Busta Rhymes | Back on My B.S.

Universal Motown (2009)
By MIKAEL WOOD  |  June 2, 2009
1.5 1.5 Stars

090605_busta_main
Increasingly surrounded by Soulja Boys and Lil Waynes, Busta Rhymes has of late taken on the look of hip-hop's Father Time. Dude's a quick study, though: now that the Internet has turned even name-brand stars into Hype Machine heatseekers, he knows that you've gotta lead with your hottest material.

So over the past few months he's leaked a series of excellent singles as a run-up to the release of Back on My B.S., his long-awaited debut for Universal Motown following an ill-fated stint at Dr. Dre's Aftermath. The best of those leaks, a five-alarm firestarter called "Don't Touch Me (Throw da Water on 'Em)," even earned a place alongside such career-high hits as "Woo-hah!! Got You All in Check" and "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See." Unfortunately, "Don't Touch Me" didn't make the cut here — a sure sign that Rhymes (a) has lost touch with what he's good at or (b) knows more about Web marketing than I do.

Some of those other pre-release tracks do appear, among them the inescapable "Arab Money," which has grown no less perplexing (or funky) with age. But B.S. includes far more filler than it needed to; "Kill Dem," a zero-flair Pharrell joint, doesn't even deserve its inevitable Rapidshare link.
  Topics: CD Reviews , Celebrity News, Entertainment, Music Stars,  More more >
| More

Most Popular
Blogs
 More: Phlog  |  Music  |  Film  |  Books  |  Politics  |  Media  |  Election '08  |  Free Speech  |  All Blogs
ARTICLES BY MIKAEL WOOD
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS | FURTHER  |  July 07, 2010
    Astralwerks (2010)
  •   DEVO | SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY  |  July 01, 2010
    Given the theory of de-evolution these Ohio brainiacs began expounding more than 30 years ago, it makes a sad kind of sense that Devo's first album since 1990's Smooth Noodle Maps offers such a charmless, base-level version of the band's synth-addled new wave.
  •   TAIO CRUZ | ROKSTARR  |  June 24, 2010
    When Taio Cruz sings, "I can't live without you," in "Take Me Back," pop-song conventions tell us he's referring to a lover.
  •   THE FUTUREHEADS | THE CHAOS  |  June 16, 2010
    "I wish that I could stop the noise," sings Barry Hyde not long into The Chaos . It sure doesn't seem that way.
  •   BETTYE LAVETTE | INTERPRETATIONS: THE BRITISH ROCK SONGBOOK  |  June 01, 2010
    Bettye LaVette’s previous two albums had titles that required a little digging to unpack.

 See all articles by: MIKAEL WOOD

LATEST SLIDESHOWS

All Slideshows