All language subtitles for BEHIND THE MUSIC - 4 - Documentary (2021) -Hr

♪ If you really wanna party
with me ♪

♪ Let me see just what
you got for me ♪

♪ Put all your hands
where my eyes can see ♪

I'm definitely
a different person now

20 years later.

You just become your--your--

a much better version
of yourself,

learning from your mistakes,

and I'm very proud of, you know,
the 20-year-later Busta Rhymes.

[audience cheering]

Everybody up top,
we gonna do this Brooklyn style!

Get up out your seat, boy!

NARRATOR: He's the outrageous
renegade of rap.

♪ Tell me what
you really wanna do ♪

-He's so fast.
-[rapping rapidly]

He's so creative. He's not
scared to do something

that's super weird.
-♪ Break ya neck

He's that hot sauce, you know?

♪ Pass the Courvoisier

♪ Everybody sing it now

He's that flavor,
that extra spicy.

♪ Pass the Courvoisier

-Passion and energy.
-Busta Rhymes!

He's like a walking Rose Bowl.

When I hear the music,
it's an addiction for me.

-♪ Fire it up
-♪ Fire it up

♪ Say fire it up

With that passion for the beat,

Busta battled his way
to the top of the mainstream.

♪ Turn it up

♪ Now you know who holdin'
the throne, so gimme the crown ♪

Everything was moving
100,000 miles per second.

Busta Rhymes!

Busta!

[loud cheering]

But the deaths
of those closest to him

sent Busta down a dark path.

I didn't really give a fuck

about nothing
for a little while,

and this depression
started to happen.

He was heavy, heavy drinking
to hide the pain.

By 2019, he gained more
than 100 pounds,

and a night of heavy partying
nearly cost Busta his life.

[siren wailing]

I couldn't breathe.
It was a near-death situation.

[siren wailing]

But through tragedy, Busta
found the strength to recover...

I had to take a break,
get healthy, improve me.

...and regain his voice.

Do you understand
who this man is?

Do you understand
how hard he brings it,

[voice echoing]
how hard he brings it?

I wanted to dedicate myself
to that transformation.

Everything just started
to fall in place.

Come on!

Now 20 years

after his "Behind the Music"
episode aired,

Busta is reflecting
on key moments in his life...

You gotta continue
to secure the win.

♪ It's Bust' Rhymes,
ya goddamn snitch ♪

...giving new insights
on his troubles...

Please don't film this, B.

It was a stupid-ass move.

♪ Do not come after me, no,
you don't wanna do that ♪

...as he revels in his triumph
back as the king of hip-hop.

He's an icon.

♪ Everything about me new

Busta Rhymes never taking his
foot off the gas pedal again.

This is "Busta Rhymes:
The Story Behind the Music."

♪ I never left

♪ Bang a left

♪♪♪

-Rolling!
-October 2020.

Busta Rhymes finds inspiration
in a classic hip-hop beat

by Bell Biv DeVoe,

as he shoots a music video
for his latest album.

We're bringing a touch
of classic

'cause we gon' make the classic
just as dope or better.

♪ Don't this hit make
my... wanna ♪

♪ Wait, one sec,
hey, homie, what's hood? ♪

♪ Bouncin' on the beat like
the way you... should, oh ♪

♪ Oh, oh

It took more than a decade
for the iconic rapper

to finish
"Extinction Level Event 2."

Never gonna take this long
to put out another album again

until I'm bowing out gracefully.

[sniffles]

The love of the game
keeps him in.

He has the "it" factor,

and a lot of people
don't have that.

♪ Don't this hit make
my... wanna ♪

[explosion]

The album chronicles

the resurrection
of Busta Rhymes,

an artist deeply committed

to staying true to his music
and himself.

I think the most important thing
was just making sure

that I prioritize me again,
you know?

We get caught up in living

for so many other things
and other people,

you're not realizing how much
you need in you.

The moment of truth
has finally arrived.

♪♪♪

Busta Rhymes' journey
began in Brooklyn.

[reggae beat playing]

He was born Trevor Smith Jr.
in 1972

to Jamaican parents
in East Flatbush,

a melting pot
of West Indian culture.

♪♪♪

Trevor and his younger brother
had a strict upbringing,

raised in the conservative
Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Seventh Day Adventist
is a strict faith,

to the point where
there's certain things

that you can't eat,
certain ways to dress.

No alcohol, no smokin'.

I was a very disciplined man
in terms of the way

in which I brought up my kids.

Trevor understood that
very well.

My pops was a hard-working man,
and he took care of his family.

It was priority to him.

That is definitely what
I took from my father.

Right from the start,
Trevor was a child determined

to be both seen and heard.

Trevor was very rambunctious
as a child,

constantly banging
the pots and pans or anything.

My house, the, you know,
the reggae music was prominent.

Bob Marley, Gregory Isaacs,
Peter Tosh.

He would listen to all sorts
of music and dance a lot.

[chuckles]

CHIC: ♪ Good times

♪ These are the good times

The music that was on the radio

when I was like 8 or 9
was disco.

The disco thing was booming
at the time.

♪ Good times

But a hip-hop revolution
was about to change

the state of music.

♪ Dang-didang-dang,
da-dang-da-dang ♪

In the late '70s,
rap was born

on the streets of
Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.

♪ Go dang diddy dang di-dang
di-dang diggy diggy ♪

The dudes would cut it
on the two turntables.

You'd get an MC
that'd get on the mic.

