"Born in Spanish Harlem and raised in Queens, Joe Budden first started rapping while living across the Hudson River in Jersey City. Although Brooklyn, the South Bronx, Queensbridge and Harlem are often repped in rhymes because of their being hot beds for fledgling hip-hop artists, Budden continues to give a shout out to Jersey City despite its less-fashionable reputation. After finding himself in trouble often in his teens, Budden sought a career in hip-hop to clean up his act and began making demo tapes with producer Dub-B (aka White Boy). One such demo wound up in the hands of DJ Clue and then Budden became a mainstay on the mixtape circuit.Thanks to the surprise popularity of 50 Cent in 2003, street-level, mixtape-making rappers like Budden were finding a voice in the music scene and the Jersey bred rapper was soon freestyling over popular beats on mixes by Clue, DJ Kayslay and Cutmaster C, among other prominent New York DJs. One of Budden's Whit Boy productions, ""Focus,"" as well as his ""Grindin'"" freestyle got him instantly noticed and he soon joined On Top management. After stepping into the studio with New York producer du jour Just Blaze (best known for his work with Jay-Z and on Cam'ron's ""Oh Boy"" and Erick Sermon's ""React""), Budden released the club ready single ""Pump It Up.""Following the release of his debut single ""Pump It Up,"" Budden inked a record deal with Def Jam and released an eponymous debut album that had everyone in the hip-hop industry turning heads. Joe Budden soared to the Number Two spot on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was followed by a trio of Mood Muzik albums released in 2006 through 2008."