It seems absurd for an Extinction Level Event to have a sequel after just 22 years; The Final World Front wasn’t so final; but here we have it, which isn’t to say it doesn’t sometimes come close to justifying its existence. Busta Rhymes, now a Leader of the old school, still brings the boom-bap; vintage hip-hop producers featured here include 9th Wonder, Pete Rock, DJ Premier and DJ Scratch; and his flamboyant rap style still sounds fresh after all these years.

With that, ELE2 sounds damn good when it’s just Busta Rhyming to a beat. He says Czar is “music for riots” and, though his groupthink ideology in regard to race and religion suggest he’s more of a boneheaded caveman, it gets you amped enough to be just that. Boomp sounds even better. What the album would be better without is the bombastic Intro, ill-fitting song interpolations; he resurrects ODB and BBD; silly skits and irky Chris Rock monologues.

my rating : 3 of 5

2020