It's hip-hop in its rawest form.

But as Trevor's romance with rap
was just beginning,

his parents' marriage
was coming to an end.

My moms and my pops had
a little fight or whatever,

just the arguing
and all of that.

I started to see
a little bit of that.

♪♪♪

Eventually,
his father moved out,

and when Trevor
was 10 years old,

his parents divorced.

Busta and his father were
very, very close.

Oh, my God. Very close
when he was a young boy.

♪♪♪

We'd been together
since he's been a baby.

And all of a sudden,
I weren't there.

So of course it was normal
for him to miss me.

Even though I knew him and my
mother wasn't getting along

and he had to bounce,

I just always felt like,
"You could still come around.

You got kids.
You need to come see your kids,

and if you ain't coming
to see your kids,

then I don't know
if I'm gon' wanna see you."

So you know,
as a result of that,

we wasn't cool for a while.

♪♪♪

After the divorce,
Trevor's mother

had to work longer hours
to make ends meet.

And for 11-year-old Trevor,
less parental supervision

meant more time in the streets.

He was staying out late,
coming home late.

As a mother, I was worried he
was getting involved in drugs.

♪♪♪

Smoking weed, getting into
the nickle-and-dime hustle

in the street.

You know,
I would get in trouble,

but I would never get charged
as an adult with anything

because I was a minor.

I did shit in the street
that I wanted to do.

It was never shit
that I had to do.

My moms always made sure
I was good.

I didn't need to do none
of this shit

that I ended up finding myself

mischievously getting
involved with.

I just loved being
in the middle of the bullshit,

and it was cool
to be in these things

with the kind of friends
that you kept.

Trevor's mom was determined
to get him off the street

and back on track, so in 1983,

she moved the family
to Uniondale, Long Island,

a world away from the blacktops
and block parties of Brooklyn.

♪♪♪

Long Island,
you got honor roll students,

and [bleep] I wasn't used
to being around.

I just felt out of place
in Long Island.

That wasn't my element,
you know?

[cheering]

So every weekend, he hopped
a train back to Brooklyn

and back to hip-hop.

We wanted to breakdance and pop
and do graffiti and rap.

I just missed that.

♪♪♪

Inspired by
the vibrant hip-hop culture,

Trevor set out
to express himself artistically,

bringing the Brooklyn vibe
back to his school

in Long Island.

I had heard wind of someone
from Brooklyn.

He's a breakdancer, a beatbox,
hip-hop lover like myself.

That's how we met. MCs used to
battle in front of the school.

Everybody would circle around
and see what we was doing.

You know, Brown would spit,
I'm beatboxing it.

You know, he started dissing me.

You know,
I started making fun of him

'cause he didn't wanna rap.

He wanted to battle Busta.

That pretty much did it for me.

At that point, I knew that
I wanted to rhyme because

I wanted to get back at Brown.

So he came back
the next day in the cypher,

and he torched me
in front of everybody.

I got on his ass. [chuckles]

In my mind already,
it's like,

that was the first person I was
gonna start my group with

'cause he had heart.

♪♪♪

Trevor, Charlie Brown,
and Dinco D

formed a group with Trevor's
cousin Milo as their DJ.

Charlie Brown had connections
at Long Island's

legendary 510 Franklin Street
Studio,

home base to the revolutionary
rap group Public Enemy.

♪ Yes, the rhythm, the rebel

♪ Without pause,
I'm lowering my level ♪

And in 1986, the teenagers
started hanging out at 510,

hoping for a break.

For a while, they weren't
interested in us

'cause they had a lot of groups.

They really, you know,
tried to prove

that they was gon' be hungrier

than anybody else that came up
into 510

because they was treated
the worst.

After months of trying
to get noticed,

Trevor and his crew planned
to show off their skills

at a talent contest
judged by Chuck D.

They kinda dressed up,
and they got there late,

and we didn't allow them
to compete.

It was like, "Look,
whatever y'all got going on,

please, just give us
five minutes of y'all time.

We just want y'all to see
what we can do."

♪ Jump, come on, come on

They was energetic young kids,

they were going for it,

and all their styles worked
with each other.

♪ Kids on the block
just scramblin', ahh ♪

♪ Teachers in class,
they just be babblin', ooh ♪

Public Enemy began schooling
the teenagers

in the art and the business
of rap.

♪ Huh,
he tried to break my back ♪

They gave them the name
"Leaders of the New School."

And Chuck D, a huge sports fan,

suggested a stage name
for Trevor.

"Buster" Rhymes was a halfback
with Oklahoma.

I said it just made
too much sense.

"Busta" as a first name,
"Rhymes" as a last name.

♪ Dinco, Dinco, go, Dinco

♪ Go, Charlie, Charlie,
go, Charlie ♪

-♪ Go Busta, Busta, go, Busta
-♪ You know we got style

The Leaders of the New School
started playing gigs

at Manhattan night clubs.

Eventually, a record exec
spotted them,

and in December '89,

they were offered a deal
with Elektra Records.

We just signed the contract,
and we got a budget,

and nobody can't tell us
nothin'. [chuckles]

♪ Oh, man

At 17, Busta dropped
out of school

and began recording
Leaders' first album.

Released in July 1991,
"Future Without a Past"

was a colorful hip-hop ode
to high school life.

The first time I heard
Busta Rhymes, I was a kid.

