Album: Busta Rhymes <!-- none onestar twostar threestar fourstar fivestar -->

The Big Bang, AFTERMATH/INTERSCOPE

Needing to re-establish himself after the poor performance of 2002's It Ain't Safe No More, Busta Rhymes has found himself yet another new home at Dr Dre's Aftermath label, and set about accumulating the myriad guest collaborators that signal either an artist's abundant popularity or their utter desperation. He performs perfunctory duets with Timbaland on "Get Down", Kelis and Will.I.Am on "I Love My Bitch", and Missy Elliott on "How We Do It Over Here"; but more satisfying ones with his old chum Q-Tip on "Get You Some" and "You Can't Hold the Torch", Q's nerdy-sneaky tones making for an odd contrast with Busta's brusque, gruff delivery as they both bemoan the stagnation of the current hip-hop scene. "These niggas in the game all sound the same," Busta gripes. Elsewhere, Raekwon and Nas affect the drug-hustler jive on "Goldmine" and "Don't Get Carried Away", and Stevie Wonder and Rick James are, by turns, mawkish and bullish on "Been Through the Storm" and "In the Ghetto", while "Legend of the Fall Offs" closes proceedings with a burial metaphor for rappers whose time has passed - which Busta just carries off without too much egg on his face.

DOWNLOAD THIS: 'Get You Some', 'How We Do It Over Here', 'Legend of the Fall Offs'