Busta Rhymes Vinyl, CD & Tape

From Teenager to Rap Superstar

As an essential name in East Coast hip-hop, Trevor George Smith Jr. a.k.a. Busta Rhymes, had been in the game since the mid-80s. Meanwhile, the flow giant has not only made waves as part of the Leaders of the New School crew but has also achieved worldwide success with numerous solo albums, won a Grammy, and earned his status as a legend of the Golden 90s. Smith was born in 1972 in the later rap domain of Brooklyn, and as part of this growing subculture, he attended the same high school as Jay-Z and B.I.G. Just as massive as his vocal prowess was the respect he garnered in the scene when the teenager co-founded the Leaders of the New School with friends, with whom he shook up the local scene following in the footsteps of his idols, Public Enemy. For them, the four eventually opened a concert, and in 1990, they secured a record deal with Elektra Records, kicking off the recording of their debut LP. After their two albums, A Future Without A Past… and T.I.M.E. (The Inner Mind’s Eye), as well as a renowned guest appearance on A Tribe Called Quest’s track Scenario, Busta, the crowd favorite of the crew, had had enough. The group dissolved on live MTV broadcast, and the fresh solo rapper embarked on his career as a rap superstar in 1993.

Reaching the Chart Top with Horrorcore

On his first solo single, Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check, in 1996, Busta Rhymes performed neurotically, infused his flow with a touch of Wu-Tang, and his beats with a note of J Dilla, immediately scoring a top-ten hit. His humorous package provided a welcome change to a rap world that took itself very seriously. As a virtuoso lyricist and lover of rhyme, he proved himself on his debut LP The Coming in the same year, marking his territory on the East Coast. This success was topped by the successor, When Disaster Strikes… a year later, showing the slightly hyperactive entertainer in an apocalyptic mood on vibrant beats. This trend continued in 1998 with the album Extinction Level Event: The Final World Front. Tracks like What It Is and Break Ya Neck solidified his status in the sound of the early 2000s, and collaborations with P. Diddy, Twista, and Pharrell were now commonplace. After somewhat mixed reactions to his 2002 album It Ain’t Safe No More…, Busta Rhymes teamed up with Dr. Dre – and what comes from Aftermath Entertainment usually creates a buzz. That was the case with The Big Bang in 2006: Busta achieved his first chart-topping success in a new Horrorcore form.

Traditions, Features, and His Own Shoe Brand

But it wasn’t just his solo albums that kept the versatile old-school rapper’s status in the modern rap cosmos intact – Busta Rhymes’ flow extended into various areas. He collaborated with Linkin Park, contributed a track to the video game Grand Theft Auto IV, launched his own shoe brand, and took on acting roles here and there. As a sought-after featured guest, we heard his powerful voice on songs by artists like Chris Brown, DJ Khaled, T.I., Fat Joe, Tech N9ne, and countless others. On his own albums, Back On My B.S. in 2009 and Year of The Dragon in 2012, he brought together a conglomerate of industry legends like Akon, Gucci Mane, and Lil Wayne. With his new releases, he balances tradition and modernization: Anarchy 2 and Extinction Level Event 2 serve as sequels to those albums that have shaped an entire generation. The mission is clear: “I’m doing it because I’m not trying to allow current generations to miss out on the shit that we love and that helped shape the shit we do.”