♪ It's just another case
of that old P.T.A. ♪

He's back there like,
♪ I'm Busta Rhymes

♪ Nah-nah-nah-nah, nah-nah

♪ Always misbehaving
and mischievous ♪

And I was like,
yo, this dude is, like, crazy.

♪ Pushing out spitballs through
plastic straws in class ♪

First of all, I was really
looking at his haircut.

[laughs] Nah.

♪ A child's wickedy wild,
the Calbridge Hill styles ♪

Their album was a blast
of fresh air,

'cause everybody was busy being

super antiestablishment
and outlaw,

and here these dudes came
and just said,

"Yo, let's have some fun."

♪ I know you, and you know me

♪ I know you,
and you know me ♪

♪ It's a sobb story,
the sobb story ♪

It's just a beautiful thing
to see that, you know,

something that I just
fell in love with as a kid,

was able to do so much
for my life

throughout the years,
and I remember those times.

♪ I remember the days
when I was walkin' and talkin' ♪

-♪ Doing what I gotta do
-♪ Doing what we wanna do

I just loved the fact that
we're still here

in an amazing space,
able to do what we love,

and we're still active.

We're still super current
and present and fresh,

and we're still able

to shake shit up the same way
we was doing it then.

♪ My name is Busta,
my name is Diana ♪

♪ My name is Busta

Music has changed
so, so, so much.

But Busta's always gon' rhyme.

♪ And when I return the favor
everybody gets pissed ♪

I'm not in the space
where I can look at that

and be like, damn,
that's what I used to do,

because I'm still doing it.

♪ I know you and...

The group was earning major
respect in the underground,

but that wasn't translating
into major dollars.

As a new group
just starting out,

the money was not
a lot of money.

Then it had to split, like,
four ways,

so things weren't as lovely
as it should be.

♪ You know me,
it's the sobb story ♪

♪ The sobb story

For Busta, the financial
situation became critical

when he discovered

that his high school sweetheart
was pregnant.

♪♪♪

Okay, now I gotta take
the responsibility and step up

and be the father
and be the man of the family

and be the provider.

By December of '91,

19-year-old Busta Rhymes
had a baby on the way.

He was feeling pressured
to get his group,

Leaders of the New School,
established.

Busta felt that things
weren't happening fast enough.

He became, uh, edgy, and, like,
he wanted to get money.

Even when times is rough,

you still gotta find a way
to provide for the family.

The Leaders kicked
into high gear,

making promotional appearances

and playing as many paid gigs
as possible.

We were doing two and three
shows in a night.

We would do one show,
jump in the limo, sweaty,

change our clothes
into some other crazy outfit

and go onstage
and rock at another spot.

♪ Throw your hands in the air

♪ And wave 'em
like you just don't care ♪

But as the group fought
to make a name for themselves,

a rivalry sprang up
between Busta and Brown.

♪ Check it out

♪ At school I wrote notes and
took quotes from Shakespeare ♪

I think it kinda helped the vibe

because you get so riled up
beefin',

that when you out there,
you trying to outdo each other.

[rapping indistinctly]

We knew it was
healthy competition,

but things started getting
bitter, lot of animosity.

♪♪♪

The competition
only intensified

when the Leaders
got a huge break.

The established rap act,
a Tribe Called Quest,

invited them into the studio
to collaborate

on a song called "Scenario."

♪ Here we go, yo,
here we go, yo ♪

♪ So what's the, what's the,
what's the scenario? ♪

It was kinda like
a respectable battle,

because everybody knew
they verse had to be scorchin'

or else you ain't gon' be
on the record.

There was this competition
amongst themselves

that was a little uncanny.

♪ Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh

♪ Eating Ital Stew like the one
Peter Tosh, uhh, uhh ♪

Busta knew this was
his time to shine,

and he seized the moment.

It was his record, you know?

It was definitely
Busta's moment.

♪ Yo, bust it out before
the Busta bust another rhyme ♪

♪ The rhythm is in sync, uhh,
the rhymes are on time, time ♪

Leaders, Tribe, you know, boom.

-[explosion]
-Explosion. Hit record.

♪ Yo, Mr. Busta Rhymes,
tell him what I did ♪

♪ I heard you rushed
and rushed and attacked ♪

"Scenario" was a breakout moment
for the Leaders,

and Busta's manic,
in-your-face style

made him a standout.

I remember when we did
"Arsenio Hall,"

when Busta had this
Dr. Seuss hat on... [chuckles]

♪ As I combine all the juice
from the mind ♪

-♪ Yeah
-♪ Heel up, wheel up

-♪ Uh-oh
-♪ Bring it back, come, rewind

He takes his hat off,
and he's rhyming,

and he turns it inside out
and puts it on. [laughs]

I mean, you just couldn't...
you can't deny him.

♪ Rawr, rawr,
like a dungeon dragon ♪

♪ Change your little drawers
'cause your pants were saggin' ♪

I'm just doing what I know how
to do and what feels right,

and that's the best way to be.

You don't gotta remember
that movie script

because it's you.

You're, uh, portraying
this character,

and it's not you. At some point,

they're gonna forget
the lines to the script.

I just don't ever wanna be
that guy.

After the explosion
of "Scenario,"

Busta was suddenly in demand
as an MC.

I started to get
mad more phone calls

to do cameos on people records.

I felt like, what the hell
is going on?

It's like, yo, we--
we are a crew.

It was about crew.
It was about your crew.

That's it. It ain't nothin'
about all these--

all these other people, man.

