Photo: Getty Images
Busta Rhymes aims to prove that failure isn't an option with powerful new visuals ahead of his forthcoming Dragon Season album.
The veteran MC debuted the brand-new music video for his latest hit "Crazy" featuring Vybz Kartel and Akon on Thursday night, April 10. Directed by Benny Boom, the visuals open with Busta Buss and the Konvict Kulture co-founder enjoying a lavish meal at Papi Steak in Miami Beach before they have to put a trio of haters in their place. Later, we see Vybz Kartel deliver his verse from an all-white prison cell while beautiful women dance around him.
"It's basically a very dope experience of showing the coming together of three 25+ year legacies and legends," Busta tells iHeartRadio about the video. "It was important to me that we made sure that we exemplified that even though we are at this level of godfather status and boss in general rank, we are no longer the senseis in this s**t. We're the Mr. Miyagis of this s**t. It was important to show that there was a lot that went into accomplishing that and being able to share that experience through this visual was primary and it was done masterfully."
The video for the TJ Records & Troublemaker Music-produced track celebrates the accolades all three artists have achieved following the challenges they've faced throughout their lives, especially Vybz Kartel. The dancehall legend was arrested on charges of murder and illegal possession of a firearm in 2011. He was convicted in 2014 and spent 13 years inside the horrendous walls of a Jamaican prison. He was finally released last August once a judge overturned his conviction after the Jamaican Court of Appeals declined to retry his case.
Despite his incarceration, Vybz still managed to keep his legacy alive. He recorded and released music from prison like his 2016 album King of the Dancehall and his 2020 LP To Tanesha. In the video, the 49-year-old doesn't dwell on his traumatic experiences like his living conditions, medical struggles, or watching his kids grow up from behind bars. Instead, Busta allows the Viking (Vybz Is King) artist to embrace his freedom and show fans how he persevered through the darkest time of his life.
"Failure isn't an option," Busta says. "It's extremely important that everybody understands that your Ls aren't losses but learning experiences and you got to understand the perspective that you look at things from is what you're going to manifest. So if you look at s**t from the perspective of, 'Damn, I f**ked up' or 'I lost,' or you ain't walking away with the learning experience from good, bad, or indifferent, then you are doing yourself a disservice. At the end of the day, that's never the way to live. You not living if you're not learning, you're not living if you don't understand how to value and appreciate s**t even in the face of adversity and challenge."
The Grammy-nominated artist debuts his new music video ahead of his upcoming Dragon Season album. The album will consist of brand-new songs along with music from his past two EP's Dragon Season... The Awakening and Dragon Season... Equinox. Both projects feature collaborations with YG Marley, Killer Mike, Tobe Nwigwe, Symba, Stacy Barthe and The Conglomerate artists Connie Diiamond, J-Doe, Te Money, BK Gutta and Busta's son Trillian. Busta's follow-up to his Blockbusta LP will show how he's evolved into the international sensation he is today. Most importantly, the album will have the same high-energy sounds fans have come to expect from the iconic artist.
"One thing that I'm never going to do is I'm never going to abandon the foundation of what people have known and have grown to love Busta Rhymes for," he says. "You gon' always get that high energy. You gon' always get the boom-bap, but you also going to always get that upskill creative s**t that nobody else could do but me."
Busta Rhymes' Dragon Season album drops on his birthday May 20. Watch the official music video for "Crazy" below.