Throwback Thursday: Busta Rhymes’ “Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check” (Video)

After writing an entire article about how terrible Busta Rhymes has become I started to feel a little bad. Maybe I was being too harsh? Maybe he wasn't really as good as I remember? So I went back and listened to a grip of old school Busta and realized nope, I was right. The man's new stuff is wack, and his old stuff, like his classic 1996 jam "Woo Hah (Got You All in Check)" is unbelievably dope.



The Refined Take:

1) You can't really understand Busta's (old) rhyme style without understanding Jamaican/Caribbean rhyme styles. Busta took the hyper-energetic flows of dancehall cats, grounded them in American hip-hop, and invented a completely unique style no one's ever been able to replicate.

2) I hate to keep bringing this back up, but seriously, Busta's put on about 100 pounds of pure muscle in the last decade. Even in a huge trash bag coat the dude still looks skinny.

3) It's old now, but I should also mention that Busta was one of the first rappers to film videos using that fish-eye lens style. The man's an innovator on multiple levels...although for some reason he fashion sense never really caught on. Hmmmm...wonder why.

4) Ultimately "Woo Hah" is a pretty basic video; it's just a series of relatively unremarkable sets. But with Busta delivering one of the more charismatic and energetic performances you'll ever see, he doesn't need huge visual effects and fireworks. In other words, he's bizarro Diddy.

5) I don't think I need to go into the usual Throwback Thursday "where is he now" routine. Busta Rhyme's still, disappointingly, making music. Come on Busta. Get it together man.