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Busta Rhymes (real name: Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., 1972-) is an American rapper. He is known for his distinctive style that combines rapid-fire delivery with a Reggae-influenced flow, gonzo humour and Large Ham tendencies.
Named after Vikings wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes by Chuck D, Busta was born in the Red Hook area of New York to Jamaican parents. He was part of rap crew Leaders of the New School while still in high school; he first entered the hip-hop mainstream by appearing on A Tribe Called Quest's posse track "Scenario" (known these days as the verse that inspired Nicki Minaj's "dungeon dragon" hook from "Roman's Revenge").
Studio albums
- The Coming (1996)
- When Disaster Strikes... (1997)
- E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front (1998)
- Anarchy (2000)
- Genesis (2001)
- It Ain't Safe No More... (2002)
- The Big Bang (2006)
- Back on My B.S. (2009)
- Year of the Dragon (2012)
- Boastful Rap: A lot.
- The End of the World as We Know It: His albums When Disaster Strikes and Extinction Level Event: The Final World Front (and its upcoming sequel) deal with apocalyptic themes.
- Excited Episode Title: Even Busta's titles are hammy! Observe: "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check", "There's Only One Year Left!!! (Intro)", "What's It Gonna Be?!" (surprisingly excited for a ballad that features Janet Jackson), "What the Fuck You Want!!", "This Means War!!", "Salute Da Gods!!", "Bladow!!", "Get Out!!". He stopped doing it after Anarchy, for some reason.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: The line "movin' so fast it blow-dries ya asshole" exists, uncensored, on the track he contributed to the soundtrack of The Rugrats Movie.
- Glam Rap: Busta's later albums (usually starting after Anarchy) have sometimes been criticised for abandoning his apocalyptic themes and surreal humour and moving more towards this direction. (Compare "Arab Money" to "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See", for instance.)
- Heterosexual Life Partners: With producer Swizz Beatz.
- Hey, It's That Voice!: He played Flonominal on The Boondocks, as well as the Reptar-Mobile in The Rugrats Movie.
- Large Ham: Busta Rhymes is one of rap's shining beacons of ham-ness.
- Motor Mouth: For a recent example with radio airplay, check his verse on Chris Brown's "Look at Me Now". His fastest rhyming is on E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event), specifically his collaboration with Mystikal, "Iz They Wildin Wit Us & Gettin' Rowdy Wit Us?"
- Overly Long Gag: The intro to Extinction Level Event, "There's Only One Year Left!!! (Intro)", has a long monologue wherein Busta recounts what will happen after The End of the World as We Know It in increasingly comical detail.
- Rap Rock: "This Means War!!!"--which samples Black Sabbath's "Iron Man"--and "We Made It" with Linkin Park.
- Sampling: "Touch It" famously sampled "Technologic" by Daft Punk.
- The chorus of "Dangerous" samples the first four lyrics from "We're Not Candy", a 1983 Long Island Regional Poison Control Council Public Service Announcement warning children that pills are not candy.
- The chorus of of "Gimme Some More" samples part of the soundtrack from the original 1960 version of Psycho.
- Signature Song: ...is it "Scenario", or "Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check"? "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See"? "Gimme Some More"? "What's It Gonna Be?!"