Busta Rhymes Biography
Born: May 20, 1972
Birth Name: Trevor Smith Jr.
Date of Birth: May 20, 1972
New York-born Rhymes started rapping at age 12 when he moved from his native Brooklyn to Long Island, where he began rapping in contests and eventually met his future partner, MC Charlie Brown. Working together the two won a contest sponsored by Chuck D and the Public Enemy crew. They began recording at Public Enemy's studios on Long Island and soon became known in the rap industry as Leaders of the New School.
The group's debut album, Future Without a Past, was released in 1990. The album earned Rhymes critical and fan buzz. In 1996 the group went their separate ways and Rhymes released his debut solo album, The Coming, which took the world by storm. The single, "Woo-Hah!! Got You All In Check" hit the top ten and the album went platinum; plus Rhymes innovative videos made him a staple on MTV. His follow-up album When Disaster Strikes which came out in 1997, sold 1.5 million copies solidifying Rhymes' mark in the hip hop music world.
That same year, Rhymes expanded his horizons by starting to work seriously in film. Landing a major role as Dreads in John Singleton's Higher Learning led to more feature film opportunities. Soon he found himself having stable work in the film industry playing roles in films like The Rugrats Movie (1998), Shaft (2000), Finding Forrester (2000) and Halloween: Resurrection (2002).
Besides film and music, Rhymes has also worked on television doing commercial work for the Sci-Fi Channel and Mountain Dew, as well as working on the MTV Video Music Awards, the series Cribs, and telefilms like The O.Z.
Rhymes has one son, T'ziah, from his a former girlfriend, Joanne.
Filmography:
Narc (2002)
Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
Finding Forrester (2000)
Shaft (2000)
The Rugrats Movie (1998) (voice)
Rhyme & Reason (1997)
Higher Learning (1995)
Who's the Man? (1993)