I first heard Busta Rhymes rap on the soundtrack to a film about Muhammed Ali called When We Were Kings. The track was a Fugees single featuring A Tribe Called Quest, John Forte and the energetic top hat wearing rapper. Around that time, MTV UK ran quality shows for RnB and hiphop fans. There was Trevor Nelson’s The Lick and some great, representative magazine style shows on MTV Base. Later on in an evening’s schedule, MTV US shows like The Lyricist Lounge would be aired and I’d stay up late for my hiphop fix.

A BIORhythm special on Busta introduced me to his live guest spot on Tribe’s Scenario and from then on I was hooked. Dangerous hit the top of the UK charts and was soon followed by a series of creative, high budget videos for inventive, gripping songs.

Busta Rhymes albums captured the imaginations of my friends and I for their running themes of conspiracy theory and comedy interlude. There was always lots of filler but without fail, a good handful of really strong singles showcasing Busta’s incredible flows atop unconventional production that stood out from much else. It’s never mattered that the lyrics aren’t always of a strong theme or story because they’re executed in such a way that distracts, in a good way, from any point they might be trying to make.

When Disaster Strikes was a seamless step forward from his initial solo album The Coming. That first outing followed his many years in the group Leaders Of The New School and somewhat mirrored his collective’s old school, underground sound. Extinction Level Event showcased Busta at his most energetic on the breathless Gimme Some More and relentless Iz They Wildin With Us? As the mid 90s era reigns of Puff Daddy, DMX, Jay Z etc grew to quieter phases, Busta Rhymes released the enjoyable Anarchy and whilst all albums since have included brilliant singles and even more supreme remixes of those, the artist’s relevance and critical acclaim has somewhat declined.

A short lived stint on Dr. Dre’s Aftermath label saw the once incredibly entertaining, light hearted and animated artist take a far more serious turn, rapping the narrative of cocaine deals and hood violence, themes Dr. Dre seems to insist his roster rarely strays from. The colourful videos of multicoloured dream coats were quickly replaced by fast cars, naked women and frowns. Things felt a lot less entertaining, sincere and far more contrived.

2007 saw a quick departure from Aftermath to Universal Motown where Back on My B.S. was released, albeit after many delays and a lot of badly planned marketing activity. Promotional interviews showed glimpses of a reinvigorated Busta speaking of a desire to return hiphop to what it once was. Whilst the sentiment was great, the collection of songs didn’t make a lasting impression on charts or commentators.

Whilst the likes of Puff Daddy have now retired from chart success to enjoy huge Twitter followings and reality TV show stints, Busta has continued to keep one toe dipped in the mainstream. Such is his back catalogue and presence, he’s never ceased to be invited by younger artists to appear on their albums and remixes. Every time he’s accepted the offer, he’s shown he’s not to be messed with, contributing efforts that significantly overshadow any other personality involved.

Back catalogue and jaw dropping guest appearances aside, Busta’s continued to hold relevance and respect because of his close friendships and associations. In recent years he’s worked on several tracks with his close friend, the highly regarded Q-Tip. He’s maintained an interest in up and coming artists such as Papoose who he coached to a $1.5 million debut record deal. Whilst it’s far removed from his once envelope pushing early efforts, he works with big club and charting producers such as David Ghetta and Tiesto.

As with many artists so many albums into their recording careers, it’s unlikely that we’ll hear a Busta Rhymes album with the same impact as his earlier projects. We’re now well exposed to his once original, unheard of style and antics. But you can safely expect, whether he jumps on the latest minimalist drums / auto-tune / arab sample etc trend, that for the forceable future he’ll remain some distance ahead of his peers when it comes to being reliable for a effortlessly delivered range of tongue twisting outings.

Here’s a Spotify playlist of big album highlights and guest appearances void of interludes.