Busta Rhymes Says He Emulated Shabba Ranks’ Style And Brought It To Rap Music
Busta Rhymes has hailed Dancehall icon Shabba Ranks as his fashion, voice, and dancing influence, noting that he emulated the Jamaican’s style and brought it all to Hip-Hop/Rap music.
“Shabba was the father for me. The wardrobe, the jewellery, the voice, kickin’ up your foot, the hands in the air? I brought all of that to rap. Ahahaha!” Busta said, during a recent studio listening session for his new EP, The Fuse Is Lit, which features Skillibeng on the track Bulletproof Skin.
Busta, whose parents are Jamaicans — which makes him a Jamaican by descent under Jamaican law — was raised in the Brooklyn and Long Island area. He has said over and over that he had been inspired by Dancehall deejays from the 1980s and the 1990s, from his boyhood days.
As a consequence, during the session, the rapper, who has been venerated by Bounty Killer as a “real advocate of Jamaican culture worldwide,” declared that he gets rattled whenever he sees Jamaican sounds being “used as a gimmick by pop stars with little respect for the roots of the sound,” according to an article published by music streaming platform, Tidal.
“There’s a lot of misrepresentation of Reggae culture. The truth is the truth. Motherf-ckers don’t rep the culture right, they should be called out. That’s a part of the beauty of Dancehall culture. That’s why we clash! If you nah have your lyrics them right, come offa the bloodclaat stage!” the I Know What You Want artist said.
In November 2020, during another interview, Busta had attributed his fast way of rapping in songs such as Can You Keep Up and his 2001 hit track Break Ya Neck, which has the distinction of being labeled ‘the fastest rap song ever’, to the influence of two iconic sons of Dancehall, Lieutenant Stitichie and Papa San.
“To be honest with you, going back to the Dancehall culture… there are two artistes that I first ever seen do the million words in like one sentence in like two seconds. This one artiste named Papa San and this other artiste named Lieutenant Stitchie,” he had said.
Last year, while addressing Super Cat, at Swiss Beatz’s birthday party, he had paid homage to Dancehall’s greats such as Super Cat himself, whom the rapper said he emulated when he embarked on his musical career decades ago.
“I used to sit home and I use to watch the f-cking video tapes. I used to be yow I wanna be like them!!! Papa San, Lecturer, Professor Nuts, Supa Cat, Admiral Bailey, Tiger. Dem man deh mi did a try be. Everything wey me do me learn from dem man dem. So when I joke around on stage, I learned from them; the way I fuck niggas up on their records, I learned it from them!!!” the rapper had stated in flawless Jamaican Patois.
As for Shabba Ranks, his influence was affirmed in the rap world in July 2013 with the release of a song by rapper ASAP Ferg titled Shabba and which went on to be certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
In the hook of the song, the Seaview Gardens native’s name reigns supreme as the gold teeth-sporting rappers chant:
“Eight gold rings like I’m Sha-Shabba Ranks
Four gold chains like I’m Sha-Shabba Ranks
One gold tooth like I’m Sha-Shabba Ranks
Sha-shabba Ranks, Sha-Sha-Shabba Ranks”
The track was the second single from Ferg’s debut studio album Trap Lord and features a guest appearance from A$AP Rocky.
The accompanying music video also features a cameo appearance by Shabba himself, while the song’s remix later featured Shabba, Busta, and the rap trio Migos.