Blueface Manager Jabs ‘Love & Hip-Hop’ Star Joe Budden for Hating on ‘Thotiana’
James Holden Blueface’s “Thotiana” might be a gigantic hit, but it’s also a divisive one.
Although the L.A. rapper has co-signs from Cardi B, YG and French Montana, others in the music community have wondered aloud if he might be the worst thing to happen to rap. Count Joe Budden in that camp. On his “Joe Budden Podcast” on Spotify last Saturday, the “Love & Hip-Hop” star straight up declared his “hate” for the song, which has a cumulative radio audience of 173 million (spanning Urban, Rhythmic and Top 40 formats) so far this year.
Speaking to Variety, Blueface’s manager Wack 100, whose 5th Amendment Entertainment also represents rapper The Game, didn’t mince words in clapping back. “The reason why Joe Budden probably hates ‘Thotiana’ is because it’s a description of his woman,” says Wack. “I’m just being real.”
Wack, whose real name is Cash Jones, goes on to explain that the word “Thot,” an acronym for “That ho over there,” is based in slang from New York and implies, in no uncertain terms, a promiscuous past. Says Wack: “Joe Budden is well-versed on the definition of ‘Thot.’ When he hears that song and hears the ‘bust down Thotiana,’ he’s probably thinking of the past history of the girl who [happens] to be his women today, so I understand that. I can respect that.” (Budden is engaged to Cyn Santana, a former TV news personality and another star of “Love & Hip-Hop” and the two have a son together — Budden, Santana and their toddler son Lexington are featured in a Variety set visit to the show from last fall.)
How does this exchange fit into the bigger picture? Because Budden himself has an audience of millions, between his podcast (among Spotify’s most-streamed exclusives), the Revolt panel discussion show “State of the Culture,” which he hosts, and “L&HH,” and it’s just the kind of exposure that could tip “Thotiana” into rarely chartered pop territory. As it is, the song’s most recent Mediabase metrics point to it currently attaining peak numbers of spins as it crosses over.
Wack 100 has a track record, too, not the least of which includes helping break The Game via the 2005 debut album “The Documentary.” Wack also appears in the A&E documentary series “Streets of Compton,” which features the likes of Kendrick Lamar actress Niecy Nash and comedian Paul Rodriguez. As Blueface’s manager, Wack was able to successfully release an album through eOne and then signed the rapper to Cash Money West, which is worked through Republic.
And it’s worth noting that the Game and Budden have also scrapped publicly and verbally in recent months.
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Further proving the song’s tipping point, Sara Molina, known on Instagram as Tekashi 6ix9ine’s baby mama, recently posted a video demanding royalties for “Thotiana,” claiming she exposed the record to a wider pop audience. “They wanna call anybody a Thotiana,” she said. “I’m about to trademark that s— ’cause that’s all I see under my comments on Instagram. Blueface need to cut me that f–ing check.”
