Busta Rhymes is a name known worldwide. A product of 1990s New York hip hop, the rapper (real name Trevor Smith jr) is known for his tongue-twisting verses, lyrical skill and rapid-fire delivery that leaves his listeners speechless. With rhyme schemes that could blow your mind, Busta is undoubtedly one of hip hop’s finest lyricists.
With the rapper’s beginnings rooted firmly in the mid-1990s, his mainstream commercial success came during the late ‘90s and around the turn of the millennium.
His first and second albums would lay the foundation for a career that would accelerate at lightning speed leading the rapper to work with the likes of Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson and Pharrell Williams.
So, with such an illustrious career, it is only fitting that we look back and review the facts and figures that detail the epic career of Busta Rhymes.
Busta Rhymes’ solo albums
Across his 24-year career, Busta Rhymes has released a total of ten solo studio albums. However, as a side-note, the rapper also contributed to three collaborative albums—two with Leaders of The New School and one with his Flipmode Squad.
His most successful album to date is his 2006 album The Big Bang, his only album to reach number one. However, although it is his only number one album, it is only certified as Gold, having only sold 626,000 copies as of 2014. Busta’s highest-selling album, as opposed to his highest charting, is his 1997 album When Disaster Strikes which is certified Platinum and has sold 1.7 million copies. When Disaster Strikes peaked at number 3 on the album charts.
Both albums boast hits. The 2006 smash-hit ‘Touch It’ is on the tracklist of The Big Bang, and the legendary ‘Fire It Up’ features on When Disaster Strikes.
Busta Rhymes’ most streamed song
Busta Rhymes’ most streamed song is off his 2002 album Ain’t Safe No More… and is the iconic ‘I Know What You Want’ featuring singer Mariah Carey. It is his most successful single of all time, going Platinum in the US and New Zealand, Gold in Australia, and Silver in the UK. The song has been streamed approximately 1.3 million times in these countries alone.
The song hit number one in multiple countries and was the first of what was a long-running series of successful singles for Busta Rhymes, including ‘Pass the Courvoisier pt II’ and others.
Busta Rhymes’ biggest video on YouTube
It should come as no surprise that Busta Rhymes’ most successful video on YouTube is the music video for his 2002 single ‘I Know What You Want’. It currently sits at 267 million views and was only released in 2014. Of course, the music video pre-dates the website YouTube and was on TV screens in 2002, so who knows how many views it would have if it was uploaded then.
The rapper’s second most successful video is for the 2006 ‘Touch It (Remix)’ featuring Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliot, Rah Digga, Papoose, Lloyd Banks and DMX, which has accumulated 71 million views since its upload in 2009.
Busta Rhymes’ net worth
Busta Rhymes’ net worth as of 2022 is around $20 million. As of recent, the rapper has started to begin investing in the world of Crypto and plans to expand his portfolio.