opinion too.