BUSTA RHYMES – Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See
BUSTA RHYMES – Get Out

A sorry tale of decline. “Put Your Hands….” is absolutely typical Busta, but his formula was so winning that the best example of it becomes his most delicious record by happy default: sly, twisty rapping, Busta’s quietly amused voice, mesmerically sinuous and low-key beats, and lots of rhyming the penultimate syllable of each line. It’s not rocket science, but it could easily be rocket fuel.

Newest single “Get Out” sees craft swapped pound-for-pound with crass. The sample credits pretty much say it all: ‘Sample from “The Ugly Duckling” performed by the Richard Wolfe Children’s Chorus’. For ‘Busta’, read ‘Nursery’, as Rhymes looks for a slice of Jay-Z’s ironic kiddie-hop pie. I hope he chokes on it: the first time you heard “Hard Knock Life” you may have found it blackly amusing and at least blessed with an original gimmick. The first time you heard “Anything” you gritted your teeth and cursed Jay-Z’s bank manager. The first time you hear “Get Out” and realise the poison’s spreading, you might want to weep: here’s a man with one of the subtlest, lithest flows in hip-hop backed up with a chorus of children pretending to be ducks. What the hell does he think he’s doing?