DJ Scratch & Busta Rhymes: I Bullshit You Not

It’s undeniable that Busta Rhymes is one of the greatest MCs of all time. Since Leaders of The New School, he’s been viewed as a beast. Now in his 18th year, he has one of the longest runs amongst active hip-hop artists. So you have to give this man his well-deserved respect. But for some reason or another, people never throw him in the 10 Top Dead or Alive list. He’s always Top 20.

But it is what it is. There’s still only a handful—if that—who can give him any comp on the mic. The flow, the lyrics and just delivery are all mastered to that 3rd degree black belt status. He can go in a street banger like “Death Wish” and have you feeling like strutting your stuff down the streets and poppin’ your collar or have you paying attention to his words on a joint like “Director’s Cut” where he talks about what he would’ve done the same or did different on some of his favorite cult classic flicks. Me personally, if I was Bruce Leroy in The Last Dragon, I would’ve blammed out Vanity in the middle of her glass dance floor while that Bruce Lee music video was playing. But that’s just me.

“Feel My Pain”’s sound and feel had that “The Coming” vibe to it. From his animation on the hook to the slow paced beat, Busta can still get nostalgic with it. The same can be said with “Try Your Hand” where homie said, “Y’all know my M.O. bitch, see I’m back to create some trouble/I mastermind the shit, I pieced it together like puzzles/while I wife the most exotic chicks and get money like Russell/you angry cause it’s difficult to keep up with my hustle/I package the crack and give it to a couple bitches to smuggle/be clear, lemme tell all you niggas wing/I bite the microphone like a nigga was born to win/to conquer anything about me it’ll be hard to do it/I advise you to get smart or you can die stupid.”

But every rapper has his/her Achilles heel. In Busta’s case it’s his attempts to get a little too creative with his work. Whether it’s with his flow or the production choice. Like on “Let’s Do It” Busta did his thing with the flow, but the beat was a little too electronic sounding for my personal taste. Same goes for “Bounce Back.” The production just didn’t have any personality to match Bussa Bus’ character. But on the flip side, “The Game Room” had a videogame sample to it and came out harder than Larry Craig in a public bathroom in the Village.

While this mixtape wasn’t filled with music that blew me away or left me with a neck brace, it was still a good project. Busta hasn’t lost his creativity and his flow is still as on point as ever. But him being who he is, he’s set the bar pretty high for himself. If Busta doesn’t break new ground with at least one song on his project in some way, shape or form it’s kind of a let down. But that’s just how I see it. Whenever you hear a Busta project you expect to hear a “Woo Hah!” or a “Put Ya Hands Where My Eyes Can See” or a “Break Ya Neck.” But you can’t be too mad at this man. He gave us all those aforementioned classics.-The Infamous O

Hottest Joint: “Death Wish”

Weakest Joint: “Let’s Do It”