Latto's team is framing this as a straightforward defense of her artistry—she wrote those lyrics, she owns that flow, and she's not letting anyone rewrite her creative journey. The whiteboard photo with timestamps proves she was working on 'Hostage' back in January, well before Drake dropped anything.
Hip-hop Twitter is divided. Some fans are backing Latto hard, saying Budden is reaching for engagement by dragging established artists. Others think the flow similarities are undeniable and she's lucky Drake's team hasn't come for her like they have other rappers. The 'Shabang' comparison is getting dragged outly.
Joe Budden specifically called out the 'Hostage' intro as sounding like Drake penned it during his ICEMAN review in May 2026. Latto posted her whiteboard response on June 2, with the photo timestamped Jan. 22—months before Big Mama's May 29 release. She directly @-mentioned Budden's X handle in the post.
Latto just showed she's not here for the whisper campaign era. Whether you think she borrowed from Drizzy or not, posting handwritten lyrics with timestamps is a power move that shuts down half the conversation. Budden better bring receipts next time—or just let this one breathe.
Atlanta's own Latto isn't letting Joe Budden's flow accusations slide. The 'Big Mama' rapper fired back hard on Tuesday (June 2) after the podcast veteran suggested she was channeling Drake a little too closely on her album opener 'Hostage' featuring 21 Savage. During his review of Big Mama on the Joe Budden Podcast, the rapper-turned-podcaster didn't hold back.
'This song sounds like it could've been on Her Loss,' Budden said, comparing Latto's opening track to Drake's 2022 collaboration album with 21 Savage. He specifically called out what he heard as Drizzy's influence, claiming she borrowed from the Canadian star's 'Shabang' flow that dropped on his ICEMAN project earlier this year. 'It's too soon for me to hear “Shabang” flow from somebody else,' Budden continued.
'This sounds like the “Shabang” flow to a T.' Those are fighting words in hip-hop, where accusations of biting another artist's style can stick like gum to a designer shoe. But Latto came correct with documentation. She posted a photo to X showing a whiteboard covered in handwritten lyrics from 'Hostage'—written in blue and orange marker no less—with the photo timestamp proving it was taken on January 22, 2026.
That's months before Big Mama even dropped on May 29, and way before anyone could claim she heard Drake's ICEMAN material. Latto didn't write a whole caption explaining herself either—she just dropped the evidence and @-mentioned Budden's handle, letting the receipts do the heavy lifting. Billboard reached out to Budden's representatives for comment but hadn't heard back at time of publication.
For context on where this beef fits in Latto's bigger picture: Big Mama arrived May 29 featuring a star-studded lineup including Doja Cat, GloRilla, Sexyy Red, and Mariah The Scientist. Her previous album Sugar Honey Iced Tea debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 when it dropped in 2024. And just weeks before this Joe Budden drama went down, Latto had announced Big Mama would be her 'retirement album'—then walked that back after revealing she'd been battling postpartum depression when she made those initial comments to Apple Music's Nadeska Alexis.
The timing of all this is what makes it juicy. Drake's ICEMAN project dropped in May 2026, and Budden's comparison implies Latto heard it before release—impossible if her lyrics were finalized back in January. Whether you're Team Latto or think Joe Budden has a point about the sonic similarities, one thing's clear: she just put her entire creative process on display, and that's a level of transparency most artists would never risk.
The conversation isn't going anywhere fast—and honestly? That's exactly what both of them probably wanted.
