15. Pass The Courvoisier, Pt. II (2001)

“Pass The Courvoisier, Pt. II” arrives as a full-throttle celebration, blending opulence, absurdity, and undeniable charisma into a track that somehow works better than it has any right to. A reimagining of the Genesis album cut, this version pulls in Pharrell Williams and the ever-insufferable P. Diddy—yet still manages to shine. That’s a testament to the sheer force of its sound and swagger.

Pharrell’s infectious hook, delivered over The Neptunes’ gleaming, bass-heavy production, anchors the track in club-ready territory. Busta barrels through his verses with effortless control, balancing rhythmic ferocity with playful command. There’s an exaggerated extravagance to the whole affair, and the production matches that tone with a patchwork of expertly flipped samples—from A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario” to Mystikal’s “Shake Ya Ass” to Odyssey’s “Easy Come, Easy Go.” It’s maximalist, but never muddled.

The accompanying music video is pure spectacle: a high-budget comedy mashup featuring Mr. T, Jamie Foxx, Mo’Nique, and nods to Harlem Nights and Rush Hour 2. Its cultural footprint extended far beyond the charts—Courvoisier’s sales reportedly jumped 20% post-release, without the company ever cutting a check. Busta may have preferred Hennessy, but the track etched Courvoisier into Hip Hop folklore.

Even with Diddy in the mix, “Pass The Courvoisier, Pt. II” is too much fun to ignore.

14. Arab Money (2008)

With “Arab Money,” Busta Rhymes swung for maximalism and landed squarely in the center of controversy, club rotation, and pop culture imprint. Released as the lead single for Back on My B.S., this Ron Browz-produced track pulses with a hypnotic beat laced with Middle Eastern-inspired melodies and a sample that borrows from Panjabi MC’s “Mundian To Bach Ke.”

It’s loud, audacious, and laced with satire—swaggering through verses about wealth, private jets, and international bank accounts. Busta embraces the absurdity with a wink, delivering lines that blur the line between parody and celebration. The track’s title and use of Arabic phrases sparked backlash, but the conversation didn’t slow its momentum.

The Rik Cordero-directed video takes things even further, pairing green-screen extravagance with an endless parade of cameos—from Rick Ross to Lil Wayne to Will Smith. Businessman Ali Naqvi plays the fictional Arab prince, adding to the exaggerated theater of luxury and excess.

“Arab Money” also found new life in Grand Theft Auto soundtracks and spawned a series of remixes with high-profile features and Auto-Tuned flourishes that kind of work out. Love it or loathe it, the song made noise. It’s Busta doing what he does best: commanding the spotlight, stirring the pot, and turning spectacle into sound.

13. So Hardcore (1997)

On When Disaster Strikes, “So Hardcore” hits with the force of a thrown brick—stripped-down, relentless, and sharpened to a point. Produced by J Dilla and The Ummah, the track thrives on a sparse framework: haunting samples, scattered drum loops, and ghostly melodies pulled from Cresa Watson’s “Dead” and Pete Jolly’s “Leaves.” That minimalism isn’t a limitation—it’s an open ring for Busta Rhymes to unleash in.

His voice, gruff and nimble, does all the heavy lifting. From the first breath, he pounces into tangled rhyme patterns, ducking and weaving through each bar with breathless aggression. There’s no room for filler here; every syllable carries weight. The rhythm isn’t just in the beat—it’s in his throat, in the swing of his cadence, in how he doubles back on lines to squeeze in extra jabs.

What “So Hardcore” captures so well is tension. There’s no hook to lean on, no excess production to smooth the edges. It’s raw energy, stretched over a beat that feels like it’s barely holding together. And that’s the point—this is Busta unfiltered, uncontained, and completely locked in. The result is an explosion of focus and fury, still gripping long after the track fades.

12. Get Out!! (2000)

As the lead single from Anarchy, “Get Out!!” captures Busta Rhymes in full-blown attack mode—unfiltered, unrelenting, and unmistakably in control. Produced by Nottz, the track launches with a hard, stomping beat that feels engineered for confrontation. It’s a dense, percussive backdrop that leaves no room for hesitation, a setting tailor-made for Busta’s trademark cadence to dominate.

What immediately stands out, however, is the track’s off-kilter hook. A chopped and looped sample of children singing “The Ugly Duckling” injects a surreal innocence into an otherwise aggressive composition. This choice functions as a sonic curveball—simultaneously disarming and captivating. While the contrast could have felt gimmicky, Busta leans into the dissonance with absolute confidence, transforming the sample into a twisted anthem that lingers long after the beat fades.

