Escape Route (2009)
Album Scan
By Arik C.
Just a couple years ago, Joe Budden would be #1 on my list of MCs who needed to come out with a studio album already. He became an instant critic's fav in 2003 by doing something rap is rarely good at: club singles with art. His self-titled 2003 debut featured the Just Blaze produced hits "Pump It Up" and "Fire (Yes Yes Ya'll)", that latter of which could very well be the definitive night-out-partying jam of the decade. And "Focus" off the same album is, for my money, one of the most innovative productions this side of Dizzee Rascal. Even his sex anthem ("Pornostar") was somewhat innovative. (You have to remember, 2003 was a world before the minor Ying Yang Twins vs David Banner sex war, where the former released the painful "Wait (Whisper Song)" and David Banner hit back with the superior "Play.")
