Busta Rhymes on 20 Years of Guarding J Dilla's Music | #Bilfpod with Busta Rhymes

22:48Busta Rhymes:they're the non-negotiable in my life that's a fact that's a fact and i love that you say that i love that you say that yeah beautiful your kids your kids think that you're super there are they like dad you're so cool are they just like uh all right dad it's it's it's a combination of both it depends you know they love what i do they're super proud of me and they definitely let me know that they are excited about shit that excites them with what I do. But, you know, then we have those real moments where, you know, if we ain't agreeing or if I ain't liking some shit and we got to address something or they don't like something and they got to address it, you know, the shit that's cool is not about the bust around shit.

23:32Busta Rhymes:At that point, what becomes cool is the conversations that we're able to have and still uphold the respect that sometimes gets compromised when people are not happy with each other. When we're upset about shit or when we disagree on shit, sometimes those conversations combined with, you know, whatever that space is that the disagreement takes you to energy-wise could lead you to saying some shit and acting up in a way that it could it could create a problem and and fortunately i'm not having those encounters anymore with my kids you know like even when we we not see an eye to eye on shit we we address it and we can walk away from these conversations and still say we love each other and and keep the respect in the space that it needs to always be upheld in and that's super important in the house and that's the way we was raised so we we don't play with that yeah i could tell that You were talking about it at the, at your album at the, at the party.

24:39And you were talking about the way that you were raised in very similar to the way that I was raised in the respect and the family unit was always the family unit, no matter what happens. Same thing. Yeah. I agree with you. I think if you don't have family and you're not close, then you have no foundation. I, I a hundred percent can resonate with it. Um, so talking about kids, like I have to ask you, so my kids, listen, I love, I'm a true lover. I told you, 1990s, 2000s, but the music today, I'm just not with it. I got to ask your opinion about it. It was so, I mean, you know, not do you remember, you lived it.

25:14Back in the day, look, where I'm from Fort Lauderdale, right, from Florida, and you had to choose a side. You were either East Coast or West Coast. Like, that was what it was. There was no in-between. Everybody was clear about the mission. Everyone was clear about the goal. The music, the sounds, the lyrics, everything was so real and then today the music i'm not not into the music i don't i make the kids

25:34Busta Rhymes:turn it off i don't like it what it like what i don't like i'm not gonna tell you who my son was playing yesterday i was like i cannot hear this shit anymore turn the shit off i'm like turn the shit i can't i can't hear it it makes no sense to me what they're talking about talking about some bullshit they're not talking about anything or something so what and i know you're not i like i'm not expecting you to shit on the music but like what do you think the biggest difference is between music back when, you know, back in the 90s versus what's going on today? I mean, I think music goes through changes in all of the generations.

26:09Busta Rhymes:You know, the shit that our parents was listening to, I learned to love because I was raised with it in the house. But I didn't appreciate it the way I do until, you know, I got older, you know what I'm saying? And I got more grown. When they was playing Marvin Gaye and all of that shit in the crib, I knew the songs, but I didn't really want to hear that shit when I was young. You know what I'm saying? I wanted to hear Run DMC and LL and all of them motherfuckers. So, you know, so I get that, you know, with time and the way things change, some of the changes are going to be changes that we can still appreciate and love, and some of them aren't.

26:48Busta Rhymes:But that's in every era. Like even in the 90s or in the late 80s or even in the early 2000s, it don't matter what the time frame was. There was always shit that I didn't like in all of those eras. You know what I'm saying? So I can't say it's any different now. You know, there's certain, you know, music that artists make from several genres that I'm in love with. Then there's certain shit that I don't like. It's just, to me, it's not even about the time frame. I just think it's always about, is your shit dope or is your shit trash? Yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? All right, facts. All right, I'll roll with you on that one.

27:29I still think the music in the 90s was better. They were rapping about better stuff. This shit is terrible.

27:34Busta Rhymes:What I will say, speaking to what you're saying, I think in the 90s, what I appreciated more of then was that everybody had to understand. And no, everybody understood the importance of sounding like yourself. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yes. Yes. Yes. That I appreciated a lot because it was almost like a crime if you sounded any, even remotely similar to another motherfucker. Yeah. What would they call it? What would they call it? They call it. They call it biting or, you know, like don't bite my shit. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was a big deal. That was a serious fundamental that had to be upheld and followed and respected.

