Lil Yachty challenges Joe Budden to a rap battle over an Alchemist beat

Lil Yachty and Joe Budden have questioned who would have a better verse if they rapped over an Alchemist instrumental.

In the most recent episode of his A Safe Place podcast, Yachty interviewed his foe-turned-friend Joe Budden. During their chat, the Atlanta rapper asked the New Yorker, “Do you think, right now – if me and you went in a [studio] – you would pen a better verse than me?”

Budden immediately asked, “Who’s picking the beat?” – to which Yachty quipped, “Obviously, not you!” He added that the ‘Pump It Up’ rapper would choose something that could soundtrack the 2003 basketball video game, NBA Streets Vol. 2.

The media personality rebutted, stating that – if Yachty picked the backing track – it would “sound like when the Nintendo game fucked up and now you gotta find some whole new pocket that the 20-35 [year-old] crowd is gonna be in to.”

Budden said Yachty would only have the best verse if they used one of “those Metroid beats” – referring to Metro Boomin‘s synth-heavy production.

The Concrete Boys founder then said confidently that he “can work on anything” and is willing to “dust off” one of his beats from the hip-hop legend, producer The Alchemist.

The podcast’s co-host MitchGoneMad asked Budden if Yachty would be “done” if they both rapped over an Alchemist beat, to which Budden replied: “I won’t even dignify [that].”

After the back-and-forth, Budden ultimately agreed to go bar for bar with Yachty: “I’d do it for fun because I’m retired. If I was not retired, the sheer thought of this would be an insult to me.”

“On an Alchemist beat, yeah [I’d beat Yachty]. I wouldn’t even allow it,” he concluded.

You can watch the full episode of the A Safe Place podcast below.

The interaction showed that Budden and Yachty have found a way to be amicable since their feud back in 2017. It started when Budden harshly criticised the then-19-year-old Yachty for not knowing his record deal and questioned his artistic integrity on the now-defunct YouTube show Everyday Struggle. Yachty then started a “Fuck Joe Budden” chant at his Rolling Loud: Miami set in May 2017.

The tense exchange highlighted a generational divide in hip-hop, sparking ongoing debates and social media clashes between older and younger rap fans.

Elsewhere in the episode, Budden admitted that he didn’t think that Lil Yachty’s career would last as long as it has. “You have defied the odds, n***a,” Budden told him, praising his last album, his debut psych-rock record ‘Let’s Start Here’. ”

“I didn’t think you’d be able to pen some of the things you penned. No matter what your backing is, you stand alone. You’ve created your own lane. I can’t be prouder of you,” he added.

In other news, Yachty and Yungblud surprised fans by performing ‘When We Die (Can We Still Get High?)’ together at the latter’s inaugural BLUDFEST.

Meanwhile, Yachty and Drake may be able to release their popular leaked song ‘Super Soaker’ if they can clear its sample.