the same team. Shaq and Kobe can come from two different sides of the planet, but they have to know how to rock with each other in order for that team to be at their fullest capability. I just felt like that wasn’t happening when I was in other situations outside of Sylvia Rhone. It’s funny you bring up Shaq. Coming into this interview I was thinking about how you and Shaq’s current situations are similar. Two proven legends who all of a sudden find themselves playing for 3 or 4 different teams by the end of their careers. I read that Shaq is playing better now because he convinced the Suns to let him skip practice since he’s played so long and knows what he’s doing. Can something similar be said about your situation? The beauty in my situation is that it was understood when they brought me over here, so I didn’t even have to say it. The fact that that was understood and me not having to say it and me being allowed to do just that, it’s garnishing the great reactions and outcomes. The shit that we’re looking to accomplish is being successfully executed and being successfully accomplished. It’s good that you tell me that that’s the perspective Shaq is at, because [we’ve both] put so much time in. If people don’t get it by now that you understand what you’re doing, especially being one that’s been able to survive the many turning points and climate shifts in the game, then they ain’t ever gonna get it. If they ain’t never gone get, then those aren’t the people you need to be moving with. It’s dope that Shaq is putting his foot down. It’s not a disrespectful thing or a selfish thing because it’s not about not being willing to be a team player, it’s about helping your team understand that you are at a level where you understand not only do you have to be a team player but you have to bring your team to a victorious place if they allow you to do what you know how to do. What kind of sound can we expect from the Back On My Bullshit album? First and foremost, you can definitely look forward to the Busta Rhymes that you’ve all known to grow and love over the years. It’s actually doing that at a mastered level, the highest level of what Busta Rhymes can offer you. I’m in one of the most amazing stages of my life. Surviving a lot of the bullshit that I’ve had to deal with over the last couple of years with legal issues and the label transitions and just a lot of obstacle courses that helped me be able to find a piece of mind being that I was able to get past all that and find a tranquility in knowing that I’m back in a space where I can now say that I got shit under control the way that I’m use to having shit under control. Second of all, you’re gonna get the vintage Busta Rhymes sounding shit. There’s been distinctive moments in Hip Hop that has helped me garnish the success that I’ve gotten up to this point. You’re going to get that high energy, you’re gonna get that feel-good [music], you’re gone get the club bangers, the traditional club bangers that Busta Rhymes has always been able to offer the people and feed the streets. The beauty is that you’re gonna get it in a new way. I ain’t never one to try to recreate shit that has already been done in its own right successfully. Last but not least, you’re gonna get shit that you can go to the end of the earth and not find on anyone else’s album. I say that proudly with my chest poked out. I know for a fact that you may have some of the people that I have on your album, but you don’t have them on there the same way I have them on my album. Mary J. Blige, John Legend, Common, and Jamie Foxx have
done songs with other people, and they’ve done amazing, historic records with other people. But the one thing that’s never been done is having all of those people on the same song with Busta Rhymes. The tracklisting for the album lists a lot of features. You’re known for working with a lot of people, period. But why did you decide to work with so many people on this album? I work with people that make the song sound the way it’s supposed to sound when it’s finished. So a lot of times I don’t choose the people, the song chooses the people for me. A lot of the time when I make the song I don’t hear who I’m gonna put on the song until the song is done. When I start playing the song for other people and letting people hear it, I start hearing voices that I think could contribute. I have a bunch of songs I’ve done with other people that will never see the light of day. I’m not into putting records out for novelty or celebrity. The record has to sound right and feel right before I share it with the world. A lot of times people ask me to be on the records too. When great people work together, they bring the greatness out of each other. Really, the song with all of us on there, when I wrote it, it was just supposed to be me and Mary, but word got around about the song and they all wanted to be a part of it. I just like to put together records that are eventful and have eventful moments throughout the project. You’ve built your name hopping on everyone’s songs and remixes. Do you think that plays a part in being able to put together songs like that for your albums? Absolutely. Not stroking my own ego, but I just think I’ve got a good ear