28:23Busta Rhymes:And I think along the course of the way things have changed, that definitely is not upheld in the same way anymore. For sure. I remember, I mean, even seeing you, you were out there. Remember you had your dreads, you were out there, your outfits, I mean, that tin outfit you were wearing. Like, you came out. I'm just like you were out there doing your own thing making a name for yourself you sounded absolutely not like any other artist at that time you know then you had Bone Thugs who had their own thing going on then you had like Snoop doing his own thing LL coming out with his like everybody like was differentiated rapping and singing about different things with relevance now I just feel like it's like I don't know they're talking about things that don't matter it don't matter I'm listening to this shit in the car I'm like what the fuck I was getting so aggravated yesterday see i was like oh i was i'm like liam turn that off let's listen to something a little bit better but there's a lot of dope that's out too like i you know it's a lot of dope artists out you know and and kudos to them and big up to them because some of them knew some of those new artists they inspire me and and they they they still give me enough of a drive to come in the studio and keep my blade sharp.

29:40Busta Rhymes:You know what I'm saying? So, you know, I'm definitely, I like to pull from many different places for inspiration. And I gotta say there's a few artists that I pull from that's hot today or that I just love what they're doing. Even if they're not as huge on a mainstream level, I salute them. Like Conway the Machine is an artist from the, you know he got his own company drum work now but he's a part of the griselda family and he's he's incredible to me you know i'm saying um you know west side gun benny the butcher you know j cole rock marciano was another incredible artist to me and you know he kind of fathered that sound and you know i love that it just shows that your ego that we're always learning you know your ego's not too big and you're all because if we're not learning what are we doing we're just stagnant anyways.

30:36So it's, I mean, I can appreciate what you're saying for sure. I'm learning, you know, I've, you know, I've been in sales for so long and I'm learning from these young kids all the, even my own kids, I'm always learning. And I think the best ideas and the best innovation comes and stems from the new values and the new views. So I can, I could definitely appreciate it, but I'm still, I'm still not, I'm not bought on the new music.

30:56Busta Rhymes:You ain't checking for none of that new shit. No, I'm not into it. No, I can appreciate it. I'll give, you know, you gave me a different perspective. I am with the new uh-uh. Nope. I'm still rolling to work. I'm still listening to Busta in the car to get me hyped. Uh-uh. Nope. Sorry. We ain't gonna have that. Not gonna happen. Oh shit. Hell no. I don't care. What you see is what you get. Not gonna do it. So what do you think you know watching you two and how unique. You really were so unique. I remember growing up thinking like oh my god this guy is willing to go outside of the box and just your creativity Like, where does that creativity, where did that even stem from?

31:34Was that you and your creativity? Was it a manager helping you? Like, you were so unique.

31:40Busta Rhymes:The creative always was something that I stood alone on. You know, like, I don't think, you know, anybody can help you create if you don't understand what your own creative vision needs to be or what it is. You can definitely have people, you know, come on amongst what your creative approach may be and assist in helping the vision come to life. Right. But you got to have some direction and some comfort and being able to. To be creatively free and not feel like you're worried about what motherfuckers think if they don't get it. And that's the thing that I was really fortunate with. A lot of the times I think really dope ideas that artists might come up with, they might never see the light of day if they don't have enough comfort within themselves to nosedive headfirst without a parachute off the skyscraper roof and just be like, fuck it, I'm going to land and whatever happens, happens.

32:47Busta Rhymes:A lot of the times the lack of that, it gets in the way of artists really being able to see their shit through. So me, I never gave a fuck about none of that. Like for me, I was always like my family made me feel comfortable about being different with what I wanted to do with my art and who I needed to be as a human being and as an individual. So I always had that support in the crib. Thankfully, you know, my moms and my pops, even if my pops didn't agree, because he really wasn't the fan of the rap shit when I was young, starting to do it. so in my younger years you know 12 9 between 9 and 12 when I started to really get into this hip hop shit he wasn't digging it at all but but he was always supportive of me being my best self even if he didn't agree with it as long as I was gonna do something and win and he could see that the shit is working he'll respect it once he sees that it's working but in the meantime He's gonna support me in everything that he believes is gonna work because that's just how Pops is.

