Busta Rhymes first hit the hip-hop scene in 1990 with his group, Leaders of the New School, and their debut album, A Future Without A Past… but what probably put him on the map was his verse on the 1991 A Tribe Called Quest’s song, “Scenario”

“Watch; as I combine all the juice from the mind
Heel up, wheel up, bring it back, come, rewind
Powerful impact (BOOM!) from the cannon!
Not braggin', tryna read my mind, just imagine
Vo-cab-u-lary's necessary, when diggin' into my library
Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh!
Eatin' Ital Stew like the one Peter Tosh
Unh! Unh! Unh! All over the track, man
Unh, pardon me, unh! As I come back!”

“As I did it, yo, I had to beg your pardon
When I travel through the town, I roll with the squadron
RAWR! RAWR! Like a dungeon dragon
Change your little drawers 'cause your pants are saggin'
Try to step to this, I will twist you in a turban
And have you smellin' rank like some old, stale urine.”

This is what made me and so many others a Busta fan.  His style was something new, something raw, something in your face. Since 1991 Busta has put out 13 studio albums, either with Leaders of the New School, Flippmode Squad or his solo work, along with countless collaborations through the years. His last album was in 2020, so it was time for him to hit us with something new. And something new is what we got.  He brought in legendary producers Swizz Beatz, Timbaland and Pharrell to work on his latest, Blockbusta.  So the thought was, he’s going to hit us with some old sounding Busta and a heavy influence from the producers.  While you may get a hint of each producer, at times you find it hard to figure out who was producing what track.  Is that good or bad, I am not sure, but this was not an overall typical performance from Busta either. I feel this was more a modicum of modern styles and beats that did not give a cohesive flow throughout the album. He has a ton of guests with him and he hits on many different styles; Afrobeats, Dancehall, Reggae and Trap. In some ways this works so well, but this also leads to the in-cohesiveness of the album. The first track, “The Statement” is a perfect start to the album, makes you think you are getting that typical Busta, setting the tone where he delivers a two minute long verse letting you know about his imprint on the game.

“How many times do I gotta remind you niggas that I'm one of the greatest?
And I will just rewrite the pages of every history book while they askin' me
Save us from all of this other bullshit that they be listenin' to while you just amaze us.”

“Remind ‘Em” featuring Quavo is one of the tracks that works with a weird sense of tension between their two different styles on the mic. “Beach Ball” featuring Bia has a bouncy beat and some catchy rhymes, but kind of falls short. He takes us to “OK” with Cool & Dre and featuring Young Thug.  A nice beat and the back and forth between Busta and Young Thug make this song work, but it does feel a little out of place at times. I really like the sample of Miguel featuring J. Cole’s “All I Want Is You,” in “Could It Be You” featuring Blxst and Yung Bleu. I like this groove but we could use more Busta in this song.  There are songs throughout this album where it feels like Busta is the featured artist and not the main artist. Busta follows it up with another strong sample, a song that would have worked years ago and works today, “Luxury Life” featuring Coi Leray. I love the way they flow back and forth, takes me back to some old Busta work. The song samples The Whole Darn Family classic “Seven Minutes of Funk,” best known for being sampled on Jay-Z and Foxy Brown’s “Ain’t No N****.” Another collaboration that works well on this album is “Big Everything” featuring DaBaby and T-Pain. We get some of that fast, strong lyrical flow from Busta. I do wish we had a little more T-Pain in this joint. Busta pushes himself with the Afrobeats “Roboshotta” featuring Burna Boy.  A nice strong beat, Busta does a nice job in this with the style and lyrics, but Burna Boy outshines. “Tings” is not a great lyrical song, but is a rhythmic and energetic song that shows Busta’s ability to try new genres with this uplifting joint.

Mid-way through the album Busta hits us with “The Return Of Mansa Musa” featuring Swizz Beatz and Ghanaian singer Blackway, the two compliment each other in this song that samples the 1972 “Soul Makossa” by Manu Dibango. Next up is “Stand Up” featuring Jnr Choi. This samples Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paridise,” and while I like the subtle sample in the background, I don’t care for the flow from either Busta or Jnr Choi is this track, it almost feels too forced by both of them. Chris Brown and Shenseea join Busta on “Open Wide.” This R&B/Reggae groove is one of my favorite songs on the album, but not because of Busta.  I think he fails to hit us with his strong lyrical presence in this song.  Chris Brown and Shenseea sound wonderful and the flow between them make this song. “Hold Up” takes me back to some old Busta lyrics and flow, but not enjoying the music producing in this track. It feels forced with no real thought to it. “The Hive” featuring Giggs is up next and to me really falls short.  This UK drill just doesn’t flow with good lyrics or presentation.  The beat is lackluster as well.  Kodak Black joins Busta on “Homage,” another flat composition, to a point where it feels the album could have ended with “Open Wide.”

We come back with “Legend” featuring Morray, a nice chill beat with this, but another song where it seems Busta takes the backseat.  This song is really about Morray. Morray with a nice fast flow throughout. “Slide” feels like a segment of a song instead of an all-out full track.  Busta rides the beat and unexpected jazz piano riff with ease.  This song is solid but could have been strung out longer. Busta has three of his six kids join him on “Legacy,” Cacie (Cie), Trillian and Mariah (Rai). This has a nice old school beat and rhythm where they all flow effortlessly through the music. I wouldn’t mind hearing more from them on this album. The album is finished off with “If You Don’t Know Now You Know Pt. 2 featuring Big Tigger. A good solid tune to finish off this album, Busta and Big Tigger with some nice lyrics taking us back in time.

While this is not a masterpiece, we do get some good tracks, some nice lyrics and some strong collaborations, there is the element of inconsistency, indecisiveness and even a strange bizarre element, but I feel most of these tracks are more solid as stand alone single instead of part of an album.  There are times his Live-wire energy shines through, at other times it feels like he’s trying too hard to fit into today’s hip-hop style.  And that is not Busta. This is a mixed bag, there is a lot to like throughout this project, but there is a lot of wanting more or something changed up and some confusion.  This is worth a listen, it’s worth more than one listen, there is something for everyone in these 19 tracks.

One Love

Todd