If there’s one area where Busta Rhymes is just as prolific as he is with the amount of breathless, tongue-twisting flows, it’s with his stories

It’s been more than 30 years since he co-founded the group Leaders of the New School and was given his rap moniker by Public Enemy frontman Chuck D, and when Billboard sits down with him at a recording studio in Midtown Manhattan early November, it feels like he remembered every moment of his life and career since then. He recalls Big Daddy Kane welcoming him to his home in the ‘80s to mentor him into the music business, pulling over his burgundy Toyota 4Runner to Fulton and Flatbush in Brooklyn to purchase his copy of Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx in 1995, and impressing The Artifacts at the studio when he rapped his preacher-inspired verse on “C’Mon Wit Da Git Down.” 

But as much as Busta loves to share old memories, he’s just as dedicated to creating new ones. He spent much of this year on the road with Wu-Tang Clan and Nas on the New York State of Mind Tour, and joined comedian Dave Chappelle for spot shows in the duo’s Dave and Busta’s concert series. Last Friday (Nov. 18), he released an EP called The Fuse Is Lit, led by “Slap,” a single that features Conway The Machine and Big Daddy Kane rapping over Marley Marl’s “Just Rhyming With Biz” beat, which introduced Kane to the rap game in ‘88. He also honored Takeoff with a touching music video for “You Will Never Find Another Me,” the Mary J. Blige-featured highlight from his 2020 album Extinction Level Event Vol. 2, and is prepping to put his energy behind a buzzing single from longtime rap partner Spliff Starr, while also helping battle rap icon Murda Mook showcase his skills in the booth. Long story short, Busta wants to give everyone their flowers — and when possible, before they’re gone.

In a sitdown with Billboard, Busta talks about hitting the road with his fellow “senseis,” who he thinks has inherited his and Missy Elliot’s shared mantle for the artist with the best music videos, and his confident yet judicious approach to remaking hip-hop classics. (This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.)

One thing that stood out on the N.Y. State of Mind Tour was just how integrated all of the performances were. It wasn’t just one act going on after the other; you all hopped in and out of each other’s performances. It felt more like a DJ’s set than a concert lineup. What kind of preparation went into that for you to be able to just sort of work with each other so seamlessly like that?

First and foremost, big up to RZA. He pulled up on me and gave me the vision that he had for what he was doing with Nas. The first show that we did, we went to that city I think two days prior. We was all given as much time as we needed — we spent hours working with production to make sure that the sound was right, the lighting was right, the visuals was right. RZA was creating graphics for some of our shit. And the dope s–t was even if we make changes along the course of the tour visually, or we made changes musically just based on seeing what reacted better than other things on certain nights, it was just a matter of tweaking. Sometimes, muf–kas wouldn’t tell each other, but just surprise each other [with setlist changes]. That led to the competitive nature of shit. Muf–kas really was super supportive of everything when it came to each other. 

This is a bucket list check-off for me. I don’t remember a tour that I’ve been on where you were able to use the full production to do what you wanted whenever you felt like it on any given night. But at this stage of our careers, it ain’t no egos involved. Everybody respects each other’s legend, because you went on tour with nothing but a bunch of legends and a bunch of gods and a bunch of Thanoses. My hat’s off to those brothers for rolling up the carpet in that same way that they would have it rolled out for themselves, to us. My moments when I wasn’t on the stage with the bros, I wish I had enough time to go right to the first three rows and walk outside of that black curtain on the side and just look at that shit like a f–king fan.