Joe Budden Says He’ll Have “Mercy” on “Immature” DDG Amid Their Digital War: Even Though “I Could Squash Him Like a Pea” & “Beat the Dog Sh*t Out of Him”

After DDG‘s explosive reaction to being slammed by Joe Budden amid reports of his breakup with singer-actress girlfriend Halle Bailey, fans of the ‘Pump It Up‘ hitmaker expected him to blow up on the next episode of his popular, eponymous podcast.

Instead, the 44-year-old is opting to take the mature route and set an example for his 27-year-old counterpart. Well, kinda.

When DDG (born Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr.) last addressed Budden, he not only wielded claims the rapper-turned-podcaster was a sexual and physical abuser but also that he was bisexual.

Instead of addressing these claims head-on to continue their back-and-forth banter, Joe took to ‘The Joe Budden Podcast’ this week to say he would rather have “mercy” on the young YouTuber-turned-rapper (who he condescendingly referred to as “one of my sons”).

“I don’t feel like I need to apologize for a motherf-cking thing I said, and I’m here to triple down in some of the stuff I said,” Budden relayed in reference to previously saying he was happy about the Granberry-Bailey breakup because DDG was using it for clout. “…he’s a young kid and I do like him a little bit after I researched and I see some similarities in us, so I’m going to give him mercy…because I could squash him like a black-eyed pea in my hand.”

Elsewhere in his address, Budden indirectly reacted to DDG’s claim he would slap the 44-year-old next time he sees him.

“Do I think I could beat the doggone dog sh*t out of DDG whenever I felt like it? Yes,” Joe said before relaying, “I think that would be irresponsible.”

Opting not to respond to DDG’s dispatched “bots” sent to spam his social media pages, Budden ended his address by saying he believes the 27-year-old just “needs support” at this time of his life – especially amid the young rapper’s repeated ageist jokes.

“It’s not the flex that you think it is,” Joe said in response to DDG claiming the 44-year-old only has 30 more years to live. “You young n-ggas is dying at a much faster clip than n-ggas my age.”

View the full clip here to see what else he said.