It’s been a busy old year for Busta Rhymes — and the Moet ain’t stopped flowing yet (or the Cisco, in his case). 2016 marks the 25th anniversary of his professional recording career, the 20th anniversary of his seminal first album The Coming, and the 10th anniversary of the number one album The Big Bang. We talk to the king of furious flows about the changing music industry, black superheroes, and why he’s never going to stop bringing the heat.
Firstly, we have to talk about that photo you dropped of you and the crew on the set of DJ Khaled’s video shoot. I mean, you had Jay-Z, Future, 2 Chainz, Rick Ross … so many legends in one place. How did that go down?
I mean, I don’t really know how to articulate it other than it was great to be among your peers and your comrades — and you know we’re all out to support each other. It was really important to be around that level of strength, and that level of inspiration and friendship. We need to do it more regularly on that level.
Have you got anything else like that in the pipeline?
Moments like that are few and far between. I don’t know when the next thing like that is gonna happen, but as far as Busta Rhymes is concerned we always have things on the plate. We’re celebrating 25 years in the industry right now, so the work never ends.
So what’s on the plate for Busta?
We got new albums coming out, and I’m promoting breaking new artists through my record label The Conglomerate Entertainment. We have my artist O.T. Genasis, my artist J-DOE, and a new artist by the name of Aaron Cooks we signed to the family. And you know you’re gonna see new Busta Rhymes albums. We’re going to be touring. We gonna be shaking shit up pretty much forever.
Are you in a creative space right now? Are you in the studio?
I’m always in the studio. It’s what I live to do, it’s what I love to do. And I never stop recording. Even when you don’t hear from me, I’m always recording. It’s the one thing I take pride in — that I never lose my creative genius, my creative sharpness, my creative excellence.
So let’s talk about The Coming. It’s the 20th anniversary this year. How do you feel the hip-hop scene and industry has changed since you first broke out?
I mean, it’s cool. At the end of the day, the industry is going to change in a way you like, and sometimes in a way you don’t like. And sometimes it’s gonna change in a way you can’t expect. That’s what the music game does, and that’s what keeps it fresh and edgy whether we like it or not. I embrace it all gracefully. So while I’m sitting back and watching the the evolution of the game — good, bad, and indifferent — I’m gonna definitely do my part and set the standard in the current day and in the future. Just know: as long as I’m here, the game is gonna be something the fans are satisfied with.
It’s your first time in London this Friday for five years. The last time you played, you ended up spinning your verse from “Look at Me Now” about ten times and spraying Moet all over the audience. It was so lit. What can we expect from you this time? Any surprises?
Haha, I can’t tell you that! I can’t tell you shit! Well, we’re gonna give people the classics, we’re gonna give people they’ve never seen me do in my entire career. We have such a long and broad catalogue of music, and there are so many records I’ve never actually performed from my albums. And you know, we’re gonna make it an overall extravaganza because it’s the 25-year anniversary of my professional recording career. I’m just glad that the people of UK and London are feeling the need to come out and support what I’m doing, and show the love.
London will want to know: are you a grime fan?
You know, I haven’t made the time to listen to grime and figure out what Busta Rhymes can bring to that yet. But when I do, you know I’ll show my appreciation through collaborations. Maybe you could make it your business to make sure I know about grime before I arrive in London?!
We’ll send you a playlist for the plane.
All right — let’s sort this grime thing out.
We can’t go without mentioning the sad passing of Muhammed Ali this week. What kind of influence has he had on your life and career?
Everything that Muhammed Ali is — and was — has had a direct impact on my life. First and foremost, he was one of the first black superheroes. Even though naturally I love that he represented the significance of black people, he also represented what was human. He was willing to sacrifice so much to stand tall and stand strong, which transcends beyond race and skin color. He also was a great poet — very quick with the wordplay and metaphors and punchlines — and this was just in his regular conversation when he was out there talking about his fights and being competitive. For me as a dude who’s very much inspired by lyrics and being a rapper — he was pure hip-hop. Everything that he did, we are still doing and still trying to be. To this day, outside of my mother and father and God, he’s still one of my greatest heroes I look up to. I’ll feel that way about this man for the rest of my life.
Busta Rhymes is playing indigo at The O2 on Friday, June 10.
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Text Abby Worth