"POWERFUL IMPACT..."

  

  "POWERFUL IMPACT, BOOM, FROM THE CANNON..." IS SUCH A FAMILIAR PHRASE AND VERSE FROM THE ONE, THE ONLY, THE INCOMPARABLE BUSTA RHYMES.  IT ONLY MAKES SENSE TO DISCUSS THIS HIP HOP ICON, WITH OVER TWENTY YEARS (AND COUNTING) IN THIS MUSICAL GAME WE HAVE ON OUR HANDS.  BUSTA HAS BEEN A FIXTURE SINCE GEORGE BUSH (THE FATHER, NOT THE BUMBLING SON) WAS IN OFFICE, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN.  IN THAT TIME, WE HAVE SEEN SO MUCH THAT I DON'T HAVE THE TIME OR PATIENCE TO LIST THE RELEVANT POINTS.  LET'S JUST SAY THAT HIS "INFLUENCE IS STILL SHININ'', QUOTE UNQUOTE. 

     WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN WHEN DISCUSSING ONE TREVOR TAHEIM SMITH, JR.?  IT WOULD BE EASY ENOUGH TO TALK ABOUT HIS LEADERS OF THE NEW SCHOOL REGIME, SO I DON'T THINK I WILL EVEN START AT THAT POINT.  IT SEEMS THAT THE BUZZ FOR MR. RHYMES HAS BEEN IN THE AIR, FROM A LIKE-MINDED AFFIRMATION FROM B-MORE EMCEE/POET/ARTIST LAST BORN CHILD, TO A SIMPLE, YET WELL-NEEDED FACEBOOK POST ABOUT SAID ARTIST.  HE'S BEEN BLAZING TRAILS ON THE FEATURE FRONT FOREVER.  EVEN NOW, CATCH HIS SCENE-STEALING SONG WITH CHRIS BROWN AND LI'L WAYNE, "LOOK AT ME NOW".



HAS BUSTA RHYMES EVER REALLY FELL OFF?  IN MY EYES, ABSOLUTELY NOT!  HE HAS ARGUABLY BEEN THE MOST CONSISTENT ARTIST IN HIP HOP (JAY-Z NOTWITHSTANDING).  I CAN'T PINPOINT A TIME OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF DECADES WHERE THIS DYNAMIC ARTIST HAS RELEASED OR DROPPED WACKNESS, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.  IT JUST HASN'T OCCURRED.  NOW BECAUSE OF THE NATURE OF THE MUSIC BUSINESS, RECORD SALES HAVE DROPPED ACROSS THE BOARD WITH MOST ARTISTS, INCLUDING BUSTA.  FROM '96 TO THE PRESENT BUSTA HAS BEEN EVER-PRESENT IN THE HIP HOP SPHERE, AND PRIOR TO HIS SOLO DEBUT, HE WAS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH AND AN ARTIST THAT WOULD STEAL THE SHOW.  IN FACT, HE STILL IS!  TIME AND TIME AGAIN HE HAS PROVEN HIS WORTH AND METTLE, BY DROPPING OUT OF THIS WORLD LYRICAL CONTRIBUTIONS.  "TOUCH IT".  "NEW YORK SH-T".  "MAKE IT CLAP".  "BREAK YA NECK".  HIS HEAT ON THE DJ KHALED-PRODUCED "ALL I DO IS WIN (REMIX)".

 

     THERE ARE SO MANY EXAMPLES OF HIS LYRICAL PROWESS,BUT I'M GOING TO LEAVE THE FLOOR AND BLOG OPEN FOR POSITIVE DIALOGUE AND DEBATE WHEN IT COMES TO ONE OF HIP HOP'S GIANTS, AN ARTIST WHOSE ALMOST-MIDAS TOUCH IN THE GAME IS SOMETHING TO TRULY BEHOLD.  SO WHAT DO YOU SAY WHEN IT COMES TO BUSTA RHYMES?  IS HE INDEED MR. "POWERFUL IMPACT"?  DOES HE HAVE A TRACK-RECORD THAT IS BAR-NONE?  I THINK THAT 2011 IS GOING TO BE A SPECIAL YEAR FOR BUSTA RHYMES.  FROM MY UNDERSTANDING, THE FOLLOW-UP TO HIS 1998 CLASSIC ALBUM EXTINCTION LEVEL EVENT (FINAL WORLD FRONT) WILL BE RELEASED.  EXTINCTION LEVEL EVENT 2 IS SURE TO OFFER THAT NECK-SNAPPING, ENERGETIC,   ALMOST APOCALYPTIC HIP HOP WE HAVE ALL COME TO EXPECT FROM BUSTA. 

WE SHALL SEE...