Rather than dilute the intensity, the playful refrain amplifies it. There’s something almost sinister about the way the cheerful melody bounces against Busta’s snarling verses. His delivery is surgical throughout—each line fired off with machine-like precision, each bar packed with internal rhymes and shifting rhythms. He doesn’t simply rap over the beat; he wrestles it into submission.

“Get Out!!” operates on multiple levels: as a radio-ready single, a showcase of production ingenuity, and a display of lyrical dominance. It distills Busta’s creative instincts into one sharp, chaotic package. Bold, bizarre, and brash, the track reflects the anarchic energy of its parent album and underscores Busta’s ability to turn the unexpected into pure momentum.

11. Rhymes Galore (1997)

A blast of unfiltered lyricism, “Rhymes Galore” captures Busta Rhymes in his rawest, most untamed form. Clocking in at just 2 minutes and 33 seconds, it wastes no time establishing itself as a declaration of intent—no chorus, no guests, no concessions. Over a stripped-down, funk-laced loop produced by Rashad Smith, Busta delivers a single relentless verse that bends rhythm and tempo to his will. Every line is sharpened, fired off with precision and purpose, showcasing a master technician operating without restraints.

The beat is deliberately minimal, leaving room for each syllable to land with impact. It loops hypnotically, not to entertain on its own, but to challenge the emcee to fill the space with movement and meaning. Busta meets that challenge with breathless momentum, slipping in and out of pockets, adjusting pace, and stacking internal rhymes in ways that feel both deliberate and instinctual.

Though not a single in the traditional sense, “Rhymes Galore” gained traction as a B-side for both “One” featuring Erykah Badu and the blockbuster remix “Turn It Up (Remix) / Fire It Up.” That exposure elevated the track beyond deep cut status, giving it recognition far beyond its original album placement on When Disaster Strikes….

Its reputation has only grown. Among fans and peers, it remains a benchmark for vocal control and bar-for-bar dominance. There’s no hook to hold onto—only the sound of an emcee staking his claim, bar after breathless bar, with absolute authority.

10. Touch It (Remix) (2006)

With “Touch It,” Busta Rhymes entered the mid-2000s with a statement of dominance—bold, stripped-down, and built to shake walls. Swizz Beatz’s production is a marvel of tension and restraint: a single hypnotic synth pulse over cavernous drums that leaves ample room for every vocal to hit like a strike. Busta takes full advantage, barking the chorus with his signature explosive precision while ushering in a dream lineup of collaborators.

The remix is a rotating showcase of distinct styles and energies. Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, Rah Digga, Lloyd Banks, Papoose, and DMX each carve their space into the beat without disrupting its aggressive momentum. From DMX’s feral intensity to Papoose’s borough-by-borough breakdown, each verse is delivered like a personal challenge to the others—yet there’s cohesion, not chaos. Busta, positioned at the center, maintains control without overpowering.

But the track’s lasting impact isn’t just musical. During the filming of the remix’s video in Brooklyn, Busta’s longtime bodyguard and friend Israel “Izzy” Ramirez was fatally shot outside the set. The remix video opens with a solemn tribute to him—a deeply personal memorial embedded in a commercial release. That juxtaposition of celebration and loss gave the song unexpected emotional weight and tied it forever to a real-world tragedy.

More than a posse cut, “Touch It (Remix)” captures a moment when energy, talent, and grief collided on the public stage. It remains a towering record in Busta’s catalog—loud, fearless, and marked by both triumph and pain.

9. Calm Down (feat. Eminem) (2014)

“Calm Down” is a lyrical onslaught born from competitive spirit and crafted with surgical focus. Featuring Eminem and produced by Scoop DeVille, the track takes shape around the unmistakable horns from House of Pain’s “Jump Around,” creating a charged foundation for two of Hip Hop’s most technically gifted voices. Originally intended as a solo cut, the record grew into a back-and-forth challenge that spanned seven months, with each verse expansion triggering another. By the time it was done, both MCs had pushed past 60 bars apiece.

There’s no hook to soften the edges, no gloss layered over the verses. Instead, it’s bar after bar—an exercise in form, breath control, and verbal force. Scoop’s production is intentionally raw: hard kicks, sharp snares, and a beat that stays out of the way, allowing the verses to be the event. The track includes vocal scratches from Grand Wizzard Theodore and a Notorious B.I.G. sample, reinforcing the deep lineage it draws from.

