Following his classic (no, I will not argue that, it IS a classic) solo debut album, Busta Rhymes was inevitably cast into the spotlight as one of the hottest rappers on the planet, and his moves after the release of The Coming were surprisingly selfless coming from the man who thinks he's important enough to warrant five minute introductions on each album. Instead of immediately putting out a follow-up, he let his boy Rampage record and then put out an album, on Elektra Records no less, titled, rather stupidly, Scouts Honor... By Way Of Blood, an album that, while surprisingly good, went under the radar for most rap fans. This album is sure to be covered on here at a later date, but for now, I want to get to talking about the solo effort that mr. Rhymes put out only a couple of months after, the ominously titled When Disaster Strikes...
For his second effort, Busta had taken his time crafting each song, and it wasn't until about a year-and-a-half after the release of The Coming that the album hit shelves, so it's safe to say that there was a decent amount of hype around the record, especially after the release of the classic single "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See", a track surely every hip-hop fan over the age of 25 knows and loves (none of my friends at college even knew who Busta WAS until I started talking about him). As such, the album became the highest selling album of Busta's career, and achieved platinum status pretty quickly. The album is also considered to be on the same level as Busta's debut, which is interesting, as when this album was released, hip-hop was going through its "Jiggy" phase, an era where Bad Boy ruled the radio, and were involved with every mainstream record out there (including this one). You'd expect this one to have been a bit weaker and more radio friendly, then, as were the albums from artists such as Jay-Z and others that released in '96 and '97. Alas not, the public said, and Busta was able to continue his successful run into the next year, culminating in a top 5 Billboard single, but that's a story for another day.
It was easy to see why this was well-received - the features were kept minimal, with appearances being limited largely to members of Flipmode Squad, with a little input from more well-known artists such as Erykah Badu, Ma$e and... Diddy (sigh...). Production was handled by such legends as DJ Scratch, J Dilla, Easy Mo Bee and even a young Rockwilder, and the large amount of solo tracks was a sure-fire way to showcase Busta's incredible ability without letting other, more mediocre vocalists get in the way. In fact, there isn't a feature on this one until track 9, which is quite an achievement for an early rap album (Busta would do something similar with the less successful Anarchy album, which we'll get to later). This one was certainly an exciting prospect then, but would it deliver?
Once again, Busta is my favourite rapper of all time, so bear that in mind during this inevitably quite positive review.
1. Intro (prod. Busta Rhymes, Omar Glover & D.J. Scratch)
I didn't think it could get any more pretentious than the intro to The Coming, but I guess I was wrong. This still sounds exciting as hell, though, and Lord Have Mercy is easily one of the most interesting vocalists in hip-hop.
2. The Whole World Lookin' At Me (prod. D.J. Scratch)
Bloody incredible. DJ Scratch's beat is quite phenomenal, being haunting and bloody banging as well, and Busta Rhymes sounds utterly brilliant - "Motherfucking shame when you DIEEE!!" is one of my favourite quotes from Busta, full stop. The only minor issue for me on this one is Busta's need to shout about feeling "imperial" and "supreme" over the hook. Busta, we know you're great - you ain't gots ta tell us! Otherwise, an incredibly impactful intro.
3. Survival Hungry (prod. D.J. Scratch)
Later replaced on represses of this album by the non-album track "Turn It Up (Remix)/Fire It Up", an odd decision, not only because this is way, WAY too good to deserve removal, but also because the remix would therefore show up before the original "Turn It Up" on the album, something that just makes no sense to me. Whatever - my pressing has this song, and it's brilliant. The beat is intense and sinister, and Busta sounds absolutely phenomenal on here. My favourite line is "corny nigga crash into a motherfuckin' tree!", but there's a lot more on here that is quotable as hell too. The hook is a little goofy, but this is still excellent in my opinion.
4. When Disaster Strikes (prod. D.J. Scratch)
The title track, which features some of the more profound bars Busta ever spit, at least until he became a little more conscious on Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath Of God. The lines "Practice your rhyme or be the local practitionist. Well, you can try bein' a doctor or bein' a local obstetricianist, see, you can be somethin'. Quit tryin' to work so fuckin' hard towards nothin'. This rhymin' shit was never designed for every swollen muffin, yo!" may just be a diss to aspiring MCs, but it's still pretty interesting to hear these seemingly motivating bars from the usually silly Busta (even if there is no such thing as an "obstetricianist"). Busta's shouting over the hook sounds a bit better here, and the verses are once again brilliant. The beat is also the third great one in a row from DJ Scratch. Excellent stuff.
