When we caught up with the rhyme man he had a lot on his mind. We knew something about him coming off some video shoot, and that he was preoccupied with the release of his latest album, "Genesis," but we're a self-involved bunch here; all we wanted to hear was his take on the mag and on car audio culture in general. For putting up with us he should be commended. We thank Busta for being a gracious interviewee.
Intro: Who's Busta?Everyone knows who Busta Rhymes is. In addition to being one of the biggest figures in hip-hop he shows up on the big screen ("Finding Forrester") as well as TV (e.g. on commercials for a certain soda maker). But some of the shorties out there who are too young to be ashamed of being ignorant may not be too familiar with his background. He started out as a member of the Leaders of the New School in 1990 before flying solo. The man was a cut above then as he is now. For over a decade he has been bringing it, influencing newcomers with his inimitable style and expanding the range of the genre with his choice of subject matter. From the early work on, "The Coming", "When Disaster Strikes" to "Extinction Level Event" Busta has always tackled the big theme. Perhaps the origin of it may be traced back to the New School's '93 album, "T.I.M.E." Listening to Busta is a serious reality check.
Despite the many accomplishments and remarkable success Busta remains true. The super celebrity still possesses humility (as much that a major figure in hip-hop can possess without undermining his larger-than-life persona). That's a facetious parenthetical statement, and what truth there is in it is more a reflection of the hip-hop world than Busta himself. Unlike a lot of people who "make it" Busta realizes that's it's not all a matter of pulling yourself up by the bootstrap. As he said at one point in our interview, the success he and a proportionately few experience is "crazy". He takes nothing for granted. So we shouldn't have been surprised to learn that Busta wanted us! That's right, he was into the magazine when he could only dream of someday owning the type of ride that graces these pages. Now he owns several variations of those "dream" vehicles
Real-Life IntroSo one day we got a surprise phone call. It was Will Castro of Unique Autosports (uniqueautosport.com/516-564-5623), whose installers, Reme and Alex Rullan did the install on the G500, calling to say he was coming to L.A. to meet with Busta to check out his new apartment and the audio system being installed therein. Along with Will we arrived at Busta's new pad in an upscale neighborhood just off Santa Monica Blvd. and Melrose Ave. It's the kind of place that could get featured on those celebrity home shows; the kind of place most of us want to say is too ostentatious, showy, gaudy and over-the-top; and the kind of place we would all reject....unless we came into a few million dollars and it suddenly became affordable, that is.
As we pulled into the secured parking structure we saw several cars. It was like driving into a luxury car dealership. After salivating all over the first-class paint jobs on Busta's vehicles we strolled upstairs and through Busta's door. Shoes off! Our worn footwear took a humble place beside all the expensive sneeks parked along the entryway.