Busta Rhymes - The Big Bang
 (Aftermath/Interscope Records)

- reviewed by Chris G.

It's hard being Busta Rhymes. He is one of the, if not the most, quality consistent, energetic music making artists in hip-hop. At the same time that he's being 'animated' he manages to drop a bucketful of lyrics that go unheard and unappreciated. It may not seem like a problem given the cash he has on hand, as opposed to artists struggling to put together a few royalty checks to put rims on a Benz they can't really afford. In Busta's mind he can do better than he has: "more marketing, push the album, and no, I'm not doing another "Put Your Hand's Where My Eyes Could See."

When Busta signed to J Records he thought the Clive Davis magic would brush off on his career, but that failed to materialize. He'd get one look at a single and everyone involved would lose attention. In part because the big singles weren't there, good records, but nothing that'll make you slap your momma.

Busta thought different. I'm outta here.

With his freedom papers in hand Busta signed to Aftermath; 16 years in the game and here he was on a championship team. Peeking in the studio, he had the ears of Dr.Dre to guide his project and the swollen pockets of Interscope to fuel the flames, can you say Big Bang? more..

- reviewed by Chris G.

It's hard being Busta Rhymes. He is one of the, if not the most, quality consistent, energetic music making artists in hip-hop. At the same time that he's being 'animated' he manages to drop a bucketful of lyrics that go unheard and unappreciated. It may not seem like a problem given the cash he has on hand, as opposed to artists struggling to put together a few royalty checks to put rims on a Benz they can't really afford. In Busta's mind he can do better than he has: "more marketing, push the album, and no, I'm not doing another "Put Your Hand's Where My Eyes Could See."

When Busta signed to J Records he thought the Clive Davis magic would brush off on his career, but that failed to materialize. He'd get one look at a single and everyone involved would lose attention. In part because the big singles weren't there, good records, but nothing that'll make you slap your momma.

Busta thought different. I'm outta here.

With his freedom papers in hand Busta signed to Aftermath; 16 years in the game and here he was on a championship team. Peeking in the studio, he had the ears of Dr.Dre to guide his project and the swollen pockets of Interscope to fuel the flames, can you say Big Bang?

Ironically another kind of bang took some attention away from the initial album push, the only thing ears wanted to hear from him was related to the death of his bodyguard. I think the streets know that he was in a tough place: to tell the police everything he knew would have him labeled as a snitch, which could kill his entire career and reputation. He'd really be looked at differently, when snarling and barking on stage. On the other hand, this guy dies senselessly. What to do? Keep the music going and bless his family with whatever they need.

The positive within that negative situation was eyes were on Busta when maybe no one would have cared at all. "Touch It" wasn't the best record to light the fuse of this Big Bang. Then came "I Love My B*tch," again another uh.. OK song. But the video is outstanding. Listening to the album though, they were both clearly the equivalent of flicking the lighter on the explosive material the album contains: this is the best album Busta has recorded since "When Disaster Strikes" [the one with 'Put Your Hands Where My Eyes' / 'Dangerous'].

From end to end there is nothing but high-quality sounds. The best thing for someone who grew up on hip-hop from the roota to the toota, was to hear Q-Tip brought back from the cave he's been banished to since trying sing and do the solo bop. But as enjoyable as "Get You Some" is it's merely an appetizer for the later track "You Can't Hold The Torch" where Q-Tip makes another appearance along with a kid named Chauncey Black. J. Dilla [r.i.p] uses the same Minnie Ripperton sample Q-Tip used on "Lyrics to Go" but chopped it even more to make an exquisite soundscape for the three of them to rip into wack rappers.

There's a lot of criticism about the lack of lyrical content in songs today, but the tongue lashing doesn't really get any better than this. The simple phrase: complex simplicity personified.

Elsewhere Busta does a tremendous job on "Cocaina" featuring Marsha from Floetry.

Raekwon gets the pull back too on "Goldmine." Yes, he's stopped comparing things to Grey Poupon.

"Been Through the Storm" features the greatest singer/producer soul music has ever known, Stevie Wonder [haha, yeah I'm giving props before he um.. drops]. The structure of the song is great and all, but in a sound test you'd be hard pressed to identify Stevie Wonder as the singer on the hook. There are no traits of the silky smooth vocals that he's known for. I'll give him a pass though, because he's.. The Wonder.

Singing and rap combinations are more successful on "In The Ghetto" featuring Rick James and "They're Out To Get Me" with a Mr. Porter. You can guess what "In The Ghetto" is about.. it's "They're Out To Get Me" that has me on the rewind button. If snares should snap, these things leave marks on the eardrums; crisp sounding drums and a bassline that envelopes the lyrics to perfection. At points in the song he addresses the more money more problems scenario in the context of friends and family who ask for money, spend it, only to come back with open palms again and again. When the denial comes, then come the f-ck you's. Lost so-called friends over money, but hey.. no more problems.

Mr. Porter puts a nice touch on the hook. Love that song.

The album's not all good.. just 98%. The horrible 2% is on Dre's shoulders. The stiff beat he's solely credited for on "Don't Get Carried Away" doesn't allow either Busta or Nas to have any reason too. That's one for the skip button.

For the most part though there is nothing to dislike. Even "Touch It" and " I love My B*tch" sound better in the context of the album.

Don't know if it'll make a Big Bang sales wise, but it's definitely the best hip-hop album I've heard so far this year.

back to the ratings..

Track By Track

-- Degrees --	10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90	100
1.  Get You Some
2.  Touch It
3.  How We Do It Over..
4.  New York Sh*t
5.  Through The Storm
6.  In The Ghetto
7.  Cocaina
8.  Can't Hold the Torch
9.  Goldmine
10. I Love My B*tch
11. Don't Get Carried..
12. They're Out To Get..
13. Get Down
14. I'll Do It All
15. Legend of the Fall Offs

0; $i--) {array_push($rev, $lines[$i]);} // Reverse order and display earliest entry first $lines=$rev; // Display 5 comments while ($i < 6){ list($key)= each ($lines); // split the data lines into a user array - user[0] is the name, user[1] is the date, [2] is the message, [3] is album rating [4 and up] are the individual track ratings $user = explode("#",$lines[$key]); // Check for latest entries and pop off the last item.. corrects bug in diplay programming $lastentry = explode("%",$content); $lastentry = array_pop($lastentry); // get it on the screen already.. :) echo ""; // increment loop variable $i++; } ?>

.