It’s time to realize that Busta Rhymes is one of the best rappers of all time, and his recent ELE2: The Wrath Of God album only validates the assessment further. A project eleven years in the making, it’s clear that its release has meant a great deal to the Flipmode lyricist. One that signaled a transitional phase for the veteran emcee, that saw him exploring new sonic territory and retaking control of his health, which happened to be spiraling in a negative trajectory.
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Today, Bus-a-Bus took a moment to chop it up with Ebro Darden on Beats 1 Radio, opening up about some of his recent lifestyle changes, namely his impressive weight loss. As Busta explains, it was his oldest son that stepped forward to intervene, fearing that he’d be forced to see his father die prematurely as a result of poor health.
“I like to drink, I like to smoke weed, I like to smoke a cigarette, I like going out bro,” admits Busta. “I like doing shit that just wasn’t good for me bro. I had to stop. My album was done in January of last year when I was 340 pounds and my oldest son was too scared to tell me that he ain’t like the way I was sounding when I fucking fell asleep after drinking and partying.”
“My oldest son has a side conversation with my security and he’s like, ‘Yo, I think my father going to die and I don’t want that to happen on my watch,'” he continues. “Security gave me that talk for my son, it took me to a place, Ebro. It took me to such a bad place, Ebro, that all that celebrating from the night before, that shit was out the fucking window. And the results and the journey has been a beautiful, painful sometimes, but it was worth all of that pain and ass busting and muscle aches and pinched nerves and just all of the different things.”
It’s a welcome dose of honesty from Busta, who once gave Micheal Myers the business with some Def Jam Fight For NY-esque martial prowess. Show some love to the Dungeon Dragon, who aside from putting in work on the fitness tip, has been steadily seeking a worthy opponent in the Verzuz arena. His dream challenges? Eminem, Lil Wayne, and Jay-Z — do you think he could take any of them?
