Like many long-time Busta Rhymes fans, it was disheartening to watch his once-promising tenure at Aftermath dissipate into a miasma of acrimony, artistic failure, and ridiculous coke and crime boasts. As one person aptly put it: “How can Busta be bragging about all the weight he’s moved? Dude was on “Scenario.”
Thing is, after having releasing a steady string of good-to-great music for the last 18 years, Busta earned the right to a creative dry spell. He’s a legend, and things made more sense when he explained that the coke and crime shift was a reflection of the criminal charges he was facing, the loss of Israel Ramirez, the struggles with Interscope, and general dissatisfaction with the state of his life.
The man also gets points for being one of my favorite interviews ever. Had he not been cut off abruptly due to a meeting he was already an hour late for, our talk was well on its way to entering Barbara Walters-confessional territory. Unfortunately, I didn’t even get the chance to ask about the best way to get “Arab Money” during a recession. Back to Trader Joe’s Chicken Lo Mein bowls, I suppose. As always, interview B-sides after the jump.
LA Times: A Reinvigorated Busta Rhymes Skirts Controversy, Talks New Album
Download:
MP3: Busta Rhymes-“Don’t Touch Me (Throw ‘Da Water on Em”)
MP3: Busta Rhymes & Billy Danze-“Undescribable”
“Don’t Touch Me (Throw ‘Da Water On Em)” seemed to mark a comeback for you. It had been a long-time since we had a crazy, off-the-wall Busta party record. What was the creative process like there? Did you just go in once Sean C and L.V. gave you that beat?
When I make music, it’s a simple process. I don’t overthink songs, because when I start to overthink a record, it feels contrived. I got the beat from Sean C and LV and I couldnt stop writing. That’s why it has four verses–most songs only have three, but I put 4 16-bar verses on their because the beat gave me so much energy. THe lyrics were spilling out of the pen and I was feeling really good about the energy and letting whatever came to mind take me. I didn’t want to over-think it and try too hard. Once it comes to me, I just give it the way I experience at the time.
A few days later, I go back and listen to it. If I still love it the way I did when I first recorded it in the booth, then that song gets heard. If I don’t feel it the same way, then the world will never hear it. I definitely was a big fan of that Sean C and L.V. beat though, but you you know I’ve really known them since the Wu-Tang album at Loud. They’re from the Golden Era and they know what it is, they know how to rep the music properly.
Was it difficult to stay patient for this album to drop, while trying to sort out the legal difficulties with Aftermath?
Nah, the wait wasn’t tough waiting to get it out there. I had to wait because my situation with Aftermath/Interscope; well, not really on the Aftermath side. The problem was the situation wasn’t how it needed to be, for me to get what I felt I needed on my project. Thankfully, Jimmy Iovine let me explore my options and grow elsewhere. I do thank Jimmy Iovine for that, because it could’ve been a really complicated situation that would’ve led to more time being lost.
When I went over to Universal Motown, I decided to record a whole new album. I kept a few songs from the B.O.M.B. project, but 80 percent is new. When I got back with Sylvia Rhone, it just reinvigorated me in a whole new way.
You definitely can hear that old energy on a lot of the new material.
I think so; did you hear the “Renaissance Rap Remix?”
I did. It was great. Really, that entire Q-Tip album was excellent in that not only did it have great songs, but it felt simultaneously anachronistic and of its time. You don’t often hear many vets capable of moving forward while staying true to their roots.
Thank you so much, I feel blessed to hear that from someone who understands. A lot of the younger generation today doesn’t understand and we’re trying to make sure they get a thorough understanding–a good dosage of that classic boom-bap shit.
You have a Dilla beat on the album, correct?
Unfortunately, no Dilla beats. It’s not because I didn’t want Dilla beats, it’s because I tried to go through the proper procedure to get tracks from Dilla’s stash. As you know, I’d never put out an album without a Dilla track–you can go through every album.
It was difficult was because of the dealings with the estate. I used to be able to call Dilla’s mother and handle my B.I. with Ma Dukes and everything would be cool. The estate implemented some sort of new way of doing things when it comes to getting a Dilla track. I’m not saying they’re not doing the right thing, I respect whatever the process is, it just wasn’t conduvice in terms of the time limits of doing the album. I’ve been trying to deal with about getting a Dilla track for well over a year and a half. So I told myself that I needed a second to step back to figure out a new way to approach the situation–to figure out another approach so i might have more succesful results next time.
Don’t think I’m abandoning my desire to have J Dilla contributions to the project, I just had to move forward. I just couldn’t hold up the process when there were so many people involved, from other artists, to producers, to executives. I gotta’ keep the ball rolling and I figured, I’m always going to do the music thing until I decide to hold up and bow out grafefully. But that’s ain’t no time soon–expect me to keep doing a lot more work.
Dilla was the best producer in the world, and to this day I’ve never been given the same feeling from another producers work, that I was given by a J Dilla production. Dilla is forever in my heart and forever in my music.
Did you hear about the orchestral Suite for Ma Dukes that they performed in LA. They did symphonic renditions of everything from “Fall in Love,” to “Nag Champa,” to “Find a Way.” Common came out, Illa J, Ma Dukes, Dwele, Bilal, Pos of De La, and Kweli.
Absolutely not, but I wish I had, that shit sounds incredible.
I know the organizers were trying to get at you, but they probably didn’t have the right lines of communication or something.
Man, I’d have dropped everything to be there.
I think you can see some of it on You Tube actually.
