Joe Budden Plays Big Switty In “Law & Order” Murder Plot

Joe Budden entered a fictional murder investigation as rapper Big Switty in “Law & Order,” with a $300,000 art deal at the center of his character’s dispute.

His guest appearance came in “Property,” the fourth episode of Season 26, which aired October 29. The episode followed the murder of an antiquities dealer, according to TVmaze’s episode listing.

The cameo followed a real business connection with Wolf Entertainment, the company behind “Law & Order.” Budden had become the host of “Crime in America,” a true crime podcast from Wolf Entertainment, Headline Studio and Budden. Advance Local’s announcement said the first episode debuted August 11, less than three months before his television appearance.

The podcast put him in conversation with local journalists who had been reporting on cases in their own communities. Those interviews drew on Advance Local’s network of reporters across the country. Its stated focus covered both developing crimes and cases those reporters had followed for years. That gave the series room for stories gaining national attention as well as ones that had yet to reach a wider audience.

Headline Studio described an approach built around what had happened, who had been affected and what remained unknown. Its rollout called for new episodes on Tuesdays.

On the scripted show, Switty told detectives that an Egyptian mask he had bought was fake and he wanted his money back, according to Billboard. He said he had been having dinner with his manager and lawyer at 9:30 p.m. the previous night. A threatening voicemail to art broker Andrew Carson brought the character into their investigation.

The show’s way of telling a story had figured in Budden’s music long before this guest spot. In an August 2008 AllHipHop interview, he discussed the song “Who” and his effort to trace changes in Hip-Hop.

Budden said he had wanted to make that kind of record for some time. He explained that he wanted listeners to follow how things began and how the culture changed. He also said he kept the beat simple so it would leave room for what he was saying. The television reference was explicit: “I wanted to do it like a Law & Order episode.”