BUSTA RHYMES ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM FOR 2016

Busta Rhymes has been in the hip-hop game for over two decades. The Leaders of the New School member is one of the most accomplished artist in hip-hop history and has rhymed with some of the biggest names in the music industry. To celebrate his legacy, Busta Rhymes and Hot 97 are teaming up for a huge concert on Dec. 5 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Big names such as Diddy, Lil Wayne, Fetty Wap, Mary J. Blige and more are all performing at the show. Busta chopped it up with XXL about the concert and new music he’s dropping.—Emmanuel C.M.

XXL: What does your concert, Busta Rhymes and Friends: Hot for the Holidays, mean to you?

Busta Rhymes: I love to perform and at the end of the day, as long as I can rock with my people that I love and that contributed to the many milestone moments of throughout my career, there ain’t nothing that’s not more exciting than that to me. I’m a performing artist. I love to get on the stage to shut shit down. I love to do what I do. I think people are very clear what the results are when I’m on that stage; I step onto the home plate and swing it out the ballpark. The reason why I’m doing the concert is because it’s just time. I just wanted to launch all these amazing things that I’m going to have happening. It’s just a coming together of the A-list alumni.

You have such a long and prosperous career, you ever just look back at your career and just be awestruck?

Absolutely. I look at this shit as a blessing. So at the end of the day, it’s not something I take for granted. I work hard for what I have and it’s definitely mind-blowing just [to] look back at it to see the amazing things you’ve been able to accomplish. But it’s even more mind-blowing the shit [I’m] getting ready to accomplish. For me, if I was able to do this shit without all the information that I know now, I can’t even imagine what I’m getting ready to do with all the information I have now.

What is next for you?

I rather show you than tell you, you know what I’m saying? You can pretty much base it on what you have seen Busta Rhymes doing, and understand that I continue to try and raise the bar despite how long I’ve been doing it. I definitely want to embark on a lot of uncharted territory because that’s the only thing at this stage in my career that keeps the torch lit and the flame burning from a passionate standpoint, keeping my desire to want to continue to go. I’m not only going to surprise y’all but I’m going to have a great time surprising myself. Of course I’m going to be doing everything that I love but I’m also going to be establishing new excitement for newer fans and new love from new fans. You can see we got all type of things going on from The Conglomerate Entertainment as a record company from my artist O.T. Genasis and J Doe. We got a new artist I’m getting ready to put out that recently been signed. I got a lot of projects on the film side; new albums and we’re going to be touring on the arena level. We’re celebrating anniversaries. Next year is the 20th anniversary of my first solo album. It’s just a lot of amazing and beautiful shit happening and I’m just excited.

So is there a new album coming up next year?

Without question. I’ll be disclosing the name of that album probably before the concert. I’m getting ready to launch the single within the next couple of weeks. You’re going to be getting a few albums from Busta Rhymes. I ain’t put out an album in retail since 2009 when I dropped Back on My B.S. It’s been a long time and we’ve been cooking all these years. Don’t think for the slightest moment that these last few years I don’t have a phenomenal full course meal for the entire game. It’s definitely almost dinnertime.