Behind the Mic: The story of Busta Rhymes’ ‘Gimme Some More’
Busta Rhymes has had an illustrious career, and during his prime in the 1990s and early 2000s, he released some epic hits. From ‘Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See’ to ‘Pass The Courvoisier Pt. II’, the Flipmode frontman, is no stranger to the charts.
In 1998, Busta Rhymes released his third studio album, Extinction Level Event: The Final World Front. The biggest hit from the project was, in fact, the fourth and final single of the album, ‘What’s It Gonna Be?!’ featuring Janet Jackson.
The track was one that Busta recorded last-minute, but one of the songs that was intended to dominate the charts was the second single, ‘Gimme Some More’. The instrumental, which the theme of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 cult classic Psycho, was a stark contrast to Busta’s usual beats, which were hard-hitting and aggressive.
Produced by DJ Scratch, the song has since become a fan favourite despite its failure to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. During an appearance on the YouTube series BET Talks, Scratch spoke about the creation of ‘Gimme Some More’, how he made it and Busta’s reaction to it.
‘Gimme Some More’ has an odd skip to its drum pattern, and it’s something that is loved by fans but wasn’t initially popular with the Brooklyn emcee. Speaking about how it grew on Busta. Scratch told BET, “With that particular beat, he didn’t understand the bounce at the time, so he passed on it.”
The DJ continued, “But when we got to his third album, he was like, ‘Yo you still got that beat?’ and I was like ‘What beat?’ and he was like ‘The one that sound like Timbaland!’ He literally wrote and recorded the first two verses of ‘Gimme Some More’ in 15 minutes”
It’s hard to imagine Busta Rhymes penning such complex and rapid-fire lyrics in such a short space of time. However, the DJ was insistent that the Flipmode frontman was that efficient. ‘Gimme Some More’ was popular overseas and was a top ten single in the UK, landing at number five.
In fact, despite its unpopularity in the US, it was still nominated for a Grammy Award in 2000 but understandably lost out to the star of the year Eminem, who clinched the award with his single ‘My Name Is’ from The Marshall Mathers LP.
The single’s music video was delivered in typical Busta Rhymes style with outlandish outfits, kookie scenes, and unusual videography techniques. Directed by the legendary Hype Williams, the entire video was filmed using a fish-eye lens, creating a somewhat unusual viewing experience. Although the video is entertaining it is undoubtedly Busta’s flawless lyrical flow that makes the track so amazing.