Busta Rhymes

Better known as Busta Rhymes, Trevor Tahiem Smith Jr. was born of Jamaican decent in Brooklyn, New York, on May 20, 1972. He is a successful rapper and has also appeared in several films. His Jamaican heritage has influenced both his music and his style that has transcended both a group and solo music career under three different labels.

Busta Rhymes got his nickname, which was borrowed from former NFL running back George “Buster” Rhymes when Chuck D of Public Enemy modified the football player’s name and gave it to Smith. Busta is a founding member of the hip-hop rap group Leaders of the New School, along with Dinco D. and Cut Monitor Milo. In 1991 they released their debut album A Future Without A Past under Elektra Records.

Leaders of the New School worked in collaboration with A Tribe Called Quest, an influential hip-hop and rap group, on the single “Scenario” off Tribe’s second album The Low End Theory, also released in 1991. Busta Rhymes has been credited with giving an appealing performance with Scenario that may have developed his first fan base. Leaders of the New School released only one more album, T.I.M.E., in 1993 before breaking up for good. Busta Rhymes was then thrust into his solo career.

Busta Rhymes’ debut solo album The Coming was released in 1996 by Elektra Records. A welldone mix of hip-hop and reggae, his first top ten hit single “Woo-Hah! Got You All in Check” stemmed from this debut album. Rhymes began to enjoy moderate success both in the United States and abroad. His single “Gimme Some More,” which samples Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho score, reached #5 in the UK in 1999. He achieved another U.S. and UK top ten single in April of the same year with “What’s It Gonna Be?” featuring legendary female pop star Janet Jackson.

In 2001, Busta Rhymes moved to J Records, a label under which he released a greatest hits album. In 2002, he released his sixth studio album It Ain’t Safe No More containing the single “I Know What You Want” that featured Mariah Carey. Some of his original fans didn’t care for the style of this album, but it was still moderately successful. He left J Records after its release and signed with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment in 2004.

Shortly before the 2006 release of his seventh album, The Big Bang, Busta Rhymes cut off his signature dreadlocks during a New York photo shoot in November of 2005. Signifying change, this haircut was his only since the age of seventeen. With this, more change came, and The Big Bang became his first ever #1 album.

In addition to his music career, Busta Rhymes has appeared in films such as Higher Learning; Finding Forrester, in which he worked along side Sean Connery; and Shaft. He also did the voice of the Reptar Wagon in Nickelodeon’s feature length animated film The Rugrats Movie.