Busta Rhymes – Slap (feat. Conway the Machine & Big Daddy Kane) [Single]

Busta Rhymes emerged as one of the most idiosyncratic personalities of rap’s golden era with his halting, ragga-inspired style and lyrics defined by incredible complexity, inventiveness, and humor. After rising to prominence with his group , Busta broke out solo in 1996 with a massive hit single, “Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check.” Throughout the ’90s and 2000s, he was a force to be reckoned with, topping the charts with his albums and even debuting at number one in 2006 with his seventh studio album, The Big Bang. In the years that followed, he worked as a producer while also pursuing roles in film and television, remaining sporadically active with his own music with releases like 2020’s Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God.

Busta Rhymes was born Trevor Smith Jr. in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, in 1972. Born of Jamaican heritage (a definite influence on his rapping style), Busta moved to Long Island in 1983 and, at Uniondale High School, met up with MCs Charlie Brown, Dinco D., and Cut Monitor Milo. Inspired by fellow Long Islanders and , the foursome united as and signed a deal with right out of the gate, when Busta was only 17 years old. Much respected in the hip-hop underground for their Afrocentric philosophy and tough rapping styles, debuted in 1991 with Future Without a Past… but released only one more album, 1993’s T.I.M.E., before breaking up the following year.

Out on his own for the first time, Busta called on some friends, appearing on ‘s “Scenario,” the incredible remix of ‘s “Flava in Ya Ear” (also featuring and ), as well as other projects with , , and . He appeared in the 1995 John Singleton film Higher Learning and earned a solo contract with . Busta’s first album, The Coming, proved a huge hit; the single “Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check” hit the Top Ten and pushed the album into gold record territory. His second full-length, When Disaster Strikes, debuted at number three in September 1997. Extinction Level Event followed a year later, and in mid-2000 Busta released Anarchy while appearing on the silver screen in a remake of the blaxploitation classic Shaft. It Ain’t Safe No More arrived in 2002 and the -released The Big Bang followed in 2006. Creative differences with kept his career on hold until 2009, when Back on My B.S. became his first album for .

Subsequent label issues would delay a proper follow-up until three years later. During that time, Busta appeared on tracks with , , , , , , and . He signed with Cash Money in 2011, but the union was brief; Busta would later part ways with the label. In 2012, he released his ninth effort, Year of the Dragon, as a free digital download. The album featured , , and , among others. A joint EP with and titled Calm Down: The Clash arrived in 2014.

In 2016, Busta featured on “My Shot” from the chart-topping Hamilton Mixtape. That same year, he released the Return of the Dragon: The Abstract Went on Vacation mixtape just in time for the holidays. The collection contained a stacked roster of guests including , , and , , , , , , and Busta’s original crew, , on the track “We Home.” The following year, he issued the track “Girlfriend” with and . He offered up another stand-alone single in 2018 with “Get It,” featuring guest cameos from and . In October 2020, he released his tenth studio album, Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God, which featured appearances from , , and others.