5. So Hardcore (prod. The Ummah)
One of the most incredibly lyrical displays ever released by Trevor Smith, "So Hardcore" works as one of the most impressive tracks on the whole album. "Roller skate backwards when the beat start reversin'" is possibly the best Busta Rhymes line EVER, and his delivery is what really makes it. The hook, which takes lines from the last album's "Everything Remains Raw" is actually a bit of an annoyance, as it slows down the track, and makes you just want to get back to Busta's constant bars, but the subtle beat teamed with the incredible verses makes this surely one of the best on this album. The skit at the end was unnecessary, though.
6. Get High Tonight (prod. D.J. Scratch)
Or not, I guess? This song could easily have been a Redman track, which is interesting, as I'm probably one of the few people that think Busta definitely did NOT steal his style from Redman - in fact, it's a ridiculous accusation if you ask me. However, the subject matter, and the line "weed smoking got me moving slow motion like we floatin' on relax ocean", both sound very Redman-esque. This track is also nowhere near the calibre of the first few tracks, as the beat is dull, and the hook is bloody horrible. Verses are still stellar, though.
7. Turn It Up (prod. Busta Rhymes)
Not as famous as the Knight Rider-sampling remix, and also not as good in my opinion. The old-school beat (done by Busta himself - Busta does like making simple, percussion-based beats, doesn't he?) is not particularly brilliant, and the hook goes on for too long in my opinion. Busta's rhyme schemes on here are very impressive, though, and this one is at least more entertaining than the last track.
8. Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See (prod. Shamello & Buddah, co-prod. Epitome)
9. It's All Good
I haven't heard this song, and I'm saving it for when I get the pressing that does contain it - it was removed from US pressings of the album due to its sexual content, and I, stupidly, bought the US pressing of this one on Discogs, rather than the UK version, which would have been cheaper and would have had this track too. *puts hand to head in regret and shame*.
I'll come back and edit this once I've heard this track, I promise!
10. There's Not A Problem My Squad Can't Fix (feat. Jamal) (prod. Busta Rhymes)
Very odd choice for a feature, as even the title is giving Bus-a-Bus a clue as to who should really be featured on here (hint - who met Def Squad on the last album?). Speaking of Def Squad, Jamal does show up on here for some reason, and delivers a pretty nice performance over yet ANOTHER percussion-based beat by Busta himself. This track is very enjoyable though, despite the fact that's it's on the thin line between a new song and a cover of "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life", one of the early hit songs to feature elements of rap music. The skit on the end is ridiculously long though, although I appreciated the fact that Rampage's track "Wild For Da Night" was playing in the background.
11. We Could Take It Outside (feat. The Flipmode Squad) (prod. D.J. Scratch)
Oddly, there is a "The" before the words "Flipmode Squad" on the back cover of this album, a distinction that they lost by the time their group album came out the next year. This track features arguably the best DJ Scratch instrumental OF ALL TIME, with the piano loop being catchy and haunting at the same time, something that can also be said about the chorus. Serious, who was booted straight out of the Flipmode Squad office's door like Jazzy Jeff in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air shortly after this song's recording, proves to actually be rather promising on here, sounding like an early Danny Brown of sorts. The line "and sip fresh squeezed milk from the titties of llamas" (rapped by Lord Have Mercy, and not the last strange lines he'll speak on this album) won't be forgiven, but otherwise this is an incredible posse cut track.
12. Rhymes Galore (prod. Rashad Smith)
Featured at the beginning of the video for the non-album "Turn It Up (Remix)/Fire It Up", this song is rather exciting, even if the Rashad Smith production is a little annoying. This track shows Busta at his most maniacal, especially during the random sung bars that come up occasionally in the background. "That got me fillin' in by the million, FUCK-a yo' opinion!" is one of my favourite Busta Rhymes bars of all time, and the hook is exciting and intense. The track length is just the right amount too - any longer and this would have been too much, but as of now, this is perfect.
13. Things We Be Doin' For Money Part 1 (prod. Easy Moe Bee)
Busta decides to put two hats on for this one - one for storytelling, and the other for making himself believe he is a more menacing character than he really is. On this track, Busta raps about being a broke dude living in a dangerous neighbourhood, and robbing people purely to survive, and he comes off as surprisingly threatening. This track is entertaining enough, but the inclusion of the next song makes it a whole lot more interesting...
