Busta Rhymes Has 'Greatest Flow In Hip Hop' According To Big Daddy Kane: 'He Uses His Mouth Like A Piano'
Big Daddy Kane sits among the upper echelon of lauded MCs. As a member of The Juice Crew, the Hip Hop legend has carved out a legacy that includes multiple classic solo albums, including Long Live The Kane (1988) and It’s A Big Daddy Thing (1989). So when he says someone is great, he’s likely speaking facts.
On Tuesday (March 29), Big Daddy Kane shared an Instagram video of himself with Busta Rhymes and bestowed quite the honor on his peer. Speaking directly into the camera, Kane says, “Let me explain something to you. Real talk. Real quick, a’ight? Hands down, greatest flow in Hip Hop. And anybody that want to dispute me on this, this is what I want you to do. Listen to the original version of ‘Turn It Up’ from this man — the original version with the Al Green sample. I did this. Three times. Count it. This dude switched his flow seven times in one song. Fuck with that. Nobody’s doing that.”
Big Daddy Kane then turns to Bus-A-Bus and pretends to bow down before giving him a giant hug. Kane expounded on the topic in a statement to HipHopDX, saying, “Method Man has one of the greatest flows in Hip Hop. I love Biggie, Bone Thugs, Eminem, Slick Rick and Snoop flow. But none of them constantly changes patterns and speed as much as Busta. He uses his mouth like a piano on the track. Flows are untouchable in my opinion.”
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“Turn It Up” arrived in 1997 on Busta Rhymes’ sophomore album When Disaster Strikes and, as Big Daddy Kane mentioned, contained a sample of Al Green’s 1972 single “Love & Happiness.”
But when issued as the third single from the album in the spring of 1998, the remix contained a sample of the ’80s television show Knight Rider theme song and was under a new title “Turn It Up (remix)/Fire It Up.” The song became Busta Rhymes’ third Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 10.
As for Busta Rhymes’ lyrical abilities, Big Daddy Kane isn’t the first and won’t be the last to applaud Bus-A-Bus for his talent. In September 2021, Fat Joe claimed everybody was too intimidated to do a Verzuz with Busta, even himself.
“Fat Joe scared to do Verzuz with Busta Rhymes and so is everybody else,” he said. “You gotta understand, sometimes you ever notice — you seen boxers and they knock everybody out? People be scared to fight those boxers.
“Busta Rhymes is gonna outrap, outperform anybody who goes up in a Verzuz with him. That’s a fact. Yo, Busta Rhymes nobody wanna get in there with you, man. You might have to be an honorary — they gotta give you the check for no reason.”
So far, nobody has stepped up to the plate to take on Busta Rhymes in a Verzuz setting. One of the more recent battles took place in December 2021 between Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Three 6 Mafia. Check back with HipHopDX soon for an interview with Gangsta Boo and find Krayzie Bone’s comments on the Bizzy Bone debacle here.