Busta Rhymes – The Big Bang

    Man, this album review shit
    ain’t as easy as it seems. It is hard to just review the album at hand and not
    review the man (or woman as it may be). Quality of the album aside, is The Big Bang really a Busta Rhymes album? But we’ll get to
    that in a minute. The legacy of Bussa
    Bus
    can’t really be called into question, as a young man he was
    show-stealing frontman of Native Tongue
    little brothers Leaders of the New
    School
    . It was only natural that the high energy emcee would go
    solo and he did just that with the ridiculous single “Woo-Hah!
    (Got You All In Check)”
    in 1996. But as it would become the trend
    of his career, the album didn’t live up to the hype of the single. Year after
    year, Busta would steal
    the spotlight with blazing guest verses, drop a crazy catchy single and then
    disappoint with the LP. One thing that was always consistent was Busta bouncing off the walls,
    displaying that charisma that long made him one of Hip Hop’s most loved.

    Fifteen years since his
    debut, Busta isn’t
    quite packing the energy he used to. Understandable right? He is in his mid
    30’s now…or is that not the reason? Since Busta signed to Dre’s
    “keep it gangsta” Aftermath
    powerhouse we’ve witnessed a slow, subtle crafting of a newer, harder Busta Rhymes. Just check the mean mug
    on the album cover or listen to when he refers to himself as a “street emperor”
    or talks some killer and drug shit on “Cocaina.” “The
    mo’ niggas I murda/the mo’ money/the mo’ the merrier.
    ” Who is that
    rapping? Thing is, the song is dope as Busta
    growls over Dre’s keys.
    The funny thing is on the very next song (“You Can’t Hold A Torch”),
    Busta and Q-Tip chastise bullshitting rappers
    for not representing right. You can’t help but wonder if he’s rapping into the
    mirror. The newfound drug interest continues as Busta trades coke-cooking stories with the Chef himself, Raekwon. But again, “Goldmine”
    is a real dope song boasting a Doc Dre
    and E Double
    co-production, so I can’t complain. More tough talk abounds on “Don’t
    Get Carried Away”
    – the song title, not a suggestion – as Nas steals the show on the sinister Dre track.

    The rest of the album is
    much easier to digest. You’ve either got incredible tracks like the
    autobiographic Stevie Wonder-assisted
    Been
    Through The Storm”
    or the harsh “Legends of the Fall Offs.”
    Or you’ve got utter trash like “I Love My Bitch” and “How We
    Do It Over Here
    .” The Q-Tip
    and Marsha featured “Get You
    Some”
    is dope, “New York Shit” is cool, and Timbaland produced “Get Down”
    is eeehhh. It’s the typical inconsistency that’s always plagued the Dungeon Dragon. The difference here
    is that The Big Bang is
    put together more cohesively than his other works, but that is no surprise with
    the Doctor at the helm.

    If I want to hear some
    gangsta shit, I can assure you that I’m not gonna skim through my Busta Rhymes collection. He has
    always been about the rah rah shit to get the party jumping, not weaving tales
    of ki’s and burners with the digits scrapped off. After 15 years in the game we
    are just finding out Busta Rhymes
    has been grinding his axe on the corner? No. This is a fabricated, “this-is-what-the-label-wants”
    Busta Rhymes. While I
    may have little use personally for this version, I won’t deny that The Big Bang is a dope album.

    One thought on “Busta Rhymes – The Big Bang

    1. Looking back at this album I can say it is a great album, it was a different sound for Busta but with Dr. Dre overseeing the project you can’t lose. It had a focus and a high quality sound throughout (except for songs like I love m bitch, but I forgive Busta for that because it was for the girls and radio. That high quality and focus was lost on the album after this “B.O.M.B.S” but hopefully Busta will get back on track with his next album “E.L.E 2”.

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