Busta Rhymes

Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes. He has received 12 Grammy Award nominations for his work, making him one of the most-nominated artists without winning.

About.com included him on its list of the 50 Greatest MCs of Our Time (1987–2007), while Steve Huey of AllMusic called him one of the best and most prolific rappers of the 1990s. In 2012, The Source placed him on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. MTV has called him "one of hip-hop's greatest visual artists".

Busta Rhymes was an original member of Leaders of the New School, a group that attracted national attention when they opened on tour for Public Enemy. His breakout performance was as a guest rapper on the Tribe Called Quest track "Scenario". Shortly thereafter, the group broke up, and Rhymes became an in-demand guest rapper, appearing on numerous tracks for other artists before his solo debut album, The Coming, was released in 1996, peaking at number 6 on the Billboard 200 album chart, reaching platinum status and earning Rhymes a Grammy nomination. He has released nine total solo albums, the most recent being 2020's Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God. His list of hit singles include "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check", "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See", "Dangerous", "Turn It Up" (Remix)/"Fire It Up", "Gimme Some More", "What's It Gonna Be?", "Pass the Courvoisier, Part II", "I Know What You Want" and "Touch It".

Among his other ventures, he founded the record label Conglomerate (initially Flipmode Entertainment) and the production crew The Conglomerate (formerly Flipmode Squad).

Early life and career

Busta Rhymes was born Trevor George Smith Jr. in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City on May 20, 1972, to Geraldine Green and Trevor Smith Sr., both from Jamaica. At age 12, Smith's family moved to Uniondale, Long Island,. For a short while, Smith attended George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Brooklyn with future rappers Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G" Wallace and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter., as well as attending Samuel J. Tilden High School with Edward "Special Ed" Archer and Roderick "Chip Fu" Roachford of Fu-Schnickens. Smith eventually graduated from Long Island's Uniondale High School in 1991.