Busta raps like he’s still hungry, shifting rhyme structures mid-sentence, squeezing phrases into tight pockets, and delivering each line with clarity and command. The energy doesn’t dip once. Eminem meets that level, turning the track into a duel rather than a feature. They don’t trade insults, but there’s a clear tension—an effort to outperform, to elevate.

“Calm Down” isn’t nostalgic. It’s current, alive, and committed to the craft. It doesn’t chase trends or compromise. It simply raps—loudly, forcefully, and with full intent.

8. Tear Da Roof Off / Party Is Goin' On Over Here (1998)

Though separated by several tracks on Extinction Level Event: The Final World Front, “Tear Da Roof Off” and “Party Is Goin’ On Over Here” became inseparable in the minds of many fans thanks to a shared, high-concept video directed by Hype Williams. Presented as a visual two-parter, the songs formed a kinetic showcase for Busta Rhymes at his most unfiltered—animated, commanding, and deeply in sync with the pulse of a crowd.

“Tear Da Roof Off,” produced by Swizz Beatz, launches with an undeniable P-Funk influence. Its booming low end and cosmic bounce evoke a dancefloor on the verge of eruption. Busta rides the beat with conviction, matching its grandeur with verses that crackle with authority and charisma. It’s less about narrative and more about generating motion—sound designed to lift ceilings.

“Party Is Goin’ On Over Here,” crafted by DJ Scratch, pivots to a more stripped-down, percussive groove. Here, Busta leans into bounce and cadence, his delivery rubbery but precise. The beat pulses like a heartbeat beneath flashing lights, and he’s in full host mode—energetic without chaos, commanding without force.

What ties the two together—beyond the video—is their shared role in injecting joy into an album preoccupied with collapse. These tracks don’t interrupt the doomsday vision; they challenge it. Even in the shadow of extinction, Busta makes clear that the party doesn’t stop. If anything, it gets louder.

7. Turn It Up (Remix)/Fire It Up (1997)

“Turn It Up (Remix) / Fire It Up” reintroduces Busta Rhymes with a new sound and vision, centered around the legendary Knight Rider theme. Built from the bones of the original “Turn It Up,” which sampled Al Green’s “Love and Happiness,” the remix shifts into a different gear entirely. With production by Busta himself and Spliff Star, the track layers pounding drums and booming basslines under the now-iconic Knight Rider synthesizer loop, forging a sound equally suited for club floors and car stereos.

The remix’s lyrics revolve around sonic dominance and dancefloor heat, celebrating the sheer force of music and the physical reaction it provokes. Busta’s delivery is crisp and explosive, stretching each bar across the beat with clarity and intensity. The call-and-response hook pulls the listener directly into the track’s momentum, demanding movement and volume.

The video plays like a dystopian action sequence. Busta appears in a futuristic world locked under authoritarian control, battling a biomechanical adversary and leading a kinetic revolt through sound. Every visual choice underscores the track’s technological lean and larger-than-life energy.

Released as the fourth single from When Disaster Strikes… and featured on the Can’t Hardly Wait soundtrack, the remix reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the rap chart.

6. Everything Remains Raw (1996)

“Everything Remains Raw” is a moment of pure focus from Busta Rhymes—stripped of hooks, theatrics, or commercial ambitions. Originally released as the B-side to “Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check” and featured on his debut album The Coming, it presents Busta as a technician first, building a dense, relentless verse around fundamentals that shaped his early reputation.

The production, handled by Easy Mo Bee, is skeletal and deliberate. The drum pattern is stark, the textures muted, all designed to spotlight the voice at the center. Busta takes full advantage, filling every measure with layered rhyme schemes, rapid internal patterns, and a vocal approach that shifts gears without warning. His timing is exact, his flow uninterrupted. The delivery doesn’t waste space—every line serves momentum.

The track runs without a chorus, using repetition and rhyme as structure instead. This creates a sense of steady propulsion, almost like a freestyle carved into something harder and more measured. There’s no room to drift; the listener stays inside the verse from the first line to the last, carried forward by its rhythm and command.

Though originally tucked on the back end of a hit single, “Everything Remains Raw” carved out its own following. Its brief appearance in the “Woo Hah!!” video intro hinted at its importance, even then. For many, it remains one of the clearest illustrations of Busta Rhymes as an MC deeply rooted in Hip Hop’s core traditions—no spectacle, just raw skill and a voice built for the front lines.

