Busta Rhymes – “Blockbusta” review

Brooklyn emcee, songwriter, producer & actor Busta Rhymes has returned for his 11th full-length solo LP. Coming up as a member of the Leaders of the New School, he would go on to turn heads in the spring of ‘92 off the strength of his verse on “Scenario” off of A Tribe Called Quest’s iconic sophomore album The Low End Theory. The dragon would see greater success as a solo artist with full-lengths like The Coming, When Disaster Strikes…, E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front, Anarchy, Genesis & The Big Bang. However when E.L.E. 2 (Extinction Level Event 2): The Wrath of God dropped a couple Devil’s Nights back, it would find Busta returning to form considering the mixed to subpar reception of B.O.M.B.S. (Back On My Bullshit) & the Cash Money Records-backed Year of the Dragon. However after preluding Blockbusta last year by putting out The Fuse is Lit to mixed responses, Busta’s ringing in Black Friday put unveiling his Epic Records debut.

“The Statement” asks how many times does Busta have to remind everyone that he’s one of the greatest over a cloudy trap beat from Timbaland whereas “Remind ‘Em” featuring Quavo finds the 2 talking about running it up over some hi-hats attached to a loop with this Godly aura surrounding it. “Beach Ball” featuring BIA draws inspiration from snap music thanks to Hitmaka boasting that they blow money faster than Rozay just before “OK” featuring Young Thug details both of their lifestyles over a celebratory Cool & Dre instrumental.

Moving forward, “Could It Be You” featuring Yung Bleu brings the 2 together on top of a bass guitar explaining that the way they live is different & the bag chase is consistent leading into the funky “Luxury Life” featuring Coi Leray laced by Swizz Beatz displaying a back-&-forth chemistry from both artists getting lavish. “Big Everything” featuring DaBaby breaks down the big money & dreams that they both envision even though the instrumental doesn’t catch my interest, but then “Roboshotta” featuring Burna Boy talks about fucking everything up & Pharrell bringing a tropical vibe musically.

“Tings” aesthetically picks up where the last cut left off keeping it equatorial so Busta can boast his lyrical abilities while “The Return of Mansa Musa” gets in his warrior bag over a tribal beat that I personally find to be appropriately fitting. “Stand Up” featuring JNR CHOI dabbles with drill music a bit sampling “Gangsta’s Paradise” by the late Coolio as both of them call out those whom they initially thought were loyal individuals while “Open Wide” featuring Shenseea fuses elements of dancehall with hip hop tackling themes of romance.

Meanwhile, the woodwind-heavy “Hold Up” that Dez Wright helped Timbo cook up flexes that he be showing up on every single block while “The Hive” featuring Giggs returns to trap territory to warn everyone that’s tuning in that their killer bees do in fact sting. “Homage” featuring Kodak Black addresses going from Y.G.s to O.G.s. in the rap game with Wheezy supplying one of the best trap instrumentals on the album while “Legend” talks about everything being legendary letting her see the way he does it & the beat here is actually underwhelming.

The song “Slide” warns not to get caught up inside another trap & that he’s steppin’ over an infectiously catchy instrumental from DJ Ted Smooth while the penultimate track “Legacy” featuring his children Cacie, Mariah & Trillian is a family affair lavishly telling everyone to show them some love. Things end with a cutthroat sequel to “If You Don’t Know Now You Know” produced by Cardiak & Focus…, which was a bonus cut off B.O.M.B.S. (Back On My Bullshit.

Considering how great of a comeback E.L.E. 2 (Extinction Level Event 2): The Wrath of God was & the 3 executive producers that Busta brought in for his first major label outing in almost a decade, I didn’t really have any reason to be concerned about Blockbusta. Now that the final product is in front of us, I’m admittedly torn on it unlike that previous LP that we got during the pandemic. He returns to a more commercial sound compared to the predecessor’s rawness which I completely understand, it’s just hit or miss sadly.

Score: 2.5/5

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Busta Rhymes – “The Fuse is Lit” review

This is the debut EP from Brooklyn emcee, songwriter, producer & actor Busta Rhymes. Coming up as a member of the Leaders of the New School, he would go on to turn heads in the spring of ‘92 off the strength of his verse on “Scenario” off of A Tribe Called Quest’s iconic sophomore album The Low End Theory. The dragon would see greater success as a solo artist with full-lengths like The Coming, When Disaster Strikes…, E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front, Anarchy, Genesis & The Big Bang. However when E.L.E. 2 (Extinction Level Event 2): The Wrath of God dropped a couple Devil’s Nights back, it would find Busta returning to form considering the mixed to subpar reception of B.O.M.B.S. (Back On My Bullshit & the Cash Money Records-backed Year of the Dragon. But to warm everyone up for his upcoming 11th album, Busta’s coming together with The Fuse is Lit.

