Busta Rhymes and Janet Jackson have performed their 1998 joint hit “What’s It Gonna Be?!” at Madison Square Garden for the first time.
On Tuesday, (May 9), a fan captured footage of the two legendary artists performing the infectious song during Janet’s New York stop for her Together Again Tour.
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The two artists were performing and dancing with each other while the audience cheered and applauded them. After their performance, Bus-a-Bus heaped massive praise on Janet while showering her with gifts and elaborating on how their collaboration came about.
“We’re going to give you your flowers…. your botanical garden while you can smell them,” Busta Rhymes said as someone rolled out a huge bouquet of flowers. “In 1998, 25 years ago, I’m on the Belt Parkway going from Long Island to Manhattan, I’m listening to Janet Jackson do an interview with Angie Martinez when she was on Hot 97.
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“Janet Jackson was doing an interview promoting the Velvet Rope album. Angie Martinez asked her what rapper have you never worked with before that you would like to work with. She said Busta Rhymes. Excuse my language but I almost crashed my fucking car.”
He added: “To this day, our video is the most expensive Hip Hop video made in the history of Hip Hop culture.”
Busta ended his speech by wishing Janet a happy birthday (which is next week) and giving her a birthday cake to honor their collaboration.
After their performance, in true Busta Rhymes fashion, he took to Instagram and posted a lengthy caption expressing his gratitude for finally being able to perform his song with the iconic singer.
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“Tonight was one for EVERY HISTORY BOOK!! FIRST TIME EVER THE WORLD GOT TO WITNESS THE BEAUTIFUL QUEEN @janetjackson & Myself perform ‘WHAT’S IT GONNA BE’ IN 25YRS SINCE THE CREATION OF THE SONG FROM THE ‘EXTINCTION LEVEL EVENT’ ALBUM At @thegarden,” he wrote.
“Thank you Queen for having me tonight and being apart of this Dream Coming true. I’m forever Grateful and I love you sooooo much. Happy Early Bday Queen and Happy Mother’s Day and Happy 25yr Anniversary to our Classic.”
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Previously, Busta Rhymes spoke to OK! Magazine about Janet Jackson being his most memorable collaboration.
“I wasn’t tryna let her leave New York without making that official connection,” the Flipmode Squad MC said. “So Mona Scott [my manager] worked it out, we got a chance to speak on the phone, and we started to work out studio time on when we can record and where she’d like to record.
“And I just did everything I could possible do to create the most illustrious for her in the studio. I was losing my mind eternally but I had to keep my composure because we really had us a hit record. We created a milestone moment. It was magical.”
Meanwhile, in other Busta Rhymes news, he had a few choice words for rappers who perform with backing tracks during his set at this past weekend’s Lovers & Friends festival in Las Vegas.
While performing on the Bling Stage, Busta acknowledged how the younger generation of artists have lost the art of live performance. According to the Brooklyn native, his peers are “cut from a different cloth that they don’t manufacture anymore.”
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“We come from a time where there was no additives. no unnecessary mixing, and diluting, and tampering with the holy, sacred, and pure,” he said to the crowd.
“We [are] the holy, sacred and pure,” he added before launching into his verse from Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now.”
