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When Disaster Strikes
09/16/1997 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Dan Leroy
When Disaster Strikes contains what appear to be the two prerequisites for every current hip-hop album: besides the 20 minutes of unadulterated filler, there's a mile-long list of guest stars (here, everyone from Sean "Puffy" Combs to Rudy Ray "Dolemite" Moore). But Busta Rhymes' latest effort ultimately needs even more help than those luminaries can provide. When Rhymes gets strong and assertive rhythm tracks to contain his rough-voiced, elastic delivery, the results are swell (see the straightahead disco thump of "There's Not A Problem My Squad Can't Fix" or the bare-bones synth-groove of "Rhymes Galore"); but when he's backed with woozy Wu-Tangizms on tracks like "So Hardcore," things just sound messy. There are other misfires, too, from the pointless it-was-just-a-dream gangsta scenario on "Things We Be Doin' For Money" (in two draggy parts) to the breezily appealing but insubstantial duet with Erykah Badu, "One." Not the disaster mentioned in the title, perhaps, but not very impressive, either.
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