for the music and I’m in tune with the music. I always make a conscious effort to make sure I understand what the music is doing at the time. But I definitely attribute that to my experience of working with other artists early in my career. Even currently, you can see me on everything that’s hot. I don’t stop spitting with anybody and everybody. Plus, the opportunities to show that I can still smash something are coming. I also have to acknowledge that I’m not always the person coming up with the idea. Does it feel different or the same hopping on records now? With technology, people just email and IM beats and verses now. It’s not the same because we’re never really in the studio together. Back then you didn’t have the internet to send the verse to somebody. Back then it was a lot of work involved, you had to drop the verse and FedEx the 2-inch tape reel. So it’s a lot less trouble to have someone come in and do it with you. For [Tribe Called Quest featuring Leaders of the New School’s] “Scenario” we were all in the studio together. Matter fact we was all in the mic booth hugged up so we could be as close to the mic as possible. We did all the group adlibs on the song together to make it live. Even Ali Shaheed was in the there. You and Ice Cube are two of the bigger names who left groups and went on to have even bigger success going solo. That said, how do you feel about the state of rap groups right now? I think groups are good as long as they work. I definitely miss the element of having groups in the game. Groups were dope. Groups are different from cliques. Cliques are like Wu-Tang. They were more of a clique than a group to me. Groups are dudes that you hear on every song together. They all interacted on each other’s verses. They had that thread that sowed them
together through their projects. As far as that not being as prominent part of the game anymore, I definitely miss it. I wanna see a group do their thing. I’m very much into Pac Div. I’m a big fan of theirs because they remind me of Leaders of the New School. I hope what they do as a group garners the success of the greats in the past. I see potential in groups still being able to do their thing, not just Pac Div, but the group element in Hip Hop period. I come from a group. I always wanted to maintain being in the group, but when you’ve gotta provide for your family, the disadvantage is that the bread isn’t secured if all the members don’t show up for shit. I think that’s why the group element isn’t as prominent in the game. When the important members in the group don’t show up, or y’all ain’t getting along and people come to shows and see that the important member ain’t there? It makes it bad for the rest of the members. Nowadays the economy is too fucked up to have people getting the way of how you get food for your family. Very true. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave you your name, right? Yes. He named us Leaders of the New School too. How do you feel about mentorship in the game right now? A lot of the new jacks are putting themselves on, which is great. But there’s also a sense of arrogance coming with it. I feel great about mentorship because I think some of us still find comfort in mentoring the new muthafuckas that are worthy. A lot of times you don’t see mentorship because these new artists come out like they don’t need mentoring or value the mentoring you try to give them. I think mentoring would be more prominent if muh’fuckas that needed it embraced it instead of acting like they know all the answers. Sometimes you gotta let a sleeping dog lie where they lay, that’s what my grandmother taught me. The karma comes back and bites them in the ass. So when someone don’t want to listen, just watch how the shit transpires when they act like they know all the answers and then come back around when they’re on their ass and say, “I should’ve listened.” By that time it’s too late for them. But I’m always willing to mentor those that are worthy. Most times they’re already showing the potential of being the next dude. But everybody ain’t worthy. Muthafuckers get the info and sciences and don’t use it right. It’s 2009. the way the world is going, a lot of this stuff in the news is stuff you damn near prophesized on every album since your first album The Coming. Do you think people missed what you were trying to say back then. I think a lot of the mainstream and Middle America consumers that didn’t really get into the depth of the projects didn’t get it because it wasn’t really about the theme of the album overall to them. It was more about the singles at the time and the record that had the elaborate videos and me clowning acting like a wild muthafucka. It attracted people and I did that to get them interested enough to get them to listen to the album so that they would get the core element of what I was doing with the music. Sometimes the singles supercedes what you want them to hear. I definitely feel that the rahrah overwhelmed the people. Did that frustrate you at all? Yeah, because I really wanted people to understand how much depth and substance I had and not just think I was on some loose cannon, crazy nigga shit. But with time you learn how to adjust OZONE MAG // 75