Busta Rhymes bigs up dancehall at BET Awards

(AP):

Busta Rhymes took home the biggest honour at Sunday night's staging of the 2023 BET Awards, which celebrated 50 years of hip-hop.

The multiplatinum rapper, songwriter and record producer was given the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was handed to him by fellow producer Swizz Beatz.

Busta Rhymes, the 12-time Grammy Award-nominated rapper, producer, and pioneering hip-hop figure, is widely regarded as one of the great MCs, with seven Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits to his name.

Diddy, Janet Jackson, Chuck D, Missy Elliot, Pharrell Williams, and Mariah Carey recorded a video tribute to Busta Rhymes.

"Alright, imma wear it on my sleeve. I do wanna cry," Busta Rhymes started his speech, as his eyes started to water. He talked about his six children, being kicked out from his hip-hop group Leaders of the New School, and learning how to rebuild by going into studios, sharing a cigar with whoever was in the studio, and "quickly whipping up a 16-bar verse ... . By default, I pioneered the feature," he said.

"A lot of greatness from out people in our culture is by default. Because it's just a magic we have," he added.

Busta Rhymes used the occasion to celebrate dancehall alongside Dexta Daps , who dropped his single Shabba Madda Pot; Queen of Dancehall Spice, who performed So Mi Like It; Skillibeng, who delivered his megahit Whap Whap, and Cutty Ranks, who served up his classic A Who Seh Me Dun (Wait Deh Man).

Busta Rhymes also told the hip-hop community to "stop this narrative that we don't love each other", urging veteran musicians and newcomers alike to embrace one another.