♪♪♪

Whenever I did something,
I represent the crew name

in whatever it was
that I was doing.

Busta Rhymes, fresh
from the L.O.N.S. family tree.

So everybody'd be cool with it,
but I guess behind my back,

it wasn't cool because
I started to hear [bleep] like,

"You going for dolo.
You know, you--

you ain't thinking
about the crew no more."

We were having our--
our disagreements.

♪♪♪

But the Leaders'
petty in-fighting would soon

be overshadowed by tragedy.

In May 1992, while Busta
was touring abroad with Leaders,

his girlfriend
went into premature labor

five months into her pregnancy.

I was on the road
in St. Maarten,

doing a show, and, um,

soon as I found out
what was up,

I didn't waste no time.

♪♪♪

He came home the night,
and, um,

we told him she gave birth.

He rushed to the hospital,

and then he found out
at that time, yeah.

The baby had just died, and, um,
it was heart-rendin'.

♪♪♪

I had a baby that just died
that I didn't--

I wasn't even home to see
be born.

You know what I'm sayin'?

Like, I was hating myself
for a minute,

crazy, because I'm out doing
shows, running around onstage,

when I should've been home.

I couldn't believe
that I was burying my baby.

Like, [bleep] this made
no sense to me.

It just was like,
I need to be around my people

because if I don't be around
my people,

I might do somethin' stupid.

♪♪♪

After the death
of his infant son,

the Leaders of the New School
were there to support him.

Leaders helped me deal
because I was never by myself

to go crazy about it.
You know what I'm sayin'?

So, like, I always had
the encouragement

of Dinco and Brown and Milo

just being the support system
for me at the time,

because, um,
they was my friends.

Then Busta found
a new inspiration

with the birth
of his second son, T'ziah,

in February of '93.

I'm there to witness the birth.
I made myself a promise

that I don't give a [bleep]
what I was doing.

I'm not missing another child
being born.

♪♪♪

With Busta revitalized,

the Leaders focused
on their second album.

But old tensions soon returned
to haunt the group.

It was getting harder
to really come together.

I mean, it was ego there,
you know what I'm saying?

♪♪♪

And a serious power struggle
developed

between Busta and Charlie Brown.

Leaders of the New School
was something that I created.

That was my group.
This was my brainchild.

In the beginning, you know,
Brown kinda came off

as the point person.

I created the opportunity
and that venue

for us to get into the game.

But then now that we got
our foot in the door,

it wasn't just about what Brown
could set up.

Now I could make a call
and pull a string.

♪♪♪

Resentments were only aggravated
in October of '93,

when the Leaders'
second album, "T.I.M.E."

was released to mixed reviews
and sluggish sales.

I think that was the beginning
of the end

when a record label says,
"You know, we found one star

and the rest of it,
we'll throw away."

The final straw came
during a November '93 taping

of "Yo! MTV Raps."

We're getting ready to explode
like a bomb here.

But, yo, before we do,
let's, like,

get everybody's, like,
name check.

So he asking us, like,
everybody,

"What does everybody plan to do
for Leaders of the New School?"

or whatever.

Let me tell you the time.
Right now the time is L.O.N.S.

Leaders of the New School,

Busta Rhymes, Dinco, Milo,
Brown time.

Then Brown said,
you know what I'm saying?

"See, Brown trying to do what's
up for C. Brown or whatever."

He said his name. He said he
wasn't repping the crew no more.

Charlie Brown, you know,

what's been going on,
my brother?

Just loungin',
you know what I'm sayin'?

Like you said,
just getting to know myself,

you know what I'm saying?

To know what
my capabilities are

and what I'm-a do in life.

And me and Busta
look at each other like,

"Come on, man. Save that
for off the cameras."

So we was gonna whup Brown ass
right there.

-[speaks indistinctly]
-Please, don't film this, B.

And that was just the breaking
point right there, you know?

Now it just feels like
this was some stupid-ass shit.

Whatever the issues are
that we was having,

we was raised to not
air dirty laundry.

You know, we can handle that
amongst each other.

I pretty much realized
at that point

that Brown was seriously
on some [bleep].

He wanted to go do
his own thing.

Everybody's screaming for him
to go do his own thing.

The label is acting funny.

I was like, you know what?
I don't need this [bleep], man.

I don't need this [bleep].
I'm outta here.

That was a stupid-ass move,

and it was a stupid-ass thing
to do.

To do it in the way
that he did that at the time,

it was just stupid.

And it was selfish
and it was inconsiderate,

and it just--it just never
needed to happen that way.

We didn't speak
for about 19 years,

but you know, we good now.

You know, one day I reached out
to C. Brown, and we spoke,

and I went to his house,
and it was--

we was happy to see each other.

It was like we missed
each other.

It's okay to agree to disagree.

We don't have to always agree
on things.

Stupid to lose all of this time
over some emotional dumb shit.

When Charlie Brown
walked away from Leaders

in November 1993,

Busta was faced
with a harsh reality

of life without a crew.

Suffering with a team,

y'all can still help be
each other's support system.

Suffering on your own
is a whole nother ball game.

By early '94 with a young son
in his care,

Busta was once again
feeling the pressure

to provide for his family.

He had no choice but to make
his own way in the rap game.

♪ I know one thing
the whole world is expecting ♪

♪ It's how we all connected

♪ To break fool
on the same record ♪

I started rhyming
on every cameo opportunity

that I could get after that--
everything.

