Rick Ross stopped by The Joe Budden Podcast recently for a Patreron exclusive episode released today, and was asked by Budden why he and Drake don’t tell the public that their supposed friendship and working relationship was a “facade” this entire time. “Why y’all don’t ever say, ‘Yo, all that brotherhood S—t that we was showing y’all in the videos, and how we was carrying it, and it was collabs every summer, it was all a facade,” Budden questioned.
Ross pushed back and denied that his relationship with Drake wasn’t real and suggested that sometimes friendships fizzle out for one reason or another. “No, no, don’t get it f—ked up. Nothing about that was fake,” the Miami rapper replied. “If a n—a f—k with you, a n—a f—k with you,” he continued. “If it’s something that go left, that’s when it go left. It can go left right now on this podcast. It wasn’t fake. Before that, n—as showing love.” Budden countered by suggesting that their falling out doesn’t make sense, telling Ross, “But when we hear what happened, it don’t connect.”
Rozay further explained that sometimes things just happen that way. “Some things are not to be looking for the connection,” he replied before bringing up Budden’s own notorious falling out with former co-hosts Rory Farrell and Jamil “Mal” Clay. “That’s like me looking for the connection between the last weird n—as you used to do the podcast with. You loved them n—as, didn’t you? That’s business. You moved on. That’s what you got to do as a boss. You wish all them n—as the best if it ain’t no real pressure. Continue to do you, keep winning. But once it go left, it go left.”
Rick Ross dropped his 12th solo album Set in Stone today (July 17) and is in the middle of his Port of Miami 20th Anniversary Tour. Billboard went down to South Florida to check out the tour’s opening night. You can check that out below.
The post “Rick Ross Tells Joe Budden Relationship With Drake Wasn’t a ‘Facade’: ‘Nothing About That Was Fake’” by Angel Diaz was published on 07/18/2026 by www.billboard.com