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Punch Dismisses TDE ‘Bot’ Claims on Joe Budden Podcast: “Our True Metric Is Seeing People in Them Seats at the Show”
Punch denied fan 'bot' claims on Joe Budden's podcast, saying TDE measures success by packed shows, not inflated numbers.
“We don’t bot.” That was the blunt takeaway from Top Dawg Entertainment president Punch during a recent appearance on The Joe Budden Podcast, where he pushed back on online accusations that Kendrick Lamar and TDE have been inflating streaming numbers.
Moosa, Punch at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York. Erica Harris DeValve/Billboard
Fans have been calling out the label for allegedly “juicing” figures, and a Patreon clip of the Budden interview that surfaced online put the accusation to Punch directly in a Patreon clip that has surfaced online.
Asked about “the bot allegations,” Punch started simply: “I don’t got nothing to say about it,” then cut to the point: “We don’t bot.”
Budden followed up with a rapid-fire line of questions — whether Punch had ever bought bots, whether he knew where to buy them, whether he was aware of industry folks using them — and Punch replied “no” to each, save for one admission about the broader practice. “But our whole thing was like, if we do that, how are we going to know who the actual fan is? Like, we do a show, don’t nobody show up because it was all fake. So we purposely chose not to do that back then,” he said, adding that “juicing numbers has been an industry practice since the days of Myspace.”
The conversation turned to the mechanics of chart races. “If that’s your aim, then yeah, I could see that,” Punch conceded. “But we never been based on actual numbers. Our true metric is seeing people in them seats at the show.” It was a reminder that for TDE, audience and attendance still act as the real scoreboard.
In a separate clip In another clip, Punch addressed Kendrick Lamar’s staggered exit from the label that helped make him a superstar. “It goes back to what you were saying earlier about being principled,” he said. “We all cut from similar cloth. We understand. Kendrick fulfilled all his contractual obligations and he wanted to expand what he was doing. So, yeah, let’s do it.” Punch emphasized they remain family — noting SZA’s feature on “Luther,” her Super Bowl appearance, and the co-headlined stadium tour as examples of ongoing ties.
For listeners who want the full exchange, head over to The JBP Patreon.