[Asks his friend to find it on You Tube]. Man, thank you so much for telling about this. I’m going to reach out to Ma Dukes right when I get off the phone. I need to make sure she’s doing okay, I haven’t been doing that great of a job communicating with her lately–thank you in more than one way for reminding me and mentioning these things. J Dilla’s mother has been such a resourceful, wonderful woman in her career, just for creating a genius like J Dilla, and for making it comfortable for him to do his music. I love that woman, anything she asked me for I’d give to her. Anything she wants, if I could draw blood from a stone for her I would. She’s such a good person and all the people that are fans of J Dilla, who have benefited from his work directly or indirectly, have a respnsilbity to make sure that we continue to support his work, and help from a financial standpoint to provide for his family. It’s so important to continue the tradition.
I actually saw Illa J perform a few weeks ago too, and it was incredible to see the outpouring of support people that had for his music and for Dilla.
I’m a big fan of Illa J. When I used to go and chill with Dilla, I never knew that Illa J was an MC too. He used to make beats and I always thought he was just trying to do the production thing. When I found out that he spit, I was crazy impressed. That boy gets busy and it’s good to see he’s carrying on the family legacy.
What do you think it was about Dilla’s music that meant so much to you and so many artists and fans?
I just feel like Dilla never did shit that was compromised. He would never compromise who he was or his music even the slightest bit. I think that people could hear that in music, because it reflected his personality and the significant value he had for the integrity of the music. He never took the conventional route. Not only did he do shit in a unique way, but he did it a way that was genius, that gave you the urge to want to hear it again and again and again, it was like it was a drug addiction.
I think Dilla just knew what he had to do, he understood what his obligation to the music was, he understood what his destiny was, was what his contribution was intended to be. I don’t know if he knew that he’d have that this kind of effect posthumously. I just think he wanted to make shit that made people feel good and capture the music. He repped hip-hop in the purest form, and he never wanted to be in the front. He’d let the music speak for him.
He was so comfortable in his own skin. I remember when I wanted Dilla to come to New York to mix the Anarchy album, but he didn’t like the environment. He loved New York, but he just couldn’t be overwhelmed by the envuironment. He’d never stick around longer than he had to. There’d be moments when Dilla would be like, I’m not coming to New York and he would tell me, if you need me to come, then you can mix it yourself. And I’d be laughing on the other end of the phone, being like ‘this man, he plays by his own rules, and if you can’t appreciate and respect him for his shit, than who are you gonna’ respect?’
He was brutally honest in a good way, he did what loved and never did anything that made him feel uncomfortable, even if it meant missing out on a great opportunity. So I told him, ‘if you don’t want want to come to NY, I love you, you’re my brother.’ It’s funny, Dilla never called me Busta. He always called me Godfather and always referred to me as the James Brown of hip-hop. He never called me Busta once, that’s the legendaryJ Dilla for you.
One thing that separates you from other exceptional MC’s is that you’ve been able to consistently write hit singles. A lot of great rappers have never been able to do that. Is that just a natural attribute you have or was that something you had to learn?
I’ve been very blessed to have excellent models when I was an up and coming artist. I was able to stand closely to great people while trying to figure out this matrix. I was given my name by Chuck D, and my understanding of the business and how to be a well-rounded artist came from Chuck too. He’s my father in the music biz and he beat me in the head with the understanding, and the the importance of being well-rounded: you need good concepts, lyrics, attitude, you need to perform at a stellar level. I always took that advice applied it to all of my shit.
I understand when you do a record, you’re not always making a record just for motherfucking lyrical motherfuckers. There are a lot of different demographics for people. I love people that are fans of hip-hop, but my focus primarily is to make fans out of people that don’t have any interest in hip hop in the first place. It’s too easy to make a hip-hoppers happy, because they understand all the dynamics, as long as you rep the culture right, that shit is effortless.
I don’t want that to be misunderstood, the consumer of hip hop has high standards. They won’t condone bullshit, I want to make sure the real fans of hip hop know that I respect and appreciate the relationship as far as fan to artist goes. But I want that consumer who has no idea what hip hop is about, I want to make sure that they’re automatically attacted to my shit, and it gives them a good feeling and makes them intrigued. I don’t want to compromise the approach, but instead make it so they understand my creative approach, and last but not least, they want to be a part of it. A lot of it has to do with my understanding of how to distinguish between making a lyrical reecord vs. making a “good song” with catchy melodies and clever metaphors, that’s not necessarily hip-hop oriented
On Back on My B.S.
It’s different from my previous albums, but I’ve always done things differently as an artist. I always try to have first-time moments that haven’t been done prior. I was the first one to have Janet Jackson, Lenny Kravitz, and Ozzy Osbourne on my albums. The first one to have Stevie wonder and Rick James. It’s something that I’ve always been good at doing, and I always try to maintain it to show some appreciation to the artists who inspire me. On this album, we have incredible people contributing to make those eventful moments.
“There’s a song called, “Decisions” produced by Mr. Porter that’s just crazy. We’re got a song with Jamie Foxx, Mary J. Blige, Common, John Legend and myself, all on the same song. It’s examples like that that make me poke my chest out and feel good about it. It doesn’t matter what album you pick up in hip hop or any genre of music, if you walk to the ends of the earth, you won’t find an event like that. The greatness of the event stands alone– very rarely will you find find an event just for the record. When you listen to this Busta Rhymes album, you’re getting things you can’t hear anyone else. I’ve got, “Respect My Conglomerate,” with Jadakiss and Young Jeezy, I’ve got a track called “Hustler’s Ambition,” with T-Pain.
I’ve got an incredible record in interview format, featuring Big Tigga from BET asks me me questions and I answer them in rhyme format. It’s an incredible song conceptually. I’ve got one of the funniest comedians in Mike Epps. I’ve got the beautiful Estelle on my album and Pharrell, the reggae artist Demarco. They’ve all helped me make this album very eventful.
