'(Get low Bus!!) Who be the king of the sound?? (Uh Huh)
Busta Bus back to just put a lock on a town (Uh Huh)
Lot of my bitches be comin' from miles around;
See they be comin' (Uh!!) 'Cause they know how the God get down (Turn it up!!)'

"I've actually just been chillin,' recording a lot," the artist born Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., known worldwide as Busta Rhymes, says, sounding unusually subdued, when questioned as to his whereabouts for the past three plus years. Becoming a little more expressive, he further offers, "(I've also been) spending a lot of time in the gym, touring the world, a lot of shows internationally, and pretty much developing my new acts that I got under Flipmode Entertainment." 

Busta Rhymes was born in East Flatbush, Brooklyn on May 20, 1972. His family later relocated to Long Island, where eventually he met up with his three soon-to-be group-mates; Charlie Brown, Dinco D, and Cut Monitor Milo. The foursome christened themselves Leaders Of The New School, and would go on to score a recording contract with, then, Elecktra Records. Leaders debuted in 1991 with Future Without A Past, then followed that project up with their short-lived, sophomore body of work, T.I.M.E. [1993], before calling it quits for good. 

Busta [a nickname given to him by Public Enemy's Chuck D], as a revered soloist, literally, exploded onto the music scene after his, more than impressive, raucous appearance on the remix to A Tribe Called Quest's, 'Scenario.' The, self proclaimed, Dungeon Dragon's critically acclaimed, debut, The Coming, quickly lived up to it's high expectations, garnering huge sales, and spawning the smash hit single, 'Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check.' 

Busta Rhymes, an equally gifted actor, who has appeared in a string of successful films [Higher Learning, Shaft, Finding Forrester, Halloween Resurrection, to name a few], is on the cusp of taking back the rap reigns all over again. The first two singles, 'Touch It' & 'I Love My B****,' from his just released seventh solo effort, The Big Bang, and first for Dr. Dre's Aftermath imprint, already has both the radio and charts on lock, and with his new physical appearance [minus his trademark dreadlocks, plus an Adonis physique], label transition [from J to Dre], and an incredible outlook [despite his recent legal & personal troubles] on life, 2006, and beyond, is pre-destined to be Busta's time to shine once more. 

"Well, it pretty much transpired, like I had a three album deal with [Clive Davis'] J Records that began in 2000, after I turned my last album (over) to Elektra. When I got to J, I put out Genesis in 2001, (and) I put out It Ain't Safe No More in 2002. (I) wasn't happy with the results of the way the record company treated the It Ain't Safe No More project, so I pretty much decided (that) I didn't want to be at that company no more," He explains very matter-of-factly. Adding, with sheer confidence, "Just through the networking, the relationships that I had, and just the work ethic that I was applying and putting in, Aftermath was just as interested to do business with me as I was to do with them." 

"That actually derived from me taking my kids [he shares four sons, with which the first, Tahiem, was stillborn, with ex-girlfriend, Joanne Wood, and has a daughter by another woman] to the Science Museum and we watched that (movie). (It's) about the philosophy of The Big Bang, and how it was the beginning -- The alleged beginning of everything in existence, and it was hosted by Tom Hanks. It was intriguing to me, (and) I learned a lot from it," Busta recalls, vividly describing the name of his new opus. Elaborating, with a hint of cockiness, "But, from a literal standpoint, when we say, 'Something is bangin' in the street!!' That means that you really love it, or you think it's really hot. And, I felt like ain't nothing more appropriate than The Big Bang as the title for my album, because I felt like me and Dr. Dre coming together to record an album, and take our time putting it together, because ain't nothing gonna bang harder than the two minds of greatness coming together in Hip-Hop making some real classic quality music." 

On comparisons to any of his previous studio releases, Busta states, becoming emotive, "I don't think it (is like) any of them. That's the one thing that I love. This album is probably the first album where every song has a perspective, instead of me just wildin' out trying to be clever with lyrics on beats. There's a lot of concepts with this album, a lot of story-telling, and there's a lot of personal songs where I finally am in a good space enough to feel comfortable with letting people into what's going on with me as a person. Of course, I still give people traditional, high energy Busta Rhymes sh*t, with the club bangers -- I'm never gonna not do what people grew to love me for. I'm just gonna add to that, and I think I added to that in a tremendous, and a significant, way this time around." 

