Last week, Joe Budden released his Rage & The Machine album. The third single from the self-released LP is “I Gotta Ask.” Featuring a great deal of lyrical, cadence, and beat references to 1998 Jay Z single “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” (produced by New Jersey’s own 45 King)—this song illustrates what Budden is out to accomplish on his latest LP.

Joe recently told Ambrosia For Heads, “[Rage & The Machine] was my first album where it’s not very introspective. It’s not so told from a personal point of view. It’s not so autobiographical. This one, we really just stuck to Hip-Hop and our passion for it, and that New York sound—heavy samples, hard drums, just a lot of that that has kinda been absent, or it’s not just as promoted as some other music.”

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“I Gotta Ask” is just that, as the Slaughterhouse MC shows a day in his life, as a successful Rap industry veteran who still spits with fire in his heart, and in the microphone booth.

#BonusBeat: Joe Budden’s Rage & The Machine tour dates:

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Stay tuned for more visuals from the album.