Busta Rhymes - The Big Bang

It’s been a long career for Busta Rhymes. Originally a member of Leaders Of The New School, then branching out to release seven solo albums, Busta’s been in this game for some time. Hell the dude was on A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Scenario’ … now that’s longevity.

So with The Big Bang, you get the feeling Busta’s trying to make the album he always wanted to make before he bows out of the game. Dude is 35 years old now and I suspect he feels this could be one of his last albums. The Big Bang’s guests read like more like an artist’s personal wishlist than a reality …

It’s been a long career for Busta Rhymes. Originally a member of Leaders Of The New School, then branching out to release seven solo albums, Busta’s been in this game for some time. Hell the dude was on A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Scenario’ … now that’s longevity.

So with The Big Bang, you get the feeling Busta’s trying to make the album he always wanted to make before he bows out of the game. Dude is 35 years old now and I suspect he feels this could be one of his last albums. The Big Bang’s guests read like more like an artist’s personal wishlist than a reality. Stevie Wonder, Rick James and LaToiya Williams are singing the hooks. Nas, Raekwon and Q-Tip are dropping 16’s and Dr. Dre, Swizz Beats, Dilla, Timbaland, Erick Sermon, Green Lantern and Jellyroll are, among others, contributing beats. With a guest list like this, The Big Bang looks like the album you want to be remembered for.

So is it any good? Sure enough the hype is there. This is the first Busta album on Aftermath, Swizz and Busta’s enormous hit ‘Touch It’, the Touch It Remix, the guest spots … everything has fallen into place. Can Busta capitalise?

Ultimately, you’ll make up your own mind about The Big Bang, but I do believe this is essentially what Busta will be remembered for … well, this and “Woo-Hah!”, the success of which has in equal parts established and haunted Busta Rhymes.

The Big Bang finds it’s strength when Busta takes it easy, spending less time on the intricacies of a multi-syllabic flow and more on telling a story or getting the point across. Been Through The Storm is a standout for this reason, as is Cocaina, You Can’t Hold The Torch and of course New York Shit, an instant classic celebrating that vintage New York sound. ‘In The Ghetto’, featuring Rick James on the hook, combines some excellent lyricism with a nice flow and creates one of the better tracks on The Big Bang.

Hearing Nas and Busta together over a Dre banger on ‘Don’t Get Carried Away’ is sickness, however I can’t really get into Nas’ flow, especially with Busta flippin it up the way he does. Raekwon comes through sounding like 1996 on Goldmine and Get You Some sets the album off perfectly with a subtly head-nodding gem from Dre.

With only a few exceptions, the beats here are some of the best you’ll find. Timbo flips it up completely with ‘Get Down’. One of the most atmospheric beats I’ve heard in some time, the track admittedly doesn’t fit at all with the rest of the album but I can’t say I care. Jellyroll’s ‘I’ll Do It All’ beat is atrocious, which is a real shame. Over a different beat, Busta and Latoiya Williams would have created a Meth and Mary-style classic for 2006 with this acapella. That beat is distracting to begin with, but when the beat flips to double time drums on the hook it becomes even worse.

The Big Bang is undoubtedly Busta’s best album to date and another success for Aftermath, however it’s far from perfect. After an album like this, I’m always keen to hear the artist’s next effort, although I fear the combination of Busta’s age and Aftermath’s label depth might just work against him.