♪ The brand-new
flava in ya ear ♪

♪ Time for new flava in ya ear

♪♪♪

In the spring of '94,

Busta was ready to venture out
on his own.

He signed with Elektra Records
and went into the studio

to work on his first solo album,

but seven months later, he had
barely recorded a track.

Well, he was stuck for a while,
you know?

And he was just trying
to find his voice.

I had the craziest mental block.

I'm in the studio.
Hours is going by.

I ain't coming up with [bleep].

♪♪♪

Then one day, he heard
an old Sugarhill Gang song

on the radio.

"Old School at Noon" comes on.

They played "8th Wonder."

♪ See it's up my back,
it's around my neck ♪

♪ Woo-hah,
got you all in check ♪

♪ Let's scream and let's shout

-♪ Woo-hah
-And I said, oh, [bleep].

♪ Let's shout

I got it, I got it, I got it.

♪♪♪

Busta adapted the song
into his own infectious anthem,

and in February of '96,
it became the first single

off his solo debut,
"The Coming."

♪ Woo-hah,
got you all in check ♪

The glam hip-hop era
kinda started coming along.

And here comes Busta,
and all he's saying is,

"Woo-hah,
got you all in check."

Just bugging out on the record,
you know? Just having fun.

♪ So throw your hands up in
the air, don't ever disrespect ♪

♪ Woo-hah,
I got you all in check ♪

Within 12 weeks,
"The Coming" went platinum.

♪♪♪

Then Busta sidestepped
the sophomore jinx

with his 1997 release,
"When Disaster Strikes..."

♪ Let me hear you say
"fire it up" ♪

♪ Fire it up

♪ Say, "fire it up"

♪ Fire it up

The album debuted
at number 3 on the charts

and spawned
three top-10 singles,

including one that was
a definite change of pace

for the combustive MC.

["Put Your Hands Where
My Eyes Could See" playing]

♪ Oh, yeah

♪♪♪

Q-Tip, you know,
every time he call me

to get on the record,
I'm sounding like this.

Ahh!

Puffy calling me to get
on records, and I'm like, "Ahh!"

I hear him screaming
and going over the deep end,

and I'm like, "Yo, you
alienating the girls, playboy.

They can't 'rah, rah' with you
too many times." [laughs]

Basically,
I got from both of them,

"Just calm your [bleep] down
a little bit." [laughs]

♪ Front, baby, like you don't
wanna be hearin' us ♪

♪ Gotta listen to how radio
be playin' us, ah ♪

That beat was just creating that
♪ Ba-du-boom, boom, boom

These videos are what got me
to really, really pay attention.

He was, like,
crazy with the visuals,

like, bringing that song
to life.

With its hypnotic bass line
and electro funk riffs,

"Put Your Hands
Where My Eyes Could See"

became a platinum single
and an instant hip-hop classic.

People likes
the new, calm Busta Rhymes.

Do I need to get caught up
in doing all of my records calm?

I don't think so.

♪ Then we blitz and reminisce
on my people Notorious ♪

♪ Like that

Busta Rhymes entered 1998
on top,

riding the phenomenal success
of his second album,

"When Disaster Strikes..."

♪ If you really wanna party
with me ♪

♪ Let me see
just what you got for me ♪

After "When Disaster Strikes..."
the opportunities were crazy.

They just started coming
out of the woodworks.

I think at that point,
Busta felt that he was ready

to take the step beyond just
being a recording artist.

Soon, he was involved
in everything

from running
his own record company

to creating his own upscale
hip-hop clothing line.

♪ You people had enough?
Gimme some more ♪

♪ You people want the wild head?
Gimme some more ♪

You know, whatever is bringing
these opportunities to me,

I'm-a maximize on 'em.
I'm-a capitalize on 'em.

♪ Gimme some more

You gotta continue to secure
the win,

because that win, being secure,
is what made sure

everybody else was straight,

and that is what I do every day.

♪ Gimme some more,
cha-ching ♪

♪ Yo, Spliff,
where the G's at? ♪

♪ Gimme some more,
you know we always need that ♪

♪ Gimme some more

By 1998, Busta was on top
of the music and fashion world.

♪ Come on, come on, yeah

But his proudest moment came

when he was able to repay
the woman

who made it all possible.

Busta made me an offer
I couldn't refuse.

My mother never had to go back
to work for nobody to this day.

She ran my business. She was
getting paid to take care

of--of my business with me
and the team,

and she treated my shit like,
"You not gonna mishandle

my son's business.
This is my son."

You can't pay for that love
and that kind of care.

The most rewarding part is,
number one,

you know, this is your mother.

So the same way I talk about
having to make sure

that I'm securing the win
for my family,

my moms was always great
at taking care of her kids.

She's a overprotective,
super nurturing, loving mother.

Throughout his career,
Busta had taken risks,

and they've paid off big.

And he pushed hip-hop
to its outer limits

with his next album,
"Extinction Level Event."

♪ Ahh

♪ After the ultimate world blast
that ended all things ♪

♪ This is how we rebuilt
from the underground up ♪

Busta infused the album with an
unsettling apocalyptic vision,

inspired by
his spiritual studies

with the Five-Percent Nation.
-♪ Bounce, baby, bounce

The record was part sci-fi,
part street-corner prophecy.

