Consequence Says Joe Budden Fight Was 'Fair Barter'

It's still early in the year, but Joe Budden and Consequence could very well run away with the reality TV fight of 2013. The two "Love & Hip Hop" stars got into not one, but two fights on Tuesday night in New York City while they were out taping the series' upcoming April 8 reunion special. Interestingly enough the two rappers don't interact on the show, so where does their beef stem from?

"It boils down to respect and lack thereof," Cons said when he phoned into Angie Martinez's afternoon radio show on Hot 97 on Thursday.

The two have been bickering back and forth in interviews since February. Budden claimed in an interview with Angie on Tuesday that during a break in the taping, the Queens rapper ran up behind him and struck him and then ran off. "It was a lot of security in there, opportunity presented itself. I took advantage," Consequence reasoned in his interview, owning up to striking Joe first, but denied ever running away.

According to the former G.O.O.D. Music MC, Budden and a friend then attacked him later in the evening. Police showed up to question Cons after, but he maintained that he didn't cooperate, sticking to a strict street code that he credits to his Queens upbringing.

The way Cons sees it, he and Budden are now even. He called his initial attack on Joe, and Budden's subsequent attack on him "fair barter." Still, Quence's 22-minute interview took a strange turn when he revealed that at some point during all the drama Budden left his phone behind. Cons says he retrieved the phone and uncovered a number of concerned text messages from "Love & Hip Hop" co-stars Raqi Thunda, Kaylin Garcia and an unknown person from someone saved in his phone as Derek.

"Then there's somebody named Derek. And Derek says 'Don't do anything stupid, we're hanging on by a thin thread. I will come see you after the reunion, I love you and I miss you,' " Cons alleged, before reminding listeners that Budden is currently in London for some concerts. "I don't know if Derek is actually a man, but when homeboy get back Joey got some explaining to do."

Martinez questioned the validity of Cons' allegations, suggesting that "Love & Hip Hop" mastermind Mona Scott-Young was behind all of the drama. It was a charge that Quence denied, stating that the beef is not part of a script. "Do not play with Consequence, don't do it to yourself," he barked speaking of himself in third person. "I'm too good at it."

Whom are you siding with in the Joe Budden and Consequence beef? Sound off in the comments!