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Genesis
12/04/2001 8:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Dan Leroy
Now that he's got a supportive new home at Clive Davis's J Records, the time seems right for Busta Rhymes to make good on the promise he's flashed during his up-and-down solo career. Though he doesn't completely deliver on Genesis--inconsistency remains a Busta trademark, same as his dreads and manic energy--his fifth solo joint is a big step in the right direction. The production varies dramatically, from Pete Rock's brassy Big Apple beats on "Shut 'Em Down 2002" to Battlecat's West Coast weirdout "A-- On Your Shoulders" to ultracommercial club bangers from Dre and the Neptunes, but Busta adapts his tongue-twisting flow to make sense of it all. And while even P. Diddy turns in an effective guest shot, Bus gets the most impressive help from his own Flipmode Squad, especially Rah Digga, who rips up "Betta Stay Up In Your House." Maybe the clearest evidence of Busta's creative rebirth, though, comes on the title track, a surprising bit of introspection that shows he has something to offer beyond booty calls and apocalyptic fantasies. Genesis certainly isn't the "Picasso" Busta claims on "Everybody Rise Again"--but it is his best creation yet.
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