♪ Hit y'all with the one, two

Even though I'm-a have fun
and give people

the traditional levels
of entertainment on the album

'cause again, we can't forget
we're making music

for people to enjoy,

let me just try to bring this to
the forefront a little more so.

♪ Set a tone in the streets
where even the fans blast you ♪

You know,
life and what it can become

if we don't prepare,
and if we're not aware.

♪ ...out there
on some real hip-hop ♪

♪ Yo, yo, yo, mayday, mayday,
mayday, mayday ♪

But Busta's artistic ambitions
would soon be eclipsed

by a series of legal dramas.

Busta Rhymes arrested
late Sunday night

in New York City

after police reportedly found

a loaded, unregistered
.45 automatic in his car.

In December 1998,

Busta was apprehended
after a routine traffic stop

and charged with possessing
an illegal weapon.

The charge carries
a maximum penalty

of up to seven years in prison.

I don't have the violent history
and I don't have a beef history.

Like, that ain't my M.O.

I want people to love
Busta Rhymes for the music,

not the controversy.

And that was only the beginning.

Anybody who has a child
with someone they're not with

is gonna go through things
with baby mama.

Anybody.
It's an unfortunate reality,

but once you're a public figure,
you're recognizable,

people just wanna know.

In July '99, Busta was hit
with a paternity suit.

Eight months later,

another woman accused him
of non-payment of child support.

The press ran with both stories.

When I saw it in the paper
that, um,

Busta was not supporting
his child, it hurt.

For me, I don't know how to be
any other way

than to provide for my family.

And I don't give a [bleep]
what the press might wanna say.

At that time, Busta repeatedly
refused to comment.

People try to use, you know,
your vulnerability against you.

One thing that I could
definitely say

about this music industry,

when you're in it
as long as I've been fortunate

and blessed enough
to be involved with it,

you learn how to deal
with the shit

that comes with it, you know?

People all feel like they got
the right to have an opinion

about my personal space
with my family

even when it's none
of their business.

You subject your family, and you
subject yourself to a lot

when everything is public.

To make matters worse,
by late '99,

Busta was having troubles
with his record label.

The last straw with Elektra
for me

was probably when I did
the last album, "Anarchy."

Although "Anarchy" went gold,

it was a critical
and commercial disappointment,

racking up the lowest sales
of Busta's solo career.

After a decade at Elektra,
Busta felt the label

was no longer giving him
the support he needed.

It just felt like our growth
had maxed itself out.

I had to bounce.

The whole thing with Elektra
came about him doing

what he had to do
for his survival as an artist.

Mired in personal
and professional turmoil,

Busta Rhymes found himself
at a difficult crossroads.

♪♪♪

On some level, you know,
doubting whether his fans

were gonna hang in there
with him,

and that was really rough
'cause this was all

he'd ever done all his life.

This was all he'd ever wanted
to do.

This felt like whatever
the [bleep] I did in life,

to create this karma must have
been some real foul [bleep],

because I couldn't even foresee

how I was making it
through all of that.

♪♪♪

But by early 2001,

Busta was putting
his legal troubles behind him.

He received probation
on the gun charge

and started working out
the conflicts over his children.

The challenges
that take place as a result

of the kids being there,

it helped me understand
what my pops was dealing with.

I think a lot of us men,
you know,

go through that where you wanna
be there for your kids,

and, you know, sometimes
the unfortunate circumstances

of the co-parenting
is not really in favor

of the relationship you
should have with your children.

You know, the complications
of those relationships

get in the way a lot of time.

So at that time, you know,

there's a lot of emotions
going on.

There's a lot of disappointment.
There's a lot of frustration.

♪♪♪

After struggling through
his own domestic difficulties,

Busta began to see his father
in a new light.

He just become mature in his way
of handling his problems.

He reflect back at the way
I was handling mine,

and, you know,
people are people.

We're very similar in nature,
man.

Living that experience, it just
helped me connect with my pops

because I definitely needed
his guidance on how to deal.

Those things bring him closer
to me.

♪♪♪

[sniffling]

I ain't seen
a video of him ever.

♪♪♪

[sniffles]

Oh, man.

♪♪♪

I needed to see him.
I thank you for that.

♪♪♪

It's hard.

♪♪♪

I miss my father.

That's it.

♪♪♪

I miss him a lot.

I miss my father entirely.

I miss his voice.
I miss his face.

I miss his...hugs. I miss
kissing him on his cheek.

♪♪♪

Providing for family
at all costs

was a lesson
Busta learned early

from not only his mother
but father, too.

My father--he always just
wanted to make sure

that I did shit that was going
to solidify...

some sort of stability
as a backup plan.

You can do the shit
that you wanna do,

but you also gotta understand
that in life,

in being responsible, you gotta
do the shit you have to do,

even if you don't wanna do it...

because that's a part of life.

That's a part
of being responsible.

♪ See, the only thing you need
to do right here is ♪

♪ Is nod your freakin' head

In 2001, Busta left
his legal dramas behind

and prepared to reignite
his music career.

♪ Yeah, here we go now

♪ Tell me what
you really wanna do ♪

-♪ Come here, ma
-♪ Talk to a brother

♪ Talk with me, you look like
you could really give it to me ♪

♪ From the way you talk and
the way ya try to walk for me ♪

A new establishment,
a new team,

a new excitement,
a new support system,

a new movement.

♪ Just let me give you
real street... ♪

He joined forces

with record industry legend
Clive Davis,

who was launching a new label,
J Records.

And he released his fifth album,
aptly titled "Genesis."

