Joe Budden Says Production Company Deal Changed His Early Music Career Finances

Joe Budden says he wasn't getting paid under the production-company deal behind his early career at Def Jam.
“I wasn’t getting paid,” Budden told Ian Schwartzman. He added that much of his early financial situation might have been different without the production company.
Budden's album did not come out until he was 23. After receiving his first advance, he bought a Hummer and jewelry. He later asked Def Jam President Lyor Cohen, “How are rappers making money?” Cohen introduced him to music publishing.