Joe Budden Confronts Adam22, Accuses Him of Trying to Capitalize Off Image Consultant Kevin Samuels’ Death
Joe Budden confronted No Jumper founder Adam22 in a recent podcast episode about reposting content of image consultant Kevin Samuels after his death, and now a discourse on the topic is being had.
Today (Aug. 29), Joe Budden posted a nearly 11-and-a-half minute video clip to his YouTube page in which he confronts Adam22 about reposting Kevin Samuels' interview with No Jumper onto the platform after Samuels died. Samuels, a self-proclaimed image consultant, died earlier this year reportedly from hypertension.
"I don't like what you did after he died," Budden began, speaking directly to Adam22. "It's disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting. The nastiest performance I've ever seen. Why do y'all do that?"
Adam replied, "That's an insane position for someone who's in media to hold. What is your job as a content creator? Your job is to make content and get that content out to the people who want to see it."
"False," Budden immediately replied.
"[If] someone dies, there is a huge demand for that content. You re-upload it, people see it on their subscription feed, they click on it because [it's] a very talked-about thing. Give me a coherent argument against re-uploading content when that person is extremely newsworthy."
Adam further clarified that the content he reposted didn't portray Samuels in a negative light.
Budden argued that the only reason Adam22 posted the content was to monetarily capitalize off Samuels' death. He told Adam that if that wasn't the reason, then he shouldn't have monetized it. Adam justified monetizing it because he believed it would "stop it from spreading on the platform."
Adam later tried to justify reposting the content by comparing it to the radio stations who played Pop Smoke's music following his death. He said uploading the content was a celebration of Samuels, just as listening to Pop's music after he died is a way to celebrate the rapper's life.
Budden and his cohosts did not agree, calling the two instances completely different things. Budden and Adam never come to an agreement, both firmly standing in their respective beliefs on the situation. Now, as the conversation has traveled throughout the afternoon, it has created a discourse on Twitter.
Many people are siding with Budden, although they're also calling his stance hypocritical because he has also capitalized off the death of other people throughout his career.
"Joe Budden should have titled his interview with Adam22, 'Capitalist gets mad at capitalist for capitalizing,'" one Twitter user wrote.
Another user pointing out how if Budden is going to go after Adam22, he also needs to go after other hip-hop outlets who execute similar practices.