Who Could Beat Busta Rhymes In A Verzuz Battle?

By: Melo Williams 

It’s been 50 years of pure raw and uncut hip hop, curated by DJs, Producers, MCs, and from the East and West Coast, Down South, and last but not least, the Midwest, whose sound and influence is anchoring Hip Hop today.

In these great 50 years of Hip Hop, we’ve been blessed to hear some of the illest bars by some of the most creative music artistic geniuses music can offer painting vivid motion pictures in our heads while they spit their rhymes of what went on in every hood in America.

Hip-hop has generated so many conversations, however the biggest conversation in Hip Hop like sports, “The GOAT” conversation, and the endless debates and rankings it brings.

We all know every list, debate, thoughts, and opinions are subjective sprinkled with facts and thoughts from your reality, so it’s important to have an open mind when creating lists and saying who The GOAT of anything is.

We know hands down Jay-Z, Nas, Big, Pac, and Eminem are pretty much the unanimous top 5 artists that most people say are The GOAT of Hip Hop.

Recently, Funk Master Flex appeared on a new episode of “Classics With Scoop B!” and said Busta Rhymes would embarrass Jay-Z in a Verzuz battle.

“You want me to tell you who would beat Jay-Z in Verzuz? Hands down and embarrass him?”

“Busta Rhymes would spank anybody at Verzuz. There is no one that will beat Busta Rhymes, a solo artist that would beat Busta Rhymes at Verzuz…MAYBE it could be a tie with Missy (Elliott).”

Initially, it made me say Flex is bugging. Then I listened to his explanation of the difference between Jay-Z and Nas in a Verzuz battle and said Jay’s stage swagger would be the difference. So if Flex feels Jay over Nas but Busta over EVERYBODY in the industry, it opens the door for the discussion of Busta Rhymes being a legitimate candidate for the GOAT title.

Busta Rhymes checks off every box of being an artist and an MC. He checks off album sales with 10+ million, though he hasn’t sold near the number of albums worldwide that Jay-Z, Nas, Em, Pac, or Big has.

From battling, to writing, producing, headlining tours, award shows, and festivals, to burning down guest features (and most times went harder than owner of song and other guests) Busta Rhymes did it all. He checks off all the boxes.

Busta Rhymes wears the title of CEO as well of Flipmode Squad.

Rapper turned actor, Busta Rhymes is one of the better rapper turned actors in the history of Hip Hop, he can act. The only rappers turned actors with a better Hollywood career than Busta Bust are Ice T, LL Cool J, Ice Cube, 50 Cent, and Queen Latifah. Busta has been in over 10 quality movies from Who’s The Man, Strapped, Higher Learning, Shaft, Narc, Halloween: Resurrection, and more.

When it comes to marketing, branding, and endorsement deals, Busta Rhymes has done fairly well in that area. He’s partnered with brands like Mountain Dew, Toyota, Courvoisier, Dreambody Cuisine and others. Some give Busta Rhymes a lot of credit for helping build Violator Records.

Albums and body of work, we all know Busta Rhymes has held it down as a solo artist in his iconic career. Busta has released 10 studio albums, three compilation albums, eight mixtapes, and 92 singles including 50 as a featured artist. Some Hip Hop heads call Busta Rhymes “The King of Features” some artists call on Busta when they need a blazing hook or feature delivered the rough gritty way or R&Bish like we heard Busta with Janet Jackson on the chart-topping record “What’s It Gonna Be” off Busta Rhymes “Extinction Level Event: The Final World Front album.

Lastly, longevity. Busta Rhymes has been in Hip Hop dating back to his high-school days battling in the hallways with Biggie, Jay-Z, Special Ed, and Chip Fu of the legendary Fu-Schnickens rap group. In 1986 Busta Rhymes was a part of helping create a Hip Hop rap group, Leaders of the New School. Hip Hop icon and living legend Chuck D gave Busta Rhymes his stage name.

In closing, I must close with this, often great players, artists, and entertainers are overlooked in GOAT or Best Ever conversations because of the most common names like Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem, Biggie, Lil Wayne, or Pac. Some say Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J, KRS-1, and Mr. Certified Lover Boy, Drake himself. Once we get past those names, artists like 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Ice Cube, Scarface, Ludacris, and Jadakiss are hanging around with a strong case for Top 5 or The GOAT.

I’m not saying Busta Rhymes is The GOAT, but what I am saying is if a Verzuz can and has to be used to determine the Top 5 and The GOAT rapper of all time, someone would be hardpressed saying Busta Rhymes can’t be considered The GOAT, a GOAT, or Top 10 of all time in these beautiful 50 years of Hip Hop.

Busta Rhymes in a Verzuz battle against whoever would do numbers, but it would have to be Drake, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, or 50 Cent, those headlining artists that have the multiple radio commercial hits and stage presence to rock a show live with fans rapping bar for bar with you.

Let me know who can beat Busta Rhymes in a Verzuz Battle and where you have Busta Rhymes ranked all-time as a solo artist?

Follow Melo on Twitter and Instagram: @_MeloWilliams