I was naming my life a rebirth.
I gotta start fresh.

I need a new, clean slate.
I need a new beginning.

-♪ Act a fool
-♪ You better watch out

"Genesis" marked the beginning
of a resurgence

in Busta Rhymes' career.

He had a series
of hit singles...

-♪ What we gon' tell 'em?
-♪ We gon' tell that brother

♪ Pass the Courvoisier

...collaborating with everyone
from Diddy and Pharrell

to Mariah Carey.

♪ Baby, if you give it to me,
I'll give it to you ♪

He's never afraid
to take chances.

♪ Back with the remix

♪ With Spliff and Sean-A-Paul
on the corner ♪

-♪ We make it clap
-He really tries to come

different with everything
that he does, you know?

The hot streak culminated

with him signing with Dr. Dre's
Aftermath Entertainment in 2004.

He expressed to me how much
of a fan he was in what I do

and without question,
it speaks for itself

how much we are all fans
of what he do.

Tell all y'all nosey-ass people

"Big Bang" is in stores
June 13th.

Their collaboration,
"The Big Bang,"

debuted at number 1.

♪ Get low, Bus

♪ Who be
the King of the Sound? ♪

♪ Busta Bus back to just put
a lock on a town ♪

It's his voice
and his delivery.

♪ Homie do his thing,
lockin' the strip ♪

-♪ Come on
-♪ Lot of mamis is dancin'

♪ And they shakin' they hips

It's not what you say.
It's how you say that.

-♪ I let 'em
-♪ Touch it

Production was outta here.

-♪ Turn it, leave it, stop
-It's a dope record.

-Give it up for Busta Rhymes!
-[cheering]

-What's good, New York?
-[cheering continues]

♪ Here we go, ha, ha, ha,
ha-ha ♪

I was definitely excited
about it being number one,

'cause I had never
experienced that

prior to that album.

♪ Ha, ha, ha, boom pow, ha
[cheering]

But having an album done
that was entirely supervised

and mixed by Dr. Dre,

like, I was more excited
about that shit

than anything else.

Dre, what's good, B?

'Sup, boss?
Everything over here all right?

Everything is good, man.

I mean, I heard a lot of noise,
man. You sure?

-We good, right, babe?
-Yeah, no.

I was still
in my wild cowboy years.

♪♪♪

Everything was moving
100,000 miles per second.

♪ I'm on my New York...

♪ Got the world followin'
the New York script ♪

And we was just riding the wave,

and we were just having
a great time

with just being in the space
that we were in.

♪ I'm riding on the train
in my New York... ♪

You know, just moving
and shaking in an amazing way.

And the Dodge Nitro
Move the Crowd award goes to...

Busta Rhymes!

Busta!

Work kept me away
from having to be in the face

of the stress constantly,

and there was a lot of shit
that needed to be dealt with

that could not properly
get dealt with.

-Busta, right here.
-After a 4-year court battle,

Busta had won custody
of his three sons in 2006.

Busta!

With legal bills to pay

and climbing
financial obligations...

Busta Rhymes!

...he went into full gear
in his career,

prioritizing making money
above all else.

And all of my wins, it was
a win for the whole house.

♪ I keep hustlin', yeah

That's just what it is.

♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah

[cheering]

But sometimes you need time
to be around for your kids.

You know what I'm saying?
And then sometimes

you don't realize
the effect being busy has.

So when you slow down
and the tours is done,

shit could all start hitting you
at the same time.

Busta was forced to slow down

when a series
of personal tragedies struck.

First, in 2012,
his manager, Chris Lighty,

who had guided his career
since the early '90s,

died suddenly.

Chris Lighty, founder of
Violator Entertainment,

manager to the stars,
and beloved industry veteran,

has passed away.

Chris was like a big brother
to me.

He was one of the closest people
to me in my life.

Then Busta lost his father.

Trevor Smith Sr. passed away
after a long illness

at the age of 75 .

I just wasn't ready
to accept it.

Losing your father is some...
indescribable shit.

Busta told me on the phone
when that happened,

and, um,
I heard his voice crack,

because when something
like that happens,

you barely can talk.

You lose somebody that means
so much to you,

gave birth to you.

You know, it's real, real deep.

My father and Chris--

those are the two most important
male figures in my life.

You know,
to not have them around

to try to get some guidance
on things,

it--it felt like I was
just wandering through life.

He wasn't in the right state
of mind at that point.

Those back-to-back deaths
kind of really got me

on some shit, like...I don't
really give a fuck about nothing

for a little while.

He was heavy, heavy,
heavy drinking to hide the pain.

Not feeling right,
not eating right, the stress.

He was going through a lot.

Over the next few years,

Busta's depression
took a visible toll.

What's up, Busta?

By 2019, he had gained
more than 100 pounds,

and he had developed
numerous physical ailments,

including sleep apnea
and high blood pressure.

It was weird because I still was
super motivated to grind

and work and do what needed
to be done

because there's no such thing
as me telling my family

that I don't have it
or I can't give it to them.

You still gotta figure out
what you gotta figure out

regardless of what
you going through.

Busta's emotional
and physical spiral

came to a head one night
in January of 2019

in Los Angeles.

After filming a music video...

he and his oldest son went out
to a club to celebrate.

It was a night
of heavy partying.

♪♪♪

On the ride back home,
Busta passed out.

♪♪♪

His breathing turned erratic.

