Rapper Joe Budden -- I Was Arrested Over a $75 Traffic Ticket

Rapper Joe Budden -- the guy behind the 2003 hit "Pump It Up" -- was arrested just hours before a concert in NYC yesterday ... and according to Budden ... it was all over a $75 parking ticket.

A rep for Budden tells TMZ ... cops showed up at a pre-concert meet-and-greet and informed Joe about a warrant out for his arrest due to an unpaid traffic ticket.

Budden's rep says ... the original fine was only $75 ... but cops still decided to arrest Joe and took him back to the station where he was booked and processed.