He is one of the most flamboyant figures in hip-hop, but beneath Busta Rhymes' blustery, outsized persona lies an artist whose passion for his craft is unassailable. Evidencing a
gift for verbal gymnastics matched by an uncanny ability to twist rhyme and meter to his own devices, Rhymes' style has been described (in Rolling Stone magazine) as resembling a
Jackson Pollock action painting set to a funk beat. Cartoon-ish videos, buffoon-ish costumes, and sly humor are all part of his arsenal, but then again, so are deeply philosophical
(albeit idiosyncratic) stances regarding politics, race relations, religion, Y2K, and world's determined acceleration (as he sees it) toward Armageddon. Indeed, Rhymes characterized
himself aptly in a Spin interview when he said, "I may be some crazy animated character in a video, but if that's all I was, I would've been thrown on the garbage pile a long time ago."
The son of an electrical contractor father and homemaker mother, Trevor Smith (AKA Busta Rhymes) was born in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, in 1972. His parents (who are native Jamaicans) moved the
family to Long Island when Rhymes was 12. Tall and angular, the future singer showed promise as a basketball player during his years at Uniondale High School, but it was music specifically hip-hop
that captured his heart. When not in class or on the basketball court, Rhymes often fled his suburban environs to hang out in the Bronx or in Queens, areas rife with the music that inspired him.
While in 10th grade, Rhymes entered a performing contest sponsored by Chuck D and Public Enemy. Emboldened by his good showing, he subsequently co-founded a group called Leaders of the New School, along
with friends Charlie Brown, Dinco D., and Cut Monitor Milo. Spending countless hours at Public Enemy's studio on Long Island, the group honed its skills and soon landed a contract with Elektra Records.
Only 17 at the time, Rhymes dropped out of school in order to devote himself exclusively to music.
Though they never achieved great commercial success, the Leaders of the New School garnered a cult following among the hip-hop community's more astute followers. Released in 1990 and 1993, respectively,
the group's two albums (titled Future Without a Past and T.I.M.E.) were steeped in tenets espoused by a secularized Islamic sect called Five Percent Nation, whose teachings Rhymes had begun to embrace in
his early teens. Founded in Harlem in 1964, this offshoot of the Nation of Islam subscribes to the belief that five percent of the world's population is privy to certain truths, while most of the remainder
of the human race faces an imminent, horrific day of reckoning. In addition to Rhymes, adherents to the philosophy include Rakim, Erykah Badu, and Queen Latifah.
As the Leaders of the New School's reputation soared, Rhymes began contributing his vocal talents to the work of other artists, and before long he found himself guesting on albums by Boyz II Men, Mary J. Blige,
and TLC, among others. Indeed, it was his star-turn contribution to A Tribe Called Quest's 1991 classic, "Scenario," that vaulted him to national prominence and foreshadowed greater things to come. Unfortunately,
as fate would have it, Rhymes' ascension toward stardom was marred by personal tragedy. Pregnant with the couple's first son in 1993, his then-girlfriend went into early labor in her fifth month, and gave birth to a 2-pound baby boy. The infant, who was christened Tahiem, survived for only two hours.
Deeply wounded, Rhymes nonetheless continued to immerse himself in his career, and indeed the 1994 birth of his second son named T'Ziah helped mitigate his earlier loss. Breaking away from the New Schoolers,
Rhymes juggled forays into film projects (he had a key role in the John Singleton movie Higher Learning) with work on his first solo album. Released in 1996, his debut, The Coming, was heralded as a milestone
in the evolution of hip-hop, and the album's first single, "Woo-Hah! (Got You All in Check)," quickly entered the Top 10. Evidencing a true entrepreneurial spirit, Rhymes poured profits from that album's sales
(as well as those generated by The Coming's 1997 follow-up, When Disaster Strikes) into his record company, Flipmode Entertainment. (Rhyme's other primary business venture, incidentally, is a line of clothing called Bushi.)
Managed by Rhyme's mother out of a small office in lower Manhattan, Flipmode Entertainment serves as corporate headquarters for a loose collective of artists, including its flagship group, the Flipmode Squad. Featuring longtime MC
friends Rampage, Serious, Spliff Star, Lord Have Mercy, Rah-Digga, and Baby Sham, as well as Rhymes himself, the Squad released The Imperial in September of 1998. The following November, Busta again appeared on the big screen this
time as the voice of the Reptar wagon in the animated Rugrats movie. He also contributed a song to the Rugrats soundtrack, "On Your Marks, Get Set, Ready, Go!" Both the movie and soundtrack were commercial successes.
Barely pausing to draw breath, Rhymes followed that with his third solo effort, titled Extinction Level Event - The Final World Front, in December.
Even more rife with apocalyptic warnings about the impending Y2K crisis than Rhyme's previous outings (the title is derived from the millennium-scare film Deep Impact), Extinction Level Event was a much-heralded affair. Featuring duets
with Ozzy Osbourne (on a remake of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man," rechristened "This Means War"), which is a very tight song, and Janet Jackson (on "What's It Gonna Be?!"), the album entered the Billboard charts at No. 13.
That fine showing, however, was marred by Rhyme's Dec. 27 arrest on a charge of unlawful weapons possession. (After stopping the singer for driving erratically, New York City police discovered a loaded, unregistered .45 caliber
semi-automatic handgun in his Mercedes.) To make matters worse, on March 17 of this year Rhymes was charged with violating a restraining order, as a result of allegedly phoning and making threats to his ex-girlfriend (who's also
the mother of his son). Both cases have yet to be adjudicated.
In the meantime, Rhymes was slated to join the likes of R. Kelly, Foxy Brown, Nas, and Deborah Cox on an extensive arena tour of the U.S. beginning in May. However, just two days before came a press release stating that "the concert
promoter made it impossible to mount a production that would be compatible with the kind of show Rhymes' fans have come to expect from the star." But don't dismay; the rapper promises to launch his own tour this summer.
  
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