The Foundations: Busta Rhymes

The Foundations; an ongoing series highlighting artists of the past with breakdowns of their career and their importance to contemporary hip-hop.

Active: 1990-Present

Representing: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

For Fans Of: KRS-One, Twista, Sauce Walka, Denzel Curry, Joyner Lucas, Koncept Jack$on

Everything that has made Busta Rhymes one of the signature characters in the ever growing story of hip-hop are things only the eyes can fully appreciate. You read his raps off the paper, and your gut reaction is to read it in your own voice. A boring, even keeled, steady voice. And that's the difference between everyone else and Busta; you read them like the regular person who mows thier yard on the weekend and enjoys Fast & The Furious films, he reads raps off a paper and conducts lightning from his teeth. The excitement in the movies you love, he personifies it every day. Each atom between your eardrum and the speaker is ravaged into hyperspeed when he bellows words out. His breakthrough moment wasn’t him and his childhood friends from Leaders Of The New School being blessed with their names from Chuck D and the rest of Public Enemy after training under them on tours and in studios across the globe, it wasn’t standing alongside LL Cool J, Craig Mack, The Notorious B.I.G. and Rampage on “Flava In Ya Ear (Remix)”, it wasn’t even his debut album that featured a platinum single and videos that made the Technicolor era of Hollywood seem dull. It was the closing verse on “Scenario” from A Tribe Called Quest's sophomore album, following behind his L.O.N.S. brothers, Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, where he broke into patois, flipped between double time flows, and growled like a dungeon dragon. He was an acrobat juggling flamming pins, bringing more eyeballs his way than a street fight. It was clear from that moment that everyone was just regular compared to Busta. By the time his solo outing The Coming came in 1995 after months of writer's block, years of breathtaking features and the swift collapsing of Leaders Of The New School as a group, Busta was already viewed as a ripped from the comics character that would never be forgotten. 

        The next 4 albums were loosely based around the fear of the apocalypse gained not only from reading a copy of Behold A Pale Horse gifted to him by George Clinton, but also the all around paranoia of what would come in Y2K. Though this concept was most present on only his intros and outros, the fear was always lingering. Was he partying for the love, or because he never knew if he’d be able to do it again? Each of these early albums relied on the core pieces of Busta; a true showman trapped within the confines of an LP, doing his best to push the boundaries of his God given voice box copying the turmoil of the world around him. The sonics were always telling of the times; The Coming had the haze and hard hitting breaks of a grimey and smoked out East Coast Underground in the mold of Wu-Tang Clan and Redman, When Disaster Strikes… was as close as he would dare flirt with Bad Boy, the Flipmode Squad compilation The Imperial along with Extinction Level Event: The Final World Front were mashups of peak drive time radio records and the Ruff Ryders, and Anarchy was a splattering hodgepodge of spacious Dilla beats and over crowded keyboard productions. On each record he added a wrinkle to the sounds of the times and to his own tool belt. Traveling into hyperspace next to Mystikal (“Iz They Wildin’ Us & Gettin’ Rowdy Wit Us?”), slowing it down for his lover with Mariah Carey (“I Know What You Want”), and performing criminal heists with Ghostface, Raekwon and a young Roc Marciano (“The Heist”). Even the other top tier artists known for their iconoclastic vocal performances and energy pale at the range that Busta wielded. DMX couldn’t step up on electro-dance records, KRS-One didn’t fit in at clubs, Young Thug hasn’t called out to the crate diggers. 

            The post-Y2K era was a mixed bag where Busta would create the biggest hits of his career that showed an ever expanding toolkit of tricks, but felt soulless. That soul would flare up whenever he came in contact with producers from his time that shared the true hip-hop spirit. Dilla, Dr. Dre, Q-Tip, Nottz, DJ Scratch and 9th Wonder could always bring the Dungeon Dragon out of his cave if only for moments. Big Bang was the first time Busta was seen side by side with legends of the past only Dre could call upon, and for it the album was his best in years. Whether it was due to spending a life performing in them or his own personal love of burning the midnight oil in them off the clock, Busta became the old guy in the clubs even when he was shining with Dre. Less hair (the world famous dreadlocks were gone by the time Aftermath came calling), gaudy designer outfits, and forced actionary records bloated a career that once brought fun to the clubs with a childlike innocence, not with intent to get a VIP section for free. The mixtape circuit didn’t lead to record breaking rejuvenation like it had for his contemporaries (Jadakiss, Fabolous) but Surrender is still an essential listen, along with his biggest tape The Abstract And The Dragon, a collection of records with heavy Q-Tip involvement featuring remixes, redo’s and sometimes just a repackaging of album cuts was a fun reminder of how great Busta could be when he stopped pushing for Manhattan club DJ’s to spin him all night. After years dealing with personal loss, breathing issues, weight gain, and nearly losing his voice, the endless broken promises of Extinction Level Event 2 came to fruition. After nearly decades of putting the project together the massive double disc record gave thanks to every aspect of Busta’s career. A career that represents the complexities of true artistry. 

        Always pushing and searching for something bigger that can rock the souls of a listener, but soul is something Busta lacked consistently as far as content of each song. Yes he rapped about the teachings of the 5 Percent Nation, the Apocalypse, and at one point his own birth, but from verse to verse the subject matter was rarely anything other than A) i’m a better rapper than you B) i’ll kick your ass C) let’s go party. Even on “I Know What You Want”, a definitive crossover record of the early 2000’s, the moral of Busta’s rhymes don’t revolve around swooning a woman with charismatic words or personal connections, it’s just an apology for having to leave all the time and be the great Busta Rhymes instead of being a partner. It isn’t until his elder statesman run of features with Jay Rock, Rapsody and Game do you get deeper into who the MC is when the lights go off. Over 20+ years holding back so much personal experiences in exchange of being a court jester is commendable, but leaves a fan always wanting more. 

            A master of creating moments, Busta will be remembered not only as a producer's favorite subject, but by fans as an all-time feature killer, visual boundary pusher, hitmaker and boundless vocalist pushing speed and ostentatious presentation of his built in instrument to the max. High budget music videos? Thank Busta. The freedom to personify animals and creatures of fantasy in your raps? Thank Busta. The pearl clutching that has followed Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert, Tyler The Creator and any other MC who channeled their creativity in guady fashion never made sense, when Busta Rhymes was exactly like them. He was dedicated to his craft, impactful to the community in his musical influence, and was dedicated to giving shine and being surrounded by others who worked like him. What he lacks in classic projects he makes up for by being one of many Forrest Gump like characters in hip-hop, crossing paths with foundational 80’s groups into the 20’s where more artists resemble Busta than ever before.

Album To Check: The Coming

Best Songs: “Put Your Hands Where Your Eyes Can See", 'The Genesis", "You Can't Hold The Torch"

Written By: Anthony Seaman (@soflogemstone on IG & Twitter)