Hip hop blew its proverbial top in late March when the inimitable Joe Budden Podcast with Rory and Mal suddenly did not air on its usual date. The next week we were delivered a podcast without its usual co-hosts as eyebrows began to raise, despite Joe assuring the audience that the seats still belonged to them and that he was confident in the duo’s return.
In their absence, the podcast continued to go on with “friends of the show”, Ice and Savon, filling in for the regular co-hosts. In episode 425, “Tea Leaves”, the first following the beginning of Rory and Mal’s sabbatical, Joe alluded to the situation stating that it was not a business, but a personal matter and the two were free to return at any time to take up their seats on the podcast.
The short but somehow long awaited return happened on Thursday, April 28 when the official Twitter account for the show tweeted that the new episode, number 435, “Shaking The Tree”, was now available, accompanied by a photo of the founding crew with the previously missing members, clear and present for the first time in nearly two months.
In their three-hour return episode, they all address the absence with Mal stating that “we had a conversation at Joe’s house, it was like, the business is the business. We can fix that, or we can’t. But as long as respect is still in play, me personally, I feel like anything can be solved. That was part of the conversation Joe and I had when I left. I felt like there wasn’t any respect. So let me remove myself, cause I don’t know what this is anymore.
The return was a surprise to an audience that held Joe in contempt for the breakup and was quickly getting used to the interim hosts style and demeanor. The response from the episode has been largely positive from fans of the show and things look to be on the mend as production moves forward.
Watch the full episode here.