33:57Busta Rhymes:He wasn't playing with his kids. Like, I ain't gambling with my kids. Y 'all are my kids. Y 'all are the life that I'm responsible for. So I ain't gambling with y 'all. I'm gonna invest in the shit that I know is gonna work for me, for y 'all. My mom's, on the other hand, she was with all of the shit. So if I wanted to rhyme, if I wanted to break dance, if I wanted to play sports, if I wanted to, whatever I wanted to do, my mother was with it. And the combination of having that in the house, it allowed me to feel comfortable enough to just spread my wings and soar, you know what I'm saying? So I'm grateful, like a lot of that shit starts in the home and I feel like I've been tremendously blessed in that way because my parents, my brother, the household was just loving and super supportive.

34:50Busta Rhymes:And I don't know what I would have became if I didn't have that. So I'm super grateful to my family for what I evolved into becoming. Amen. Look, I'm sure they're so proud of you. I'm sure of it. Now they're not, you know, now they're like, hey, listen, whatever it was, you know. Were there ever times, I mean, you're human just like everybody else. and there's good days and bad days. Was there ever a time where you were like, you started to self-doubt and you're like, am I doing the right thing? Because you said your dad was an electrician, right? So was there ever a time that you were like, man, fuck this.

35:24I'm just going to go the straight and narrow path. Like, was there ever a time you ever doubted yourself and what you were doing?

35:30Busta Rhymes:Yeah, I've definitely felt doubt in a lot of different instances

35:38Busta Rhymes:because even when the shit works, there's times when it ain't working the way you want it to work. It don't always stay up here. You know what I'm saying? Sometimes you go through these dips and you look at shit and you're sitting in the crib or in the car, you're just having an alone moment. Even in the studio, I might just come in here and be in here by myself. I might just replay certain shit in my head and think, Like what the fuck is going on? Like am I, like, was I supposed to bust a left or a right turn and didn't miss the fucking turn? Like what am I doing? You know what I'm saying? So that shit is, it's definitely been those times where I've had to sit down and just really kind of do some self evaluation and figure out what the fuck am I doing?

36:34Busta Rhymes:And then as time passed, what I started to learn with even those moments that might happen from time to time still, I kind of just learned how to redirect the energy to where it's like, if I need to find a solution to the problem, put that doubt energy into finding the solution energy. Like focus on what's the solution because doubting yourself ain't going to bring about the answer to what you need to figure out. So it's like, there's nothing abnormal about doubt, but I don't really like to, I like to balance shit on the balance scale. And I look at what's going to be more productive on the balance scale.

37:22Busta Rhymes:What outweighs, what productive things outweigh whatever else is not as productive or counterproductive. And to me, doubt never will outweigh finding the solution for what you're doubting yourself about. You know what I'm saying? So I just try to redirect that doubt energy if I'm feeling it or whenever it's felt. And that's how I move in my current space. Smart. That comes with time, though, I feel like that is a time thing. You try to explain this to somebody in their 20s, 30s. They're just figuring it out. The older you get, the more season, not older, the more season you become, the more you understand that.

38:02You know, the one of the biggest lessons I'm learning right now, not learning, not necessarily now, but in general is, you know, as you grow in fame or you grow in your career, you have all these people that are around you. And then you start to realize that, you know, not everybody can come with me. In some relationships, they're just kind of they just can't exist anymore. What do you think the hardest lesson for you that what is one of the hardest lessons you learned in that space trying to like navigate amongst people that just really couldn't cut it in your life anymore?

38:35Busta Rhymes:Be quicker to let the shit go. Sometimes I think we make it a really challenging experience for ourselves because we try to figure out what is the nicest way to just let go. Right. We almost feel like we are doing something wrong to them by letting them go. But that's not the case because people come in and out of your life at different times for reasons. They're not always supposed to just stay. That's just a part of growing. You know what I'm saying? And those who stay, it's obvious that y 'all are growing together. And motherfuckers is bringing shit to the table to help the shit that we're building and growing together continue to sustain itself and persevere and grow into more amazing shit.

39:22So I'm always, I embrace that with grace all the time because I don't like the lonely space of not having incredible people around.