14. Things We Be Doin' For Money Part 2 (feat. Rampage, Anthony Hamilton & The Chosen Generation) (prod. 8-Off, co-prod. Clay Da Radier)
This surely goes down as one of the best sequel songs in the history of hip-hop. On this track, Busta raps from the perspective of the dude that he robbed on the last track, a dude who, we now figure out, was not to be fucked wit. Said dude decided to grab his crew, and proceed to blow the robber and his friends the fuck up. Or at least that's what it sounds like to me. The ending makes me believe that Bus at some point switched back perspective to the original robber, but I don't know really. The inclusion of Rampage's perspective on here makes this already intense track even more engaging, and the final lines of "So much drama over this fuckin' money, the way the situation end, it wasn't even funny. Tried to rob this nigga because I was fuckin' hungry, but if you try to test, we blast a nigga in a hurry. Me and my squad bounce and left the fuckin' scene ugly" are incredibly harrowing. The skit at the end also provided an entertaining twist, so that was nice.
15. One (feat. Erykah Badu) (prod. Rockwilder)
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16. Dangerous (prod. Rashad Smith & Armando Colon)
17. The Body Rock (feat. Rampage, Sean "Puffy" Combs & Mase) (prod. Chuckie Thompson)
"Flipmode and Bad Boy collabo! Makin' all of you niggas all say "what is the point of this collaboration?!"". Busta Rhymes absolutely KILLS this song, absolutely blowing the other verses off the face of the Earth as fast as that fidget spinner trend. Sadly, the beat is quite repetitive, and God do Mase, Puffy and (surprisingly) Rampage SUCK on this song. Busta's verse is solid, but that's all that this song is worth playing for.
17.5. Fuck That (Get Off My Block Interlude) (prod. Pete L)
In the liner notes, that is the supposed name of this track, which is pretty interesting, as I somehow only just noticed that now, despite having this album for ages at this point. The hidden Spliff Star track is also pretty worthless, and, ironically, makes us less wanting of a solo from the man (ironic as this hidden track was a teaser for his album, as Busta states at the end).
18. Get Off My Block (feat. Lord Have Mercy) (prod. D.J. Scratch)
Very menacing final song. The beat here sounds spacey, ominous and utterly horrifying, and the first verse from Busta Rhymes is about as brilliant as you can expect at this point on the album. Lord Have Mercy's verse has some very odd lines about "wrecking more kids than pedophiles", and later on about someone pissing on him from above, things that sounds very strange when said in his drawly, video-game announcer style voice. The screams of "GET OFF MY BLOCK!!" on the hook sound excellent, though.
19. Outro (Preparation For The Final World Front) (prod. D.J. Scratch)
Busta screams at us about the end of the World over a beat that was also heard during the intro of this album, and it's pretty haunting, if seeming a little stupid now that we know the world didn't end in the year 2000. No more dramatic classical music at the end, sadly.
Overall, When Disaster Strikes... is a difficult one to rank in Busta's catalogue for me. On one hand, the project contains the absolute best rapping Busta ever delivered, with songs like "So Hardcore" and "Rhymes Galore" (hey, that rhymes!) showing phenomenal lyrical abilities that seem more technically impressive than anything we heard on The Coming. However, the album is nowhere near as consistent as that project (or, for that matter, the one that came after), and hasn't aged as well as that album at all. Whereas most of The Coming could be put out today and no-one would bat an eyelid, this album seems purely a project of the late 90s, whether you're looking at the 19 (or 18 in the US and my bloody pressing) track long runtime, the Puffy and Mase feature song, or simply the general production styles used here. That's not really a bad thing, as the 90s were the best era for hip-hop, but at the same time, this still doesn't feel as easy to sit through as The Coming. But, enough negativity. This album is still phenomenal, and easily a classic album, as well as the best that I have yet heard from the year 1997. The rapping on here is brilliant, and Busta never fails to deliver, and the production is engaging all the way through. There are definitely a couple of dips in the tracklist, but those dips are worth sitting through to get to the good stuff. Yes, I'm definitely recommending a listen - hell, you should have had this one on before I even started this final paragraph.
Best Tracks: The Whole World Lookin' At Me, Survival Hungry, When Disaster Strikes, So Hardcore, Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See, We Could Take It Outside, Things We Be Doin' For Money Part 2, Dangerous, Get Off My Block
Worst Tracks: The Body Rock
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