5. Gimme Some More (1998)

“Gimme Some More” is Busta Rhymes at his most unhinged—maniacal, animated, and completely in control. Produced by DJ Scratch and built around a sample of Bernard Herrmann’s iconic Psycho score, the track lurches forward with jittery strings and frantic pacing, setting the stage for a performance that’s both theatrical and razor-sharp.

From the opening seconds, Busta dives in with breathless velocity, tearing through verses with pinpoint articulation and relentless momentum. His rhymes are packed with paranoia, bravado, and wit, delivered in a voice that shifts from menacing growl to exaggerated cartoon cadence without losing clarity. The flow is nonstop, a spiraling display of stamina and style that turns lyrical dexterity into full-blown spectacle.

Lyrically, the song juggles themes of ambition, danger, and excess, delivered with punchline precision and street-smart absurdity. Busta blends the chaotic with the calculated—every bar lands with force, but there’s a dark humor running just beneath the surface. Even as he warns of pressure and betrayal, there’s a sense of play in how he warps words and stretches syllables. It’s part hustle anthem, part fever dream.

The accompanying Hype Williams-directed video, co-directed by Busta himself, leans into that surreal energy. With fisheye lenses, garish colors, and over-the-top characters, it feels like a Looney Tunes episode filtered through hip-hop’s late-’90s lens. The visuals don’t just amplify the song—they serve as a chaotic extension of its personality.

Clocking in at just over two and a half minutes, “Gimme Some More” never lingers. It blasts through like a short-circuiting transmission, leaving only smoke and adrenaline in its wake. Grammy-nominated and endlessly quotable, it remains one of Busta’s boldest showcases—equal parts technical marvel and madcap storytelling.

4. Dangerous (1997)

A burst of controlled chaos and dark humor, “Dangerous” distills everything magnetic about Busta Rhymes into a tight three-and-a-half minutes. Released as the second single from When Disaster Strikes…, the track rides a razor-sharp production by Rashad Smith, built on the electro-funk bounce of Extra T’s 1982 cut “E.T. Boogie.” That sample anchors the rhythm section, giving the song a slick, streetwise strut layered with synths and tension.

Busta wastes no time on pleasantries. His delivery is calculated, crisp, and soaked in theatrical flair. Every line feels like a warning and a wink at the same time. The lyrics pull references from buddy-cop shootouts and cinematic standoffs, yet they land with the immediacy of a street cipher. The chorus—lifted from a haunting ‘80s public service announcement about prescription drugs—somehow becomes a hypnotic chant, made menacing by Busta’s intensity: “This is serious / We could make you delirious…” It’s unnerving, infectious, and oddly perfect.

The video, directed by Hype Williams, fully commits to the action-movie energy. Styled after Lethal Weapon, Busta plays both the unhinged cop and the villain, nodding to The Last Dragon’s Sho’nuff with gleeful absurdity. The visuals double down on the track’s vibe—menace laced with mischief—and helped cement Busta’s status as a visual innovator.

Released on November 18, 1997, “Dangerous” reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 41st Grammy Awards. While it didn’t win, the track became a defining moment in Busta’s career—accessible without compromise, eccentric but focused. It’s a masterclass in how to be larger than life without losing control, and it continues to resonate decades later.

3. Break Ya Neck (2001)

Precision and pressure collide on “Break Ya Neck,” a breathless barrage of syllables unleashed over Dr. Dre and Scott Storch’s tightly coiled production. Released as the lead single from Genesis, this track explodes out of the gate and doesn’t give listeners a second to exhale. It’s a performance wired with urgency—built not just to entertain, but to overwhelm.

The beat is stripped-down but volatile. Anchored by sharp snares, menacing synths, and just enough low-end rumble, the instrumental creates an illusion of open space, only for Busta to fill every gap with surgical intensity. His flow is fast, but it’s impossibly controlled, moving in fluid, snapping bursts that seem engineered to stun. Each bar lands like a strike, and yet nothing blurs or slurs. This is high-speed articulation, executed with a level of focus that borders on unreal.

The hook, which lifts a phrase from Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Give It Away,” acts like a detonator—egging the energy even higher while encouraging a kind of involuntary physical reaction. The title isn’t metaphorical. The song dares bodies to keep up, to move hard enough, fast enough, loud enough. And whether through call-and-response structure or sheer kinetic force, it succeeds in pulling the listener directly into the fray.