39:37Busta Rhymes:I love that teamwork, dreamwork shit, but I don't love dead weight anywhere near close as I do the people that help add. you know when you're adding shit then it's cool if you're bringing something to the table it's cool if you're in some kind of way contributing even if it's just bringing the right energy around that shit is important you know and and and i i'm i'm quick to say this all the time that um we just gotta make sure we ain't loyal to the wrong shit you know loyalty is a blessing It's not a burden. You know, I frequently say this. And sometimes it's not easy, but you got to prioritize your peace of mind, your happiness, and your joy.

40:26Busta Rhymes:And like you were saying, your kids is non-negotiable. I agree with that because that's a part of the happiness and the joy, especially if your kids is doing the right things and they make you proud as a parent. My peace of mind and my joy and my happiness, I'm not negotiating that at this point in my life. so that's it you know if you ain't you ain't doing some shit that's gonna really help my peace of mind my joy and my happiness and the same thing vice versa it gotta be reciprocal you know you gotta give that to people too you know it's not just about your happiness we gotta be a collective happiness right but you're obviously you obviously gotta find your happiness first because you can't you can't give the shit or share it if you don't find it first so you gotta prioritize that and That's something that you can never negotiate, especially when you're grown or seasons, as you would say.

41:17Busta Rhymes:Yeah, season. Yeah, I don't. Or I'll say grown. Grown sounds better than old. I hate old. I don't like that word. Old. Yeah, I don't use the word old. No, I like grown. I'll use grown now. I think I like that better. Season sounds like a vegetable. I'm not going to say that anymore. Yeah, we grown. We the grown folk. Yeah, we grown folks over here. That's the. Yeah, you know what? We did earn it. We grown folks. I don't want to be a grown folks. I do not want to be a grown folks. What do you think the biggest difference is between Busta in 1990 versus Busta now? I'm a lot more rational thinking.

41:53Busta Rhymes:You know what I'm saying? That's because we grown folks. That's why. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Like, I ain't going to front. There was a very...

42:03I was younger.

42:05Busta Rhymes:I was so passionate that sometimes it would just rub people the wrong way. And I'm saying passionate now because that's a better term to use. Yeah, passion is good. Good word. Very good. I was a knucklehead and I was loud and I was stubborn. You know what I'm saying? I was always loving, but I was super stubborn. I realized that that shit came with a lot of war scars and bumping your head wounds. So it's like, you can still get through this wall. You ain't got to run through it, though you could climb over that shit. You could go around it. You could dig a hole under it, but you ain't got to run into the brick and be so stubborn about getting through that wall that you forget all of the other ways you could actually get around the wall.

42:55Busta Rhymes:So my stubborn turned into determined. So I still got the same passion. I just redirected. I listen more to still try to execute accomplishing the same thing. I'm more observant so that I can accomplish executing the same thing. It's more about the result. It's not about just the way I want to get to garnishing the result that I want. Because then I ain't hearing all the other amazing ways that I can actually garnish the same result with less war scars. You know what I'm saying? So that was the biggest difference between then and now Busta Rhymes. Yeah, that's busted. No kids, that's busted kids.

43:32Because that's where we learn it from. That's where we learn it from until we have a kid that's just like us. That's what happens. We have a kid that's just like us and we're like, what the fuck? And then really, that's what happened to me. And then I was like, shit, I just reincarnated myself. That's what happens. It's busted before, busted after. No kids, kids. That's what always happens. But what, you know, you're I know you there's a Grammy nomination. What do you I mean, how exciting is that? That's Grammys like that's not small time. That's pretty fucking big. What do you think about that?

44:12It's Grammy nominations are always an incredible thing because, you know, any any accolade acknowledging you for your work.

44:23Busta Rhymes:the acknowledgement is an amazing thing absolutely you have 11 of them too right you have 11 11 nominations i haven't won a grammy yet you will i'm manifesting it for you fuck that everybody claiming that shit too i'm claiming that shit right here now it would be even more of a blessing to to receive a grammy for this body of work because you know there's such a history that is attached to this moment of what we're doing with this music with this album Diligence 2 available and streaming everywhere by the way to the good folks that's viewing this but say it again tell them you better just say go out and fucking listen don't be trying to get that shit for free you better pay the money now you know for me it's important that however way people receive the music and love it and appreciate it and support it, greatly appreciate it.

