Though the animosity has stayed on wax for the past year, the friction between Joe Budden and former Fabolous protege Ransom has recently intensified.

On Monday, Budden posted a video outside of an Applebee's, saying that he and his goons ran up on Ransom, whom he referred to as "skinny fat," in front of his apartment, and "duffed him out," after which time, Ransom ran into his house and returned with a gun, which he discharged in the air.

According to Budden, no one ran from the shots, because Ransom "wouldn't throw rice at a wedding." Budden threatened to release footage of the scuffle, which he had "taped...like a bastard," and proposed that Ransom and he settle the beef by duking it out.

Instead, Ransom responded intelligently, by filming himself as he approached the house of one of Budden's friends, where one of his people slapped (!) an otherwise uninvolved male relative of one of the New Jersey rapper's crew members.

Budden fired back with yet another video calling an end to the beef by saying they both needed to "take a step back and think about the situation" and make a mature decision. Of course this can be construed as backing down, given that he instigated the events by posting video blogs and generally provoking Ransom, but either way the situation is growing increasingly ugly/embarrassing for all involved. Rappers have always used beef and drama to maintain their popularity, but clearly some of the people around them have a lot less to lose.

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