Busta’s voice, already a force in any context, becomes an instrument of propulsion here. His breath control, timing, and tonal shifts turn velocity into something musical—not just a display of skill, but a creative tool used for impact. While the lyrics snap with braggadocio and party-starting aggression, it’s the delivery that delivers the knockout.

“Break Ya Neck” marks a pivotal chapter—new label, new collaborators, same unstoppable drive. Even more than two decades later, it still lands with fresh impact, demanding attention through sheer momentum. This is Hip Hop made to move, to shake, to shout—to test what a voice can do under fire.

2. Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check (1996)

“Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check” explodes with energy and precision. Released in 1996 as the lead single from The Coming, it launched Busta Rhymes into his solo career with a sound that refused to sit still. The beat—co-produced by Busta and Rashad Smith—leans on a warped piano loop lifted from Galt MacDermot’s “Space,” circling with a kind of cartoonish menace. It’s stripped-down but restless, designed to make room for the chaos that follows.

Busta tears through the verses with breathless momentum. His voice swings between clipped syllables and stretched-out howls, packed with internal rhymes that snap into place without a wasted word. Each line locks into the next, built on a structure that’s as tight as it is unpredictable. He doesn’t coast on speed alone—he shifts tone, pitch, and rhythm constantly, moving like he’s operating on a different frequency than the beat.

The hook—pulled from Big Bank Hank’s line on Sugarhill Gang’s “8th Wonder”—is a blunt-force chant, half battle cry, half inside joke. It cuts through everything, sticky and oversized, anchoring the track while the verses spin out in every direction. There’s a ragga influence in the delivery, but it’s shaped into something cartoonish and theatrical, exaggerated to the point of becoming its own character.

The Hype Williams–directed video matches the song’s unhinged style with saturated colors, wide-lens distortion, and fast cuts. Busta doesn’t pose—he performs like he’s being yanked around by the rhythm, arms flailing, eyes bulging, face shifting shape between bars. That visual style became inseparable from his early run, pushing the music into new territory by turning every frame into part of the performance.

“Woo Hah!!” hit platinum, landed Busta on the pop charts, and earned him a Grammy nomination, but numbers are beside the point here. The song rattles with personality and raw control. Every bar is locked in, every second charged. It’s loud, strange, and magnetic—exactly the kind of entrance that doesn’t ask for space but takes it.

1. Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See (1997)

When the opening tribal drums of “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” thump into action, the atmosphere is immediate: hypnotic, eerie, and calculated. Released in 1997 as the lead single from When Disaster Strikes…, this track marked a pivotal shift in Busta Rhymes’ creative direction. Known up to that point for his explosive, animated vocal style, Busta took a sharp and deliberate turn here—lowering his tone, controlling his cadence, and trading sheer aggression for poise and precision.

The beat, crafted by Shamello and Buddah, samples Seals and Crofts’ “Sweet Green Fields” and reimagines it into something rich with tension. Instead of lush soul, it’s repurposed into a stuttering, polyrhythmic loop—an environment that feels primal, seductive, and oddly serene. Each drum hit lands with ritualistic clarity, pushing Busta into a performance that is both measured and magnetic. He leans fully into the groove, delivering verses with a serpentine flow that glides rather than strikes. The effect is spellbinding.

Lyrically, the song embraces repetition, space, and rhythm rather than dense wordplay. The first verse sticks to a single rhyme scheme, adding a percussive, chant-like feel. The frequent use of “Yo” as punctuation—drawn from West Indian vernacular in Brooklyn—adds texture to the delivery, anchoring it in lived experience. According to Busta himself, Puff Daddy encouraged this new vocal restraint, suggesting that he didn’t need to yell to be compelling. He listened. The result was transformative.

The hook—“Put your hands where my eyes could see”—functions as both invitation and warning. It’s a club-ready refrain layered with subtle threat, fitting perfectly into the duality of the track’s tone. That tension extends into the iconic Hype Williams-directed video, which drew inspiration from Coming to America. Shot in widescreen with vivid colors and elaborate choreography, the visual brought the track’s surreal, Afrocentric vision into vivid physical space. Every frame enhanced the song’s presence without overwhelming it.

This track captures Busta Rhymes in full control of his craft—focused, fluid, and sonically fearless. Its impact endures not because of volume, but because of intent. Every choice feels deliberate, every bar sharpened, every detail in sync.