45:20Busta Rhymes:But the most important thing to me is that people not only listen to the music and appreciate it and love it, but people learn and do the research and the history on what an amazing history and story and friendship and work history that me and J Dilla had and continue to have. And the rewarding feeling and being able to uphold his legacy and, you know, introduce him to generations that probably never knew he existed or understood his incredible contribution to the culture or what he means to us. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, for the enthusiasts that love Dilla, love me, love our work history, that know about us and they've been following us.

46:04Busta Rhymes:Yes, this is for them. But this is also for a lot of the new generation that we are now introducing him to for the first time. And what's even more amazing about this album is like, the songs that I was able to make, like, this woman is a record with me and D 'Angelo. Rest in peace to my brother, D 'Angelo, and blessings to the Archer family and the Archer estate. Because obviously, you know, they had to give this moment their blessing for this song to be shared. But it's like, when we did this record, I was gifted with this record.

46:46And this is the first time that I knew that this record existed.

46:50Busta Rhymes:And it was on the morning of a listening session that I was doing in L.A. back in February. And this listening session was happening at Anderson Packs Club. And he blessed me with the opportunity to do this listening session in this club. And big up to Anderson Packs because he's on the album as well. But, you know, as I'm getting ready to prepare for the listening session, I wake up this morning and this is after the word had already started spreading that Diligence 2 was happening. So there's a lot of people that were a fan of the first Diligence album that I did, which was a mixtape honor and Dillard's legacy that we gave away to the people for free.

47:29Busta Rhymes:And I did it with this brother by the name of DJ McBoogie at the time. He's DJ Mc now. But yeah, he brought this idea to me because he loves my history with Dilla so much that when Dilla passed, it hit home in a hard, like it hit us hard when he passed, you know? And he passed right after he did the work for me on the Big Bang album, J. Dilla. So we kind of was going through this emotional rollercoaster while we did that first mixtape. And this came out in 2007, 19 years ago. So it was like, as we're preparing Diligence II for the listener session, I wake up that morning to the gift. It was sent to me.

48:14Busta Rhymes:It's in my phone. I'm hearing D 'Angelo's vocals on this incredible Jay Diller beat. And I'm like, where the fuck did this come from? And I'm immediately bugging. I call my engineer. there. We're in the Four Seasons in L.A. And I'm like, yo, come to my room because we got the traveling studio. So come to my room, hook this shit up. I need to record something to this and include this in the listener session tonight. So that moment happens and. It turned out to be such a beautiful moment. It's one of the songs on the album that I actually don't curse on at all. There's no clean or dirty version for it.

48:51Busta Rhymes:You know, it's just a clean version. And I don't even call it clean because I was speaking what was on my heart and describing how beautiful this black woman was that I had in my mind that I was being spoken to through what D 'Angelo was singing in the hook. And big up to Sister Nancy as well. D 'Angelo was singing something that she did, which was a classic for her called Bomb Bomb. But the way D 'Angelo did it and the way I received the vibe from what he was doing, it just was speaking to me like I needed to have this beautiful conversation with this beautiful woman. And that song came together so magically.

49:36Busta Rhymes:And months later, I'm like literally like three days away from turning in the album two weeks ago. And because we dropped the album last Tuesday on the 25th of August. and yeah i was there i'm like what did last i was there yeah yeah so so so the crazy shit is a couple days before the album jimmy jam and terry lewis because jimmy jam was at the listener session in february at anderson prax club and he actually came on the stage and he gave a speech about our incredible he felt about the music four songs in you know what i'm saying so months later the week that we got to deliver the album and turn it in And then I get a call from Joey Harris, which is one of my team players in the support system of the conglomerate entertainment family.

50:27Busta Rhymes:And he goes, yo, boss, I just got a call from Jimmy. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis want to add some production to this D 'Angelo. So we sent it to him. Me and Jimmy got on the phone and he sent it back. and the magic that they added to it just took it to another level. So big up to Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis. Big up to Ludacris, Anderson Paak. Big up to John Batiste. Big up to Common. Big up to... Oof, you got some incredible artists on there. Yeah, big up to Honey Baby. You want me to pull them off? Yeah, I actually got my list. I'm going to make sure I don't forget nobody. Hold on one second. Yeah, so I got to big up Ma Dukes.

51:10She starts the album. Doesn't she start? She intros it.

51:13Busta Rhymes:She intros it, and she's actually speaking throughout the whole album. So she kind of like hosts the album in its entirety. So big up my dukes. Big up Larisi from New Orleans. Incredible new artist. Body the record that we did together called Entry. Big up my two kids, C and Trillium, my beautiful daughter and my son. They're on a song called Royalty, and they did their thing. and I am super proud of them and I want everybody to go and look forward to the work that they already got. Well, look out for the work that they already got out and look forward to the work that they got coming. Once again, big up to D 'Angelo, rest in peace.

51:55Busta Rhymes:I love you, my brother. I miss you, my brother. Jay Dilla, I love you and I miss you, my brother. Big up to C.S. Armstrong. His brother appeared two times on the album. Big up to Taleb Kweli. once again big up John Baptiste Common Ludacris Anderson Pack big up Honey Baby like I said big up to Big Sean who's also on the album representing the Detroit city like Jay Dilla and big up to T3 as well T3 is one of the original members of Slum Village which is a group that Dilla created with another brother by the name of Batin and T3 and T3 is the last the remaining member of that group that's still alive.

52:37Busta Rhymes:So rest in peace to Ba-Tin as well. And I think we got everybody, you know? You got everybody. So you better get this fucking Grammy. I mean, who I gotta call? Who I gotta get? I mean, everything that... Look, one thing I do want to touch on is I really hope people do read the story. I took time to read the story between you and Dilla. It isn't... First of all, it's a tearjerker. Like it's super sentimental, but, um, you know, it, it is a testimony of your character. It is. I mean, don't, don't sell yourself short on that. It shows a lot about who you are. It shows, I mean, in itself, like what could have happened, what didn't happen, how you, how you still value the friendship, how you still recognize him.

53:18He's not here. I mean, it's really easy to get caught up. It's easy to forget where you come from. And I don't think that you have forgotten it. So for, you know, for anyone that's listening, go read the story. The story really is, it's a beautiful story with a beautiful friendship and a beautiful person that's still honoring someone that's no longer here. So you really should take some time in that trophy room and enjoy it because you deserve it.

53:40Busta Rhymes:Thank you, Queen. I really appreciate you for that. So as we wind down, what do you want to be known for? I mean, you are Busta. Everybody knows that. But outside of being Busta Rhymes, what do you want to be known for ultimately? Just a good human being and an inspiration to many. You know what I'm saying? Like, I like to speak life into people. I love to pour love into people. And I make sure that I give that love constantly because I was raised to love and express that. You know what I'm saying? Like, again, in the crib, it's like almost weird if you don't say I love you every time you either starting the day or we're ending the day.

54:29Busta Rhymes:Love you, mom. Love you, dad. You know what I'm saying? Like that shit is every day in the crib. So it's like, and you know, we hugged and kissed each other on the cheeks. And you know what I'm saying? Like if you didn't do that, something was wrong. So, you know, when I see new artists or if I see people in general, unless you giving me an energy that I'm not fucking with, I'm gonna speak life into you. And I'm gonna tell you I love you or what you're doing is great or I'm proud of you or congrats. And, you know, like, I like to share that. So I would love to always be known for being like a giver of love, a man that stood on principles and respected people as long as you gave me respect.

55:15Busta Rhymes:And just being able to also be known for one that added for the better to the grand scheme of things. There you go. Amen. I think that's well said. Listen, you got to give me an old school. You got to give me a little bit of old school buster. You got to end it. You have to. You got to do it for me. I can't give an old school buster because I'm not old school. No. You know what I'm saying? Okay, fair. Fair. We grown. We grown. We grown. You right. You right. You got me. We grown. Nah, but I get it. And I love that you love the journey and you've been a part of it for so long. and you still hold on to those moments that - I'm holding.

55:55Busta Rhymes:Yeah, I love that because, you know, even for us, those moments that were impactful and those moments that left impressionable moments on us, those moments we remember what we was wearing, where we was at, what we was doing, who the fuck we was with. It's like - What we probably shouldn't have been doing. Oh, I remember. Whoa, right? Real shit. It's like we cherish those moments and, you know, we try to still live through those memories. And that's a beautiful thing. You know what I'm saying? I just I'm just also about being the present in the present. I like to be the present in the present. I don't just want to be present.

56:41Busta Rhymes:I want to be the gift in the present. You know what I'm saying? So I love to share mine today. OK, go ahead. All right, fine. I got you. You grown now. You can do what you want. No, I appreciate your love. And again, I'm just grateful to be able to have these opportunities and these moments to share the stories and share the moments, the magical moments. You know, the record that I did with John Baptiste in Common, this song is called What We Got in Common. and those moments is like the creation of that record was so magical it's like i look at the i look that's that's kind of like the space that i'm in now like what we got in common with each other you know i'm saying and like how these moments come about to even create those moments it's crazy because it's like i was we was leaving the grammys and when you leave the grammys we all got to go to this designated area to wait for the vehicles to come and pick you up and the crazy shit is as we're standing there waiting for the vehicles John Baptiste is dead I think I walk over and I'm waiting for my vehicle and we just started chopping it up it's the first time I'm actually meeting him me and Common met a long time ago I met Common actually before Common put out his first record at Howard University doing in one of the Howard University homecomings back in like 90, 91.

58:09Busta Rhymes:But John Batiste I met in particularly for the first time a long time ago, but I didn't remember until the Diligence 2 album came out and he put a post up on his gram

58:27Busta Rhymes:about just how far we've come. and in his post as he's promoting the song that we did together he also put up a picture of when me and him was in a studio when he was we was both younger like years ago and and i didn't i don't even i didn't recall this moment so i'm not remembering this when i meet him as we're waiting for the vehicles at the at the end of the grammys and we're talking and i just mentioned to him that diligence 2 was happening and he's such a fan of Jay Dilla, and he expressed how much he got love for what I do creatively, that he just kind of offered to be a part of it. And, you know, I was like, I would love for him to be a part of it.

59:07Busta Rhymes:And it's like the way the moments happen to come together on this beautiful body of work, it was like people felt like they wanted to be a part of this moment and be a part of this legacy and be a part of this magic. And I love, like I was saying before, with the younger artists, I love the fact that nobody on this album actually rhymed with or did a record with Dilla outside of me and Common and Talib Kweli on this whole album. Everybody else on this album, and Ma Dukes obviously, because that's her son, but everybody else on this album are going to be heard working on Dilla music for the first time in their careers.

59:54Busta Rhymes:it's super crazy it's like i love the fact that i'm able to be the conduit to helping people experience what dilla is who dilla is what dilla means even if they heard of dilla they may not have had gotten the opportunity to be on an official record with the blessing of the family to be a part of it and now they can say for the rest of their years yo i got music with Jay Dilla. You know what I'm saying? That shit is incredible. That shit is powerful. And I'm just grateful that I had the opportunity to share that. And songs like What We Got In Common and songs like This Woman With Me and D 'Angelo and the record Back Pain, Chest Pain, Head Pain, which is another incredible record that it was one of those moments where I had this beat for a while because this is one of the one of the ones Dilla put in my hand personally at his home in LA, you know, as he, you know, and big up to Common, because Common brought my Dukes and Dilla to LA so that he could be closer to his specialist to treat his medical condition.

1:01:11Busta Rhymes:And he actually lived there with them to make sure that Dilla was straight and was able to be closest to what he needed and be able to get the treatments that he needed. And at that time, I was finishing the Big Bang album, so I was living in L.A. too. And I used to go to Dilla's crib constantly and being there with him and Ma Dukes and just watching that love between Ma Dukes being so supportive of Dilla and Dilla giving me this music, back pain, chest pain, head pain was one of my favorite beats that I just never wanted to rhyme to because I ain't want to fuck it up for years. You know what I'm saying?

