Although he has been somewhat overlooked at times due to his mediocre work in the latter parts of his career, rapper Busta Rhymes has proven that he truly is one of the most intriguing and unique characters in hip-hop history.
Bursting on the scene as a solo artist in 1996, Busta rose to the status of hip-hop superstar on the strength of his debut album "The Coming", which was a huge commercial and critical success. The album peaked at number 6 on the Billboard 200 and one of the tracks was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance.
On that first album, with the help of guest starts such as Q-Tip, Redman, Charlie Brown and Keith Murray, Busta showed off his interesting rapping style and delved into a topic he would take on frequently in his career (including on his next album), the apocalypse.
With his second album "When Disaster Strikes", released a year later in the fall of 1997, Busta uses that topic as a framing device, portraying himself and everyone else in a place where the rules don't exactly apply anymore. While the theme doesn’t stick to every single track on the album, it gives the whole set list a unique vibe and made Busta's album stand apart from what was being released by other artists at the time.
The album is much longer than "The Coming", sitting at 19 tracks, many of them some of Busta's best work. While most of the tracks are excellent, "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See", "Rhymes Galore", "Get High Tonight" and "Dangerous" stand out above the rest.
"Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See" easily has one of the best beats on the album. Busta's flow is more laid back than on most of the tracks on album, which is one reason why it works so well. I have always been a big fan of the chorus, which has always stuck in my memory all these years because of how simple, yet catchy it is: "Do you really wanna party with me/Let me see just what you got for me/Put all your hands where my eyes could see/Straight buck wylin in the place to be."
On "Rhymes Galore" Busta raps with ferocity and speed, never losing track of the beat or his train of the thought. It's impressive how distinct Busta sounds, especially on this track. He brings on one of his best verses on the entire album when he raps: "Dominatin like Kings Dominion/Leanin on niggas like we on motorcycles pop a wheel-e and/A yo number one Roman numeral completing the executional shit is usual/I ain't scared of ya/Takin all of ya powafenalia/That's my words on misses Mahelia/Hope you know your best bet/Just to get the fuck out of my area."
"Dangerous" is easily the most well-known track on the album, and it might also be the best. The track was nominated from a Grammy and has Busta spitting amazing line after amazing line. The chorus is absolutely fantastic, and what makes it even more interesting is the fact that it was a slogan used in the '80s by the Long Island Regional Poison Control Council warning children of the danger of loose prescription medications.
The chorus is instantly recognizable, with Busta rapping: " This is serious/We could make you delirious/You should have a healthy fear of us/'Cause too much of us is dangerous."
I think the last verse of the track is Busta's best as he raps with seom ferocity: " Feelin the heat up in the street rockin the beat/Step up in the club, take me to my reserved seat/Comin around, all of my people surround me/So much bottles are leakin, ya'll brothers will drown me/Makin ya drunk, feelin the fun, blazin the skunk/Stay hitten with the shit that blow a hole in ya trunk/Afraid of us, you know this ain't no game to us/You strange to us that's when we gettin dangerous/Come on."
It's almost funny to look back now and hear Busta's paranoia about the apocalypse that never came (well not yet at least), but before 2000 there were a decent amount of people afraid about what could happen with 'Y2K'. Nevertheless I think Busta's point was about more than an actual apocalypse; he realized things were changing in the world, and looking back now that is definitely true.
One thing that made "When Disaster Strikes", work so well was Busta Rhymes himself. His distinct style and sarcastic yet playfully serious tone throughout the album make it one of the most interesting releases of the late 1990s. The album shined the light back on East Coast rap in the mainstream after the West Coast had been dominating for some years prior. "When Disaster Strikes" is Busta's most original work, and is definitely a classic.
No comments:
Post a Comment