Olas un Bekons

Too Bad It's Almost Good [Part 3] - Busy Bee's 2nd Album

Added 2021-01-11 12:46:00 +0000 UTC

This post might be the most controversial I have written here thus far, but those ''bad-good-ideal-wack'' opinionated (let's call it that way) assessments are always biased. My bias this time will be related to one of the hip-hop pioneers, most known 70's- early 80's party emcees - BUSY BEE STARSKI.

There's no discussion of how crucial he was to the emergence of hip-hop and how effectively he could move the crowd. The guy was popular back in the day and is still well known among hip-hop heads that have at least slightly paid attention to the early days.

Yes, he had (would not say 'played' since I consider it a semi-documentary) one of the main roles in hip-hop's cult classic and arguably the best film about the early hip-hop culture ever made. And not undeservedly. He was there, he lived it, he breathed hip-hop, and still does today. [Here's the Busy Bee's interview I upped on YT awhile ago].

If we take a quick look at Busy Bee's discography, he has released 2 albums (Running Thangs in 1988 and Thank God For Busy Bee in 1992) and a handful of singles out of those 2 albums. Prior to his debut album, he released 3 singles between '81 and '85 (one on Master Five and two on Sugar Hill Records). His '85 single 'Busy Bees Groove' is my favorite of his whole discography. It encompasses those things that the man is good at - being an old school party emcee.

But if the guy was an ideal party emcee, why is he on this topic then? The answer is simple - he could not translate to the hip-hop development trends of the time... thrice.

1) Enter the legendary Harlem World. Year is 1981 and the event is Christmas Rappers Convention. Busy Bee Starski was performing his usual routine – rocking the crowd, getting everybody hype and calling out names. One of the names BB called out was Kool Moe Dee - another now legendary and then well known emcee who at the time was standing in the venue. Kool Moe Dee wasn’t going to let him slide for the diss.

So that one was one sided knowing the side details. As a member of the Treacherous Three, Kool Moe Dee was known in the hip-hop community for his sharp wit and lethal rhyming skills designed to crush any opponent; whereas, Busy Bee was more of a party MC, known for his somewhat gibberish rhymes and ability to get the crowd going. So the Moe Dee's freestyle was something that Busy Bee was not anticipating.

This event is heralded as one of those very pivotal moments in hip-hop history that shaped the lyricism into something more than just moving the crowd with asking them their names and Zodiac signs.

2) So few years went by. Busy Bee dropped those few old school rap records and starred in the legendary Wild Style in '82, done some solid rhymes there. At the same time Kool Moe Dee had released dope albums with Treacherous Three (btw I got this one last week on wax), had his first 2 solo albums and got involved into another legendary rap battle with LL Cool J. So it's 1988. There have been many hip-hop battles already both on record and on set (Bridge Wars, Roxanne Wars just to name few). But most importantly for our story, there have been many now legendary rap albums that were so far from the initial old school sound of the earlier that same decade. Let's just stay on the East Side and take Public Enemy, Run-DMC, Eric B & Rakim, Ultramagnetic MC's, Stetsasonic, Big Daddy Kane, Tuff Crew, Kool Moe/LL Cool J of course as few of those examples. The sound, the hip-hop, the everything had changed since 1981.

At the same time Busy Bee released his 'Running Thangs' on the UNI Records. The album had it's moments and I still think it deserves than those 2/5 stars that allmusic gave it. But the thing is - if you're into the old school '79-85' rap stuff, then you will love this. I personally have this one in my collection for the sake of nostalgia, and actually love half of those songs. But just because I dig old school hip-hop. But if your hip-hop escapades and interest starts with the so called ''new school era'' then you will be like: ''meh, I just don't dig that...''. And if an average Public Enemy fan doesn't dig that then it definitely has failed to translate into what's trending...

3) Another few years went by. Now it's '92. Man, the music been so dope these few years. So dope we now remember the era as the Golden Age. Deservedly. Hip-hop has elevated so far that even those '88 legends have had some struggle to translate. Maybe it's a listeners fatigue, but by '92 even those legends have to refresh their identities - you now may see some Soul (B.D.K and LL Cool J who went from soul to RnB and then to soul vibes again), some New Jack Swing (Run-DMC's 1990 Faces), some gritty underground styles (Ultramagnetic - Poppa Large or LL circa '90 before RnB ish). Other legends who failed to shift, disbanded or ended their record careers soon after that. For instance, Tuff Crew after few legendary albums in late '80s, released their last LP in 1991 which reminded me more of their '88 sound than their '91 sound, which is good for melomaniacs, but rather bad if the Golden Age is at your doorstep... [P.S. I love Lover Than Low on that album, it's my favorite track].

But now back to our main antagonist. So Busy Bee did what the busy bee does... he works. So enter the Thank God For Busy Bee'. At the time the guy had a massive respect from Golden Age hall of famer emcees and producers that agreed to help on this upcoming project. Everything sounds great so far - guy who has yet to step over the old school style teams up with some newer and some older heads. Diamond D, Easy L.G. Jazzy Jay, Pumpkin and Kid Capri worked on production. Those guys are legendary, they know what to do. Yet, the result - the album is what started this write-up and my thoughts about Busy Bee.

I will admit I haver had heard the album before 2020, maybe just a few songs here and there. So I wanted to grab a copy. Actually, the versions I am interested in (CD and LP), are relatively hard to come by, but I somehow managed to get a copy from a German guy on discogs around November. So it arrived and I was ready for some action. I love [the boobs on] the album cover so it's got to be good. I carefully took some dust of the surface and put in on. The LP version is 13 tracks (CD is 16 actually), and I was listening to it. At first I hated that the LP print was kind of silent, but towards the end I realized that the biggest problem bout this album wasn't the volume, but the delivery. The album that was produced by those aforementioned legends, was enormously awful. Lyrics were nasty (coming from a guy who owns many 2 Live Crew records) and stupid at the same time (coming from a guy who owns Roland Rat Superstar LP). And what about that preacher Busy Bee who likes to look at the barely legal age girls shit? You get all that shit listening to this rap album tragicomically released in amidst of the Golden Age era...

___ So the best thing about the album is the cover. Period. Maybe those 3 tracks available on the CD version (heard one of them is produced by Melle Mel) and not on LP are better, but I don't want to find that out now.

Busy Bee, the legendary party emcee of 70's and 80's has tried multiple times to adapt, but every time be is more or less off the target. It's a pity actually because, despite all I wrote above, I have nothing but respect for the man! You are, and you will be a legend of hip-hop. Nobody can take that from you! Without Busy Bee hip-hop would be different. He worked as a man who helped to turn the tides - initially as a guy on the bright side, but lately on the grey side. Sometimes it's good to be remembered as an artist for your great qualities in hip-hop, and Busy Bee has many. Let's remember and cherish those!

P.S. I have 4 BB records shared and preview tracks are below. You will find both albums, one single and few live set recordings in a compilation narrated by the man himself.

For fullies check here: