Rhymes comes to Riga

By Talis Saule Archdeacon

RIGA - Rap and hip-hop lovers get ready: on April 18 international rap superstar Busta Rhymes is coming to Riga. The industry heavyweight will be playing in the ultra-chic dance club Essential – a venue that despite its relatively small size has hosted a number of hip-hop stars in the past.

Busta Rhymes is best known for his unique voice, and especially for the now famous howls that punctuate his most popular songs. He has the ability to scream out his lyrics with nearly unintelligible speed, and sound good doing it. But that’s not all he has to offer to hip-hop – he’s also known for his versatility both in his style of delivery and in his lyrics themselves.
His versatility is clear in the number of hit singles he has put out in cooperation with a wide variety of musical elite. These include artists ranging from hip-hop stars Mos Def, Dr Dre and A Tribe Called Quest to Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey and Rick James.

The artist currently has seven albums out and plans to release his eighth – “Before Hell Freezes Over” – on June 26. Of these records, his most popular were his second album, the 1997 release “When Disaster Strikes,” and his most recent one, “The Big Bang,” which came out in June last year. “The Big Bang” made it to number one in the American charts and number 18 in the British charts with songs like “Touch It” and “In the Ghetto.”
Busta Rhymes started his musical career with a group of rappers named “Leaders of the New School,” who began working on their first album in 1989 – when Busta was only 17 years old. “Leaders of the New School” was a fast hit with American audiences. They soon struck a deal with the Native Tongue Crew, a group of East Coast rappers who had a lot of experience in the business and helped the group to develop some of their more popular songs.

He did not come out with his first solo album until the release of “The Coming” in 1996, when he started working with Elektra Records. This record included the hit single “Woo Hah! Got You All in Check,” which made top ten lists both in the United States and in the UK.
Busta Rhymes is a member of the Five Percent Nation – an offshoot of the Nation of Islam – and his records often have a biblical overtone. His releases at the end of the 90s all highlighted the idea that the world was going to end in the year 2000 with a great religious cataclysm. When 2000 rolled around and the world failed to end, Busta Rhymes dropped Elektra and signed on with J Records.

The performer’s visit to Riga is an indication of the Baltic states’ quickly growing reputation for a strong music scene. A number of well-established artists have made appearances in the Baltic states recently, and Riga is looking forward to upcoming shows with big names such as Ozzie Osbourne, Aerosmith and Muse.
But you’ll have to move fast if you want to see the show. Essential will only be selling 1,000 tickets, and their scaling price scheme means that the longer you wait the more you’ll have to pay.

April 18, 10 p.m.
Essential, Skolas Street 2
Tickets: 20 - 45 lats
(28 - 64 euros)
www.essential.lv

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