1:01:45Busta Rhymes:And so when it came to doing this album, this was one of the ones that I felt like, I didn't know I was gonna do it for this album, but it was like, shit man, I couldn't even touch this record until probably like a couple years ago. I recently decided to make this song to that beat because I just loved it so much for so long and was afraid to fuck up the beat. Cause you know, sometimes you think about, damn, I don't even wanna hear myself sound wrong on this shit. you know what I'm saying and that was one of those tracks that made me feel like that so I took my time but when I finally got to it and I found a pocket in that magic for it it ended up being one of the favorites on this project and and I'm just pointing out these moments because each one of these songs got a story of how this shit's came together but we'll be here for the next two or three hours talking about all that shit look you can unload it's okay it's late anyways over here you know we could go all night but no what you're saying look it makes perfect sense and i say this all the time there's a reason that we that even you and i right now at this very moment at this very time you know at this very date that there's a reason for everything everything happens for a reason the way it's supposed to happen the same thing for your album you know it came out exactly the way it was supposed to happen at that very moment at the very time at that very date and i know it sounds so cliche but i do believe i think everything is supposed to work out the way it's supposed to work out and it did for you so you're gonna get that fucking grammy talk that shit talk that shit queen thank you so much i i'm claiming it with you your mouth the gods is and you know and back to fruition you got this and manifest in a tangible way look i was there that night those people in there they were there and you could tell that each one of them first of all they all knew you every like personally i was sitting next to people that knew you personally i think i was the only one that didn't know you personally but you could feel the love in there as soon as you walked in you could tell i heard i was standing at the bar and some they were like bless the god that i heard one guy he was like bless the god this he's like this gonna be it i'm like and then the other guy over here he's dancing he was i mean there was it was so funny just to hear everybody then there was a woman sitting next to me who must have worked with dilla at some point because she was like she was like girl this is a real thing right here It was like you could feel the love in the room that night.

1:04:11And that's just I mean, it just goes to show who you are. And I think you said it best because you were like, I chose this venue for a reason. I didn't want to do it in a club. And it was like very intentional. I heard you talk about your children as well. And it really gave another perspective of who you are and what you're trying to do. So really kudos to you, your legacy, who you are. You're just scratching the surface as we are grown folks now. We are just getting into your, you know, your second part of your amazing life. And I really do hope that you take some time in your trophy room and really enjoy who you were, who you are and who you're becoming.

1:04:47Because it doesn't look like you're stopping anytime soon.

1:04:49Busta Rhymes:Oh, no, no, no. No time soon. We got too much amazing work left to do. And we still got that fire burning in my soul. So I don't have any desire to not want to continue, not even in the slightest way. So I'm going to continue to share the gift. And I'm just grateful that people are still receiving it in such an amazing way. And I thank you for having me tonight. And I appreciate you. And, you know, everything that we're doing, if you are available, please pull up and continue to share and be a part of this ongoing journey with us on this Diligence 2 celebration. Listen, I'm here. I'm here. I'm grown now.

1:05:27I could do what I want. I'm here for it. But no, we're going to have to do part two. I'm going to have to see how you feel in six months so we can do part two and where you're at there with the new album. Super with you. Yeah.

1:05:39Busta Rhymes:Super with you on that. And yeah, there's going to be a whole lot of shit to talk about six months from now. I know. I'm excited for you. I'm so excited for you and what you got going on. And seriously, congratulations on your incredible album, The Artist, Class A. Oh, I do have one question before we go. Who is one artist that you haven't worked with that you would love to work with? Sade. Sade. Stop. Absolutely. Oh, my. You never. Oh, we need to bring Sade back. I mean, she hasn't gone anywhere in my house. She's there. Yeah, absolutely. My house, too. This is no order. Ordering up. Yeah. Yeah, Sade would be the ultimate dream come true bucket list check off for me.

1:06:24Oh, my God. Yes. Now I'm going to try to find her to come on the podcast. Yes. Oh my God, Brad, Sade. You pull that shit off.

1:06:33Busta Rhymes:You pull that shit off. I'm going to be right there in your side of the screen with you. We're going to do this. Let's get it. All right, Busta. It's been a pleasure. I could stay with you for hours. I feel like we're so aligned. You're like my brother from another mother. I feel like we just, you know, we just got it. Same thing with the kids, everything. I love it. I love your vibe. I thank you so much. For those that were listening today, I hope that you got to see the man behind the bus so you can see their dad. You see the artist, the friend, the creator, the most amazing, the GOAT himself, GOAT.

1:07:05He is the greatest of all time. So if you like today's conversation, please like, subscribe, unlike, unsubscribe. I don't know, do something. But y 'all need to show Busta that love and make sure he gets that fucking Grammy.

1:07:16Busta Rhymes:Thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciate you. Appreciate you too, Queen. Love.