Albums by this artist

Extinction Level Event (1998)

Busta Rhymes

Extinction Level Event

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» GINA VIVINETTO | STAFF WRITER

Busta Rhymes Extinction Level Event Elektra, 1998 RiYL: Wu-Tang, Rampage, Big Punisher, Mos Def

Busta Rhymes is obsessed with the end of the world. On Extinction Level Event: The Final World Front, his third album, the king of apocalyptic hip-hop brings down the house again, kvetching about the changing of millenniums, Armageddon and the crumbling state of the planet.

But Busta keeps his Chicken Little bit sounding fresh by keeping things diversified. He teams up with a hodgepodge of special guests. Metalhead Ozzy Osbourne does a cameo on "This Means War," which samples Black Sabbath's "Iron Man." Nasty little Janet Jackson sings backup on the erotically charged "What's It Gonna Be?" (Two words: steam-me!)

Still, it's Busta who makes Extinction rock.

See, rap is a funny thing. You either like a guy's delivery or you don't. Take, for example, that cutie-pie Mase. When Mase raps, I feel as if he's spitting on me. I don't like it. But speech impediments are cute -- on Cindy Brady.

Busta, on the other hand, Busta can rap the alphabet and by the time he's to l,m,n,o,p, I'm in a tizzy. Busta's got dexterity. His delivery is seamless and steady, even when the beat gets frenetic.

Just listen to "Iz They Wildin Wit Us & Gettin Rowdy Wit Us?" Then, pick your jaw off the ground and admit it, the guy is amazing.

Extinction Level Event has all of rap's prerequisites: social commentary, sex, idiotic dialogue between songs.

And samples, wonderfully groovy samples. Atari video game noises pepper some tracks. And the disc's first radio hit, the thunderous "Gimme Some More," lifts those spooky strings from the "Psycho" theme.

GINA VIVINETTO |