Busta Rhymes reveals some of his dream Verzuz battles, singling out Eminem, Lil Wayne, and Jay-Z as the big three.
Busta Rhymes is on top of the world these days, and understandably so. The legendary emcee recently dropped off his tenth studio album ELE2: The Wrath Of God, an album that clearly resonated with Bus-a-Bus on a deep emotional level. Following its release, it’s been nothing but praise across the board, a timely reminder that one of hip-hop’s greatest emcees is still operating at an elite level. And Busta knows it too, as evidenced by the reawakening of his dragon-esque competitive spirit.
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Lest we forget, he previously sought all the smoke with Tip Harris, challenging the trap music innovator to a Verzuz battle and vowing to bestow an ass-whooping so thorough that the word “expeditiously” would be forcefully scrubbed from his vocabulary. While T.I. opted to gracefully decline, citing an experience gap of sorts, Busta decided to refocus his gaze on another top tier emcee. One that many hold in the highest regard, which is to say, a couple of bonafide GOAT contenders.
Speaking with Complex’s Speedy Morman, Busta explained that he wasn’t upset that T.I. passed on the challenge — far from it. “These are all glorious moments,” explains Busta Rhymes. “We’re celebrating each other and having fun and we getting the opportunity to show some competitive shit. The nature of what this culture has been built on from the very beginning is to be competitive, whether respectfully competitive or disrespectfully competitive. But just for the record, I never asked to do a Verzuz with T.I. This was presented to me by Joe Crack.”
When Morman asks who would be well-suited to face off with him, Busta is quick to name Jay-Z, the rapper he previously battled during his formative years on the come-up, as well as “Calm Down” collaborator Eminem and the self-proclaimed best rapper alive, Lil Weezy. “I don’t want to do no corny Verzuz. I wouldn’t do one with anyone whose catalog isn’t crazy. I would love to do a Verzuz with somebody I’m a fan of…I would love to do a Verzuz battle with Eminem, I would love to do a Verzuz with Lil Wayne. I would love to do a Verzuz with Hov. I wouldn’t mind doing a Verzuz against two artists at the same time. I actually presented that before T.I. started talking all that.”
Check out Busta’s Verzuz reflections below, kicking off the nineteen-minute mark. Do you think Busta would hold his own against Em, Lil Wayne, and Hov?