It took security
and Busta's son

20 minutes to wake him up.

My son just saw me in a space

that I wouldn't really want him
to ever see me in,

between drinking, not being
able to breathe properly,

not being the person that he
can be proud of as his father.

I just was probably
at my lowest point, health-wise,

and I didn't like
disappointing him, so...

you know, that was really
the point that I felt like

I needed to do something.

The next day, Busta made
an appointment to see a doctor.

I went to the doctor,
and they told me

that I needed to go
to the hospital

for an emergency surgery

because I grew polyps
on my throat.

It was blocking 90%
of my breathing passage,

so, you know, he said
if I didn't go, you know,

I could be risking
a near-death situation.

That was nerve-racking.

If that procedure
isn't performed properly,

It could have also changed

the way that I sound
permanently.

The surgery was successful,

and Busta made a promise
to himself that day

to change his lifestyle
and get healthy.

Behavior patterns had
to change, you know?

And I had to slow down
on the smoking.

A lot of the things that I used
to drink--

cognacs and, you know, tequilas,
all of that,

I had to take a break.

I would tell him like, "Yo, it's
time for you to get like me.

Like, you looking crazy.
Look at you."

♪♪♪

Me, talking like that
really amped him up, you know?

'Cause he's very, very
competitive.

Like, if you challenge him,

he'll take that and be like,
"What?"

I want to dedicate myself
to that transformation,

and everything just started
to fall in place.

In February of 2019, Busta went
to Florida for one month

and dedicated himself
to an intense fitness regimen,

training six days a week,
three times a day.

♪♪♪

It was just about putting
yourself in an environment

where the distractions was gonna
be kept to a minimum,

and you just had to completely
dedicate yourself

to what you was doing.

That's when I saw the change.

I saw him working out
like crazy, crazy.

And being in physical shape
helps you clear your mind.

In 12 months,
Busta lost a hundred pounds,

dropping from 340 to nearly 240
at the age of 48.

Losing weight is definitely
a challenge.

You know, it's gonna be
painful at times.

It's gonna be grueling at times,

and when you start to see
the results,

I think that's where the
rewarding feeling comes from,

being able to move better,
breathe better.

He's in shape now.
He looks real good.

I'm so proud of him.

I think that's what sped up
the process

to even drop the album.

In a better place physically,
spiritually, and emotionally,

Busta was finally able
to complete the album

he had been working on
for more than a decade.

It was a moving moment for Busta

when he finished
laying down the last track.

[sniffles]

I definitely didn't wanna take
this long to put out the album,

but you know, I work hard,
and I can show that

I'm giving people my best self
at the time.

I was mad at him because
he didn't put it out before,

you know,
but he's very strategic,

and timing is everything.

He's really, really
a perfectionist,

and if he put that album out
a long time ago,

who knows what physical space
he would have been in?

So everything
just came together.

♪ Boomp, and if the cap fit,
fit it on me ♪

♪ Got love in every hood,
they been waitin' for me, hey ♪

I just wanted to do something
that made me feel like

it was worth the wait.

Busta Rhymes never taking his
foot off the gas pedal again.

♪ Boomp, boomp, boomp

Do you understand
who this man is?

Do you understand how hard
he brings it?

[voice echoing]
Hard he brings it?

Nobody's following this...

[voice echoing]
Nobody, nobody, nobody.

Released in October of 2020,
"Extinction Level Event 2"

documents the resurrection
of Busta Rhymes.

♪ Heavy metal like Metallica,
now witness the massacre ♪

♪ Somebody should've told 'em...
they shouldn't come after ya ♪

A relentless artist who
continues to transform himself,

Busta thrives on pushing
the boundaries of hip-hop.

♪ So far, shawties throw
they bra ♪

♪ And I need the lighter
to light the perfect cigar ♪

♪ Brand-new jet, jet,
brand-new car, car ♪

♪ Leader of the new...
brand-new Czar ♪

I think he's
the best rap performer ever.

Come on! Come on!

Man, I learned so much from him.

♪ I want everybody to do what
they know they 'posed to do ♪

The way that he performs,
his pockets and punchlines...

♪ It's Bust' Rhymes,
ya goddamn snitch ♪

♪ The cannon 'bout to blow,
let them, let them know quick ♪

He's an icon.

♪ Gon' flip

And he's not done yet.

It just feels like everything
that's been done

wasn't in vain.

I feel like I'm in a place
that I can finally say

this is the new beginning

to where I'm desiring
to find myself in life.

♪ You gotta love it,
gotta love it ♪

♪ Don't this hit make my...
wanna ♪

When you love something that
much and you enjoy it that much,

it doesn't feel like work.

It's a part of what
makes me happy--

the love of music.

♪ Bring the chorus back,
yeah, oh ♪

♪ It's drivin' me out my head

It's almost like
it's an addiction.

When that changes,
that's when I'm-a stop.

♪ Gotta love it, gotta love it

♪ Don't this hit make my...
wanna ♪

[explosion]

♪ Do you really wanna
party with me? ♪

♪ Let me see just what you got
for me ♪

♪ Put all your hands
where my eyes can see ♪

♪ Straight buckwilin'
in the place to be ♪

♪ If you really wanna party
with me ♪

♪ Let me see just what
you got for me ♪

♪ Put all your hands
where my eyes can see ♪

♪ Straight buckwilin'
in the place to be ♪

♪ If you really wanna party
with me ♪

♪♪♪