Welcome to the next part of the Rapalphabet series. The last post was dedicated to wonderfull André 3000. However, today I will try to bring you closer to character, career and curiosity of Busta Rhymes!

Let's get started!

Busta Rhymes (Trevor Tahiem Smith Jr)

He was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 20, 1972. He is the son of immigrants who came to the United States from Jamaica. His modest childhood ran in low standards until he and his parents moved to Long Island at the age of 12. This is where Trevor's passion for Hip-hop culture began. At the Uniondale High School there, he met many musicians and rappers who dreamed about a great career, fame and money. During the practice of technical rap skills and creating his own style, he drew a lot of inspiration from his Jamaican roots.

His career began in a music competition organized by such rap legends as Public Enemy and Chuck D. The organizers so much liked the taste of Busta Rhymes that they invited him and his buddies to his recording studio, where they helped them in the first professional recordings. After this meeting, Trevor came to the studio more and more often, spending more and more time there, and finally, at the age of 17, he left school to fully devote himself to music. Leaders of the New School - the first and only rap band to which Busta belonged, never achieved commercial success but allowed for promotion - thanks to which many people saw the great talent of Busta Rhymes.

In 1994, after the birth of son - T'Ziah, Busta Rhymes separated from his formation and decided to bet on a solo career.

In 1996, Busta released his first solo album - The Coming. It turned out to be a great success, achieving the status of a platinum record. Personally, I think that this is his best album, considering the whole word and sound. His random, flashy, wild flow was unique and exceptionally charismatic. In addition, he was one of the biggest slackers in the rap game.

The next album entitled When Disaster Strike did not win such popularity in the US as its debut but strengthened the position of Busta Rhymes in the global hip-hop market. Despite this, the album has one of my favorite songs to which one of my favorite clips was recorded - Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See.

Busta Rhymes joined the Flipmode Squad along with Rampage, Lord Have Mercy, Spliff Star, Rah Digg and Baby Sham rappers. Together they met while recording the album E.L.E .: The Final World Front. The single from this album entitled Gimme Some More immediately enjoyed popularity after the premiere. In the following years, Busta Rhymes became interested in acting and tried his hand at the film set. He has appeared in such productions as, for example, Shaft.

In 2000, Busta Rhymes releases another album - Anarchy. After its release, he finishes his cooperation with the Elektra Records label, and a year later he signs a contract with another record label - J Records. In the same year, he released the album - Genesis, which turned out to be the next success on all the hit lists with such hits as Break Ya Neck and Pass the Courvoisier, co-created by Dr. Dre and The Neptunes.

At the end of 2004, Busta Rhymes ended cooperation with J Records and signed a contract with a record label founded by Dr. Dre - Aftermath Entertainment.

There are many interesting facts about the career of Busta Rhymes. One of them is the issue of a sudden change of image. At the beginning of his career his image was mainly created by his dreadlocks, bound in the weirdest hairstyles, expression, big clothes and sense of humor. It was even his trademark! When suddenly Busta Rhymes gets rid of his hair (shaves almost baldly) and significantly increases on the muscle mass. As it turned out, his change is related to the traumatic experience during the event. Busta Rhymes was attacked there, by assailants who wounded him several times with a knife. Fortunately, he managed to survive, but this situation completely changed his approach to life and, therefore, also to music.

The commercial success over the years has been unstoppable. He appeared on many television programs, gave a lot of interviews and played in commercials: Mountain Dew energy drink, Miller Lite beer, Virgin Mobile cellular operator, Sparkling vodka, Pepsi Max drink, Leyrat cognac and Toyota Sienna car. He was twice nominated for the Grammy award for music (in 2000 and 2012), which he did not receive in both cases. In 2001, Busta Rhymes broke the Guinness record in the number of spoken syllables in one minute during freestyling. Busta Rhymes, along with Warren Alan Youngahttps, Johny Blackie and Paul Healy, was responsible for the production of the Fargo series for the Online Film & Television Association award.

His career has spread from music to other areas and does not stop until today. Busta Rhymes can occasionally be heard on the recordings of contemporary young rappers or see in an interview. Judging from his temperament, one can expect even a new album, which will bring a breath of freshness, difficult to extract by rap - retirees.
I am a big fan of this character and I would be happy to listen to new recordings with him, but even if I do not, I am grateful to him for a good piece of music and a big part in the history of Hip-hop!