Busta Rhymes talks about the competitive nature of Eminem.
The legendary Busta Rhymes recently sat down with Pitchfork for their episode of Critical Breakthroughs where he breaks down some of his biggest songs. In the show, he also talks about his collaboration “Calm Down” with Eminem where he explains the competitive nature and spirit of Eminem.
Over the last few years, the rapper Busta has dazzled us with one too many sings. He recently opened out about his critically acclaimed hit ‘Calm Down,’ which he co-wrote with Eminem and released in 2014. To date, over 9.3 million people have viewed the song, which is over 6 minutes lengthy.
The rapper claims that his Q-Tip duet on “Thank You” encouraged him to work harder on his verse because of his collaborator’s competitive attitude. “When you wildin’ with artists that you respect and you know they ain’t playing no f**king games, I look forward to these moments because he is going to bring the best out of me,” says the rapper. “I know that I ain’t gonna play with him in the same way that he’s not going to play with me. And the beautiful sh*t about that is that we are supposed to make each other better and bring the best out of each other.”
“If you want a clear display of what the fundamentals of hip-hop is and an art of emceeing, “Calm Down” is the case study,” says Busta Rhymes. “I sent the record to Eminem with 16 bar verse. He sent it back with like 40 bar verse. I’m like ‘Man, what the f**k is going on. You are not gonna do this to me on my song.’ I sent back my verse with 45 bars. He sends it back 56 bars. I sent mines back 62 bars. He sends back 66 bars. I’m like, look, bro, who are we making this record for at this point? are we making this record for consumers or we are just battling each other now?”
He continues, “But that’s the beauty in the competitive nature and the competitive spirit that we both have cause we care that much. We love it that much. No one wants to be a weak link. No one wants to I’m gonna settle with my A** bust by the other rapper on the song. It’s no longer about business at that point. It’s just that fiery passion that still burns in the souls of both of us as true incredible Swordsmen of the sport and we love the opportunity of being able to display the skill set at the most highest level of just raw emceeing. That was so much fun.”
Busta Rhymes confessed to Pitchfork that the initial track wasn’t supposed to be this long, but Eminem kept coming up with new ways to improve it and push him. “If you want to see a clear display of what the principles of hip-hop and the art of emceeing are, [Calm Down] is the case study,” he said.
Watch it below.
