Last week, Busta Rhymes hopped on Twitter to tease a collaboration with Eminem. “It’s official! Busta Rhymes ft. Eminem Calm Down is coming July 1st,” Busta tweeted, accompanied by the pair standing cross-armed in the studio. One day earlier than promised, Calm Down has arrived. Using a loop of those unmistakable opening horns from House of Pain’s classic Jump Around, Busta and Slim Shady spend nearly six minutes going toe to toe in this Scoop Deville-produced cut.
Previously advertised as a battle record, there’s not much sparring as Busta and Em stand in their own corners and use their long verses to showcase their undiminishing skills. Busta once again displays his verbose style, unspooling rhymes at his usual breakneck words-per-second pace. Eminem, meanwhile, is in full schizo Slim Shady mode, wowing on lines like “Who raps nasally, eyes hazily, rhymes crazily.”
The track comes from Busta’s upcoming album E.L.E. 2, the quasi-sequel to 1998’s E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front. Busta’s first true album in over five years – we’re not counting his frequent mixtapes and the 2012 Google Play freebie release Year of the Dragon – E.L.E. 2 is shaping up to be an all-star affair thanks to guests like Kanye West and Lil Wayne on the previous single Thank You and Nicki Minaj on the Pharrell-produced Twerk It. Calm Down is available now on iTunes.
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