Born in Brooklyn, Busta Rhymes, 48 formed the 90s hip-hop group Leaders Of The New School. In 1996, he released his debut solo album, The Coming, which went platinum. He has 11 Grammy nominations and his hit singles include Don’t Cha with the Pussycat Dolls. His latest album is Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath Of God. He lives in New York and has six children.
When were you happiest?
When I was young and carefree, before I realised what the obstacles were that we face as black people. I was raised in a beautiful home with incredible parents. They allowed me to enjoy what it was to be a child.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Time management.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Lack of self-worth.
What was your most embarrassing moment?
Losing my virginity when I was 15. I did not perform properly.
Aside from a property, what’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought?
I bought myself a diamond pinky ring for two millon dollars.
What makes you unhappy?
Disappointing my family.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Right now, nothing. I started training in February and went from 340lb to 254lb.
What is your most unappealing habit?
Biting the skin off my thumbs.
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
To be in a position to empower my entire family with generational wealth.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
I always wanted to be a rapper.
What is the worst thing anyone’s said to you?
That my belief that I could become a successful recording artist was a waste of time. It didn’t matter: I had my mother’s belief, so I knew I would get to live this dream.
What is top of your bucket list?
I want to live to be 160 years old.
To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why?
To my father, for the time that was lost when we weren’t getting along. We were able to reconcile a few months before he passed away five years ago.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
I still don’t think I’ve found anyone on this planet who I love more than my mother.
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
Back in history, and make sure that every slave master and every person involved with the disproportionate injustice done to black and brown people felt that same thing firsthand.
How do you relax?
I love to sleep. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is. I leave my TV on and my AC blowing because I love the circulation of the breeze, it feels like you’re on the ocean.
What keeps you awake at night?
Creating. When everyone goes to bed and then you have six or seven hours to create peacefully. I’ve become nocturnal. Even on a night when I am not in the studio, I still won’t go to sleep till six in the morning.
Where would you most like to be right now?
On another planet where this Covid shit didn’t exist.