“Break This Bitch Up” kicks off the album with a Middle Eastern instrumental from Swizz Beatz talking about how he can’t be stopped whereas “Slap” is a vintage boom bap cut produced by Marley Marl as Big Daddy Kane & Conway the Machine come into the picture to spit some hardcore bars tremendously. The song “Hot Sex, Pt. 2” has a more electronic quality to it courtesy of Aftermath Entertainment in-house producer Focus… with the lyrical themes being reminiscent of the Tribe Called Quest joint “Hot Sex” while the penultimate track “Bulletproof Skin” with Skillibeng is a decent dancehall/hip hop crossover. “Run It Up” though is a jazzy closer with Busta showing motherfuckers how it’s done.

E.L.E. 2 was an incredible return to form for the Dragon & for him to give us this as of way of holding people off until the next full-length, I wouldn’t say it’s as great but the high points on this EP are most definitely worth your time. The overall sound of it is eclectic from boom bap to dancehall & jazz rap with Busta remaining to be strong with the pen.

Score: 3.5/5

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Busta Rhymes – “E.L.E. 2 (Extinction Level Event 2): The Wrath of God” review

Busta Rhymes is a 48 year old MC from Brooklyn, New York who came up as a member of the Leaders of the New School. Becoming the stand out member of the quartet, he branched out for a very successful solo career & dropped 4 classics in a row from 1996-2000. Last we heard from Busta was in 2012 when he released the universally panned Year of the Dragon but after 8 years, he’s back with a sequel to E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front.

The intro starts off with Busta rapping about being a God over a boom bap beat from Nottz with some strings & a vibraphone, but then Rakim accompanied him as it switches up into a more atmosphere instrumental. The next song “The Purge” talks about rioting over a Swizz Beatz instrumental with some prominent sirens while the track “Strap Yourself Down” talks about challenging his opponents over a dynamic beat from the late J Dilla & Pete Rock. The song “Czar” featuring M.O.P. finds the 3 talking about being the leaders of the new shit over a symphonic instrumental from Rockwilder while the track “Outta My Mind” is a fun club banger backed by a sample of Bell Biv DeVoe’s “Poison”.

The title track gets conscious then over a monstrous instrumental whereas “Slow Flow” is a sequel to “I Remain Raw” backed by a video game-esque beat & sampling Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Brooklyn Zoo” for the hook. The song “Don’t Go” with Q-Tip sees the 2 getting romantic over a luxurious piano instrumental while the track “Boomp!” talks about every hood having love for him over a boom bap beat from DJ Scratch with some keys & a synthesizer.

The song “True Indeed” talks about leaving dudes dead over a DJ Premier instrumental with a suspenseful loop while the track “Master Fard Muhammad” with Rick Ross finds the 2 getting materialistic over a jazzy beat from Hi-Tek & Terrace Martin. “YUUUU” featuring Anderson .Paak sees the 2 talking about money over a snap instrumental while the track ”Oh No” takes aim at anyone fucking with his click over a wavy trap beat.

“The Don & The Boss” featuring Vybz Kartel finds the 2 talking about strippers over a triumphant instrumental while the song “Best I Can” with Rapsody sees the 2 talking parenthood over a soulful beat from none other than 9th Wonder. The track “Right Where I Belong” is a redundant sequel to “I Know What You Want” down to the Rick Rock production while “Deep Thought” gets confessional over a dreary boom bap beat from Busta himself.

After the “Young God Speaks” interlude, the track “Look Over Your Shoulder” featuring Kendrick Lamar finds the 2 talking about hip hop needing them over a sample of The Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” while the song “Another Me” talks about being unique over a smooth beat. The penultimate track “Freedom?” gets back on the conscious tip over a moody boom bap instrumental & then the album ends with “Satanic”, where Busta gets religious over an angelic beat.

“Blowing the Speakers” starts the deluxe run with some trap vibes thanks to Murda Beatz talking about fucking up the streets again while “Who Are You?” makes the hood fiend with Jahlil Beats. “Hope Your Dreams Come True” gives a middle finger to everyone who ain’t fucking with him while “Calm Down” featuring Eminem finds Scoop DeVille sampling “Harlem Shuffle” by Bob & Earl to battle each other.

The song “Follow the Wave” marks the reunion of the Flipmode Squad for 7 minutes of hardcore lyricism while “Blow 1,000,000 Racks” loosens up a little for a mediocre strip club anthem. The final bonus track “Hey You” featuring Trillian finishes up with the father/son duo over pianos & hi-hats to ask what one would wanna do because they gotta get to the money.

It’s been a longtime coming but at the end of the day, this is a great return to form for Busta & I’ll even say it’s his best since The Big Bang. There are a few filler cuts in the track listing, but I really enjoy how he spends most of the album sticking to his guns instead of trying to appeal to an audience that doesn’t exist.

Score: 4.5/5