The Big Bang is a stellar affair with high profile cameos from Nas ['Don't Get Carried Away'] Missy Elliott ['How We Do It Over Here'] Raekwon, of Wu Tang fame ['Goldmine'], Q Tip, formerly of ATCQ ['Get You Some' & 'You Can't Hold the Torch'], Floetry's Marsha, Kelis, and even legends, both living and deceased; the incomparable Stevie Wonder ['Been Through The Storm'], and the late, great, Rick James ['In the Ghetto']. Production ranges from, of course, the good Doctor, D-R-E, as well as Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, Will.I.Am [Black Eyed Peas], Erick Sermon, J Dilla [RIP], Jelly Roll, Rick Rock, Denaun Porter, from D-12, DJ Green Lantern, DJ Scratch, and Sha Money XL [G Unit]. 

Whenever things seem to be going perfectly in someone's life, there always tends to be, at least, one person who has it out by trying to rain on that individual's parade. In Busa Busss' case, lately he's been catching flak from a few different angry parties. His children's mother took him through a very trying court battle, where ultimately he came out the victor, gaining full custody of his boys. Then, there's the sad, and unfortunate, shooting incident that semi-recently took place at the video shoot for the remix to 'Touch It,' where his friend, and security personal, Israel 'IZ' Ramirez, was shot and killed. Although Bus still requested to remain tightlipped about that day's events, and is still under a lot of public scrutiny from the legal authorities investigating that case, he stressed to Vibe Magazine [June 2006], "I sleep comfortably at night because I know what I stand for. And, in terms of how it's going to be handled and dealt with? Time is going to be the best teller of that. But right now, all I give a f!@# about is the Ramirez family and my own family support system. I don't give a f!@# about nobody else and what they have to say." 

If that isn't enough pressure, an old crony, and former group member, Dinco D, has been taking quite a few, unprovoked, lyrical pot-shots at Rhymes. "I think he's just a hungry, disgruntled muthaf!@#$%. It's not ironic that a muthaf!@#$% gonna come at me after three years, I've been quiet for the last three years, and all of a sudden now I got an album out, (and) you want to start getting disrespectful?? But, I think muthaf!@#$%, he's conducting his-self like a bitch that don't accept the fact that you ain't really want to f!@# with her no more -- Bitches do that. Bitches want to latch on, and not move on, and find their own life. They want to just continue to live off you and sh*t. That's why they got family courts for bitches that want to live off dudes and sh*t," He roars, laughing loudly. "He like a bitch that just recently lost a f!@#$%^ alimony case, or child support case, so now he ain't getting no more checks. But, I really don't got no hatred toward homey. I just think when I see him he probably gonna get a decent slap in the face from me, just so he can get dealt with the way that he really acts. Try and act a certain way, but they act like bitches, (so) you might have to slap a bitch in the face sometimes, man. But, for the most part, man, I'm cool. I hope he do well. I hope he’s smart to use this opportunity that he created to make something of his-self. Man, he could've did it in a much more respectful way, 'cause I probably been much more willing to help him in a situation." 

And, as for the future of the Flipmode Squadron, Busta announces, "Yeah, Papoose is the newest recruit to (the Squad) -- The hottest muthaf!@#$ from New York right now. (I) got a new artist named Labba, another incredibly hot artist -- Got him on Flipmode/Jive. Spliff Star, the Official Street Corner Colonel -- He's still in Flipmode. Rah Digga, The First Lady -- She still in Flipmode. I got Chauncy Black, formerly of Blackstreet -- He's with Flipmode as well. I got an emcee from the Bronx, New York, by the name of M Dollar$. He's doing a little time right now, but he'll be home by the end of the year. Yeah, that's pretty much it, man, a lot of sh*t to look forward to. I had to re-invent my team, the way I had to re-invent myself. So, Flipmode got a new face right now!!" 

"Number one, I'm a diehard fan of Hip-Hop. If I never made another record again, I would still live, breathe, eat, sleep, music. I'm a big fan of it." Concluding very passionately, "I just think that I was bred, and groomed, by some of the greatest individuals in this game. You can definitely believe, man, that I'm gonna (always) be one of the most prominent faces in Hip-Hop. I'm (forever) gonna be leading what ever the new sh*t is at the time. I'll (eventually) be doing this more-so from an executive stand-point, 'cause I'm not sure of how long I'm gonna want to run around doing the artist thing. I'll probably do another couple of albums. (Then) I really want to start focusing on launching the careers of my other artists on Flipmode, and giving them the opportunity of having my undivided attention -- Sky is the limit!!"