One of my all-time favorite emcees exists in Brooklyn’s own hip-hop royalty, Busta Rhymes. Besides the usual accolades that decorate any hip-hop icon such as multi-platinum selling records and 9 grammy award nominations, Busta Rhymes is truly one of the last great emcees left from the early ‘90s that is still respectively pushing to be an innovator of the hip-hop art form. Witty lyricism; dynamic rap styles; massive amounts of collaborations: these are all marks of an artist that has a profound respect for his craft. And hey, besides all that, he’s just a cool guy. He brings raw talent mixed with a sense of humor to a rap genre otherwise filled by too many arrogant and pompous artists with very little skill or talent.
With all that being said, today we take a look back at one of Busta’s classic albums, The Coming. Released in 1997, this was Busta’s first solo offering following his split in 1993 with rap group, Leaders of the New School. This album was a who’s who collection of 90’s artists with guest appearances from Def Squad members Redman and Keith Murray, Q-Tip, Rampage, and vocals from R&B group Zhané. Production credits include DJ Scratch, Easy Mo Bee, and Ummah. This album contains the hit singles, ‘Woo Hah! Got You All in Check’ and ‘It’s a Party.’ The single ‘Abandon Ship’ is one my all time favorites off this album with it’s aggressive word play and hard-hitting baseline. According to wikipedia, this album reached #6 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1996 and has since received a platinum certification from the RIAA. This album for me represents more than Busta’s introduction to rap superstardom. It represents a timeless piece of music that is truly reminiscent of an era when being original was critical to your survival as an artist, especially an emcee. Busta, we salute you.
Check out one of my favorite tracks off the album here:
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