Busta Finally Back On His Shit

Busta Rhymes’ eighth studio album has been slated for release since December 2007, through several name changes and indefinite delays. Today, it finally hits shelves, entitled Back On My B.S.

It was originally to be titled Before Hell Freezes Over, until Jimmy Iovine told Busta that The Eagles had an album with the same name. (First, it was just a live album called Hell Freezes Over. Second, who cares?) Then the name was changed to Blessed, as Busta found himself walking away from legal issues relatively unscathed in comparison to T.I., Remy Ma, Prodigy and others at the time.

Our own Britney Bernstein penned a “review” (it was a joke by the way) when the tracklist (and some tracks) from the Blessed incarnation “leaked.” That was almost a year ago.

After jumping from Aftermath / Interscope to Universal Motown (which is not much of a jump, really), Busta finally settled on Back On My B.S., not to be confused with the Back On My Shit mixtape that popped up last week.

The first single I heard (ostensibly from this album), Don’t Touch Me, was the best track Busta has done (in my opinion), in years. It’s not on the final version, and neither is the “rock remix” with Travis Barker, that got more plays on YouTube than the “official” cut. The second single, We Made It (w/ Linkin Park) isn’t on there either. Most early “singles” have since been tagged “leaked” cuts, or “street singles,” with exception of the Linkin Park jam, which appears on some versions of Back On MY B.S. as a bonus.

These premature emissions haven’t hurt the album’s offensive line for the radio game though; no less than four singles from the retail version have already dropped; Arab Money (of which there are three different versions), Hustler’s Anthem ‘09, Respect My Conglomerate, and World Go ‘Round.

The strongest of these singles is Hustler’s Anthem, though I can’t handle the T-Pain auto-tune. The beat is solid, and Busta’s verses are tight. The singing part holds the track together even, I just wish a real vocalist was handling it.

That’s not to say that World Go ‘Round, with Estelle, is any better; it helps to confirm the sneaking suspicion I’ve had since that American Boy track hit the radio; Estelle can only barely sing, and doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Without Kanye, she’d be off the grid.

In fact, most of the songs that look like killers on paper disappoint. Respect My Conglomerate has Lil’ Wayne, but there’s no punch, and the beat wears thin quick- Not that that’s new territory for Weezy, but not every one of those stupid simple beats can be as tenacious as Milli. Kill Dem has Pharrell, but the reggae track feels more like a novelty than an achievement.

My only complaint with Don’t Believe ‘Em, with Akon & T.I., however, is just that it feels more like an Akon track than a Busta Rhymes track. On that same tip, Decision, with Jamie Foxx, Mary J. Blige, John Legend & Common is a great song- as good as you’d expect with a lineup of that caliber- but it sounds like Busta is the guest rather than the host. Do I knock these tracks just because they’re not what I personally expect from Busta? No… But I do have to note that Busta isn’t doing what he does best.

And on the upside, some of the best bits of Back On My B.S. are found in unexpected nooks. After a bit of a skit, opening track Wheel Of Fortune surprises, with some of that awesome, furious Busta vocal work that helped make Don’t Touch Me so great.

Unassisted track Shoot For The Moon has got a few bricks from the old school with a straight-up beat, and a steady understated verse that builds up to a bang at the chorus.

King Karnov’s beat on We Want In is vaguely Dre-ish, without his signature thump. I fall off when the auto-tuned vocals come in, but if you don’t have that hang-up that I do, there’s a lot to appreciate.

Despite some great tracks, Back On My B.S. is not quite Busta’s best album to date. When he’s on, he tears the house down. And I’m still rocking Don’t Touch Me, a full year after it dropped. But all in all, I’m a little disappointed. I just hope that Busta’s on firm ground now at Universal Motown, and can keep doing his thing. Busta’s still got what it takes, but we’ll have to wait a little longer for his next classic.

Back On My B.S.
Flipmode / Universal Motown
May 19th, 2009

01. Wheel Of Fortune
02. Give ‘Em What They Askin’ For
03. Respect My Conglomerate (w/ Lil’ Wayne & Jadakiss)
04. Shoot For The Moon
05. Hustler’s Anthem ‘09 (w/ T-Pain)
06. Kill Dem (w/ Pharrell & Tosh)
07. Arab Money (w/ Ron Browz)
08. I’m A Go And Get My… (w/ Mike Epps)
09. We Want In (w/ Ron Browz, Flipmode Movement, Spliff Star & Show Money)
10. We Miss You (w/ Demarco & Jelly Roll)
11. Sugar (w/ Jelly Roll)
12. Don’t Believe ‘Em (w/ Akon & T.I.)
13. Decision (w/ Jamie Foxx, Mary J. Blige, John Legend & Common)
14. World Go ‘Round (w/ Estelle)