Credit: Spotify

Busta Rhymes is a well-known hip-hop figure known for his crazy personality, out-there videos and funny rhymes. However, an event in his life nearly stopped him from making music and almost completely halted his career.

When Busta first emerged during the 1990s, one company emerged victorious regarding management and artist development. It became the first pick for many MCs on the East Coast and was monumental in its power behind the scenes. This company was called Violator.

Although it was known for managing artists, it also worked on marketing media production and even doubled up as a record label. Still, although not many fans know the name Violator, they are more than likely aware of one of its founders, Chris Lighty.

Chris Lighty was well-respected in hip-hop and managed many rappers, including Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, and Busta Rhymes. However, in 2012, he passed away, and unlike other MCs who seemed to take the painful loss in their stride, Busta admitted during an interview that Chris Lighty’s passing put a stop to his career.

While speaking on the Diary Of A CEO podcast, the Brooklyn legend explained that everything about the industry he had learnt he knew because of Lighty and drew attention to much of his career he owes to Lighty. Speaking about the wisdom and knowledge he acquired when he was on the Violator roster, Busta told the host Stephen Bartlett, “Chris was all that I knew! Everything. Everything that I had learned, I learned it with Chris.”

As he proceeded to get into details, the ‘Touch It’ rhymer explained his financial know-how and ability to make money rocketed when he began to work with Chris Lighty. According to Busta, his former manager grounded him in proper business practices, stating, “I learned how to make my money with Chris, how tax brackets change with Chris, my lawyers changed because of Chris, my booking agents changed because of Chris, my touring experiences changed with Chris, all of that I did it with Chris!”

In a heartbreaking moment, the emcee recalled the day he found out his manager was dead, telling Bartlett, “His daughter was coming home from college, and he had to go and meet her at Grand Central Station in Manhattan, so he asked me for a ride to Grand Central Station, and I give him the life to the station, and that was the last day that I saw him.”

He remembered what happened the day after he dropped Chris Lighty off at Grand Central Station, recalling, “The next morning, I got the call from his assistant that something had happened to him. I’m asking, ‘What happened to him?’ but they didn’t say that he was dead, just that he had hurt himself.”

He continued, “When I got to Chris’ home, I couldn’t go into the house. I saw the coroner van come reverse into the driveway to get as close to the house as possible…They went inside, and they brought them black bags with ’em, them body bags. That’s when it got real! Everything changed when I saw the bags.”

At that moment, Busta admitted things began to go downhill for him, reflecting, “When they came out the basement with the bags and his body was in the bags, that’s when I knew Chris was never coming back. A lot of crying started, a lot of arguing started, and a lot of threats started, and that’s when my life was going in a whole’ nother direction.”

He added, “I didn’t like it ’cause I was confused about how to move, and I was lost for a minute because I never had to really manage my career without a manager. He wasn’t just a manager. He was my brother. So it got scary for a minute, and I couldn’t get it together. That’s why I didn’t put out another record for nine years.”

Although Busta Rhymes didn’t put out music after 2012, he attempted to sign artists, but even then, he unveiled in the podcast that it didn’t feel right, and it took him until 2020 to release another full-length studio project knowing he was on a good footing.