The Coming

03/26/1998 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Amy Linden

To every thing there is a season--and to every season, there's a hip-hop jam that defines it. This season the honor goes to "Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check." Essentially a one note/one trick singalong, "Woo Hah!!" (note the double exclamation) is the lead-off single from Busta Rhymes' solo debut.

Busta was a member of the now defunct Leaders Of The New School and made memorable cameos on the remix of Craig Mack's "Flava In Ya Ear" and A Tribe Called Quest's seminal "Scenario." What Busta brings to the mix is a boisterous, off-kilter technique. He's got a scratchy, hoarse delivery that's the hip-hop version of trash talking: All finger-pointing and head-waggin' but nothing to be taken too seriously. Like Ol' Dirty Bastard, Busta is part buffoon, part roughneck, with just enough lunatic thrown in to keep things interesting. And has there ever been a rapper who's so off the beat? Busta spits out couplets like he's running for a train and given up on catching it mid-platform. It's a great, attention-grabbing style and one that rap fans have been hip to for many years.

Unfortunately, Busta's speedfreak skills aren't enough to carry enough an entire CD, which may be why he loads up The Coming with a slew of guests. Among the friends on board are Zhane, Rampage The Last Boy Scout, Red Man, Q Tip and Keith Murray. Admittedly, guest stars are as much a part of hip-hop records as the dreaded spoken word interlude (and there's a doozy here), but all the outside help makes Busta seem like a featured artist on his own damn record. The sheer b-boy bravado that makes "Woo Hah!!" such a solid rap song is diffused when everyone and their mother steps up to the mike to go for theirs. When Busta is the focus, as on the thumping "Abandon Ship" and the Leaders reunion "Keep It Movin'," The Coming works. When all is said and done, The Coming is best suited for the hardcore, while lightweights should pick up the maxi-single.