Joe Budden's Drake Criticism Said To Be Reason For 'Scary Hours 3'

Drake just announced he's following up on his newest album only a month after its release ... and some fans think it's a direct move reacting to the viral bashing from Joe Budden.

Shortly after Drake announced his "Scary Hours 3" EP would arrive at midnight, Budden's name became a trending topic crediting him for the quick OVO Sound turnaround.

They also predicted Drake would give him a lyrical thrashing on at least one of the songs ... a fact JB seemed to revel in with his crying emojis reaction!!!

If you remember on the weekend of 'Dogs' release, JB criticized Drake for blending in with the teeny boppers, even slamming the Yeat collab "IDGAF" ... which has been the runaway fan favorite on streaming.

In fact, 'Dogs' surpassed the 1 billion stream mark this week ... clearly people are still bumping it but Joe told him he needed to do better.

Drake says he's happy with 'Dogs' -- he's just getting musical inspiration at a rapid pace and thinks it would be a crime to withhold the tracks from the public.