Angie Martinez IRL - Busta Rhymes: I'm Not Apologizing For My Peace of Mind

Joe and Jada

Hip-hop legend Busta Rhymes joins Angie Martinez for a heartfelt conversation about his enduring career, personal growth, and the importance

Key takeaways

• Busta Rhymes emphasizes that true happiness comes from personal control and intentional living.

Main topics

• Busta Rhymes' long-standing legacy in hip-hop
• Personal growth and emotional maturity

Notable quotes

You know that your happiness is really something that you control.

Conclusion

Busta Rhymes shares a powerful message about finding inner peace throu

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Didn't catch the latest Roland Martin Unfiltered podcast? Speaker 6 (0:07) Here's what you missed. There should not be a single law enforcement agency that does not have body cameras. It's real. Black farmers have been under attack. This is just the latest example Speaker 1 (0:17) of them just slapping DEI on anything. It's raw. And I'm sitting here going, they are playing Speaker 6 (0:22) y'all for fools. Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the Black Information Network. Speaker 3 (0:27) And download Roland Martin Unfiltered on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your Speaker 6 (0:33) podcasts. Speaker 3 (0:35) Why do some women yearn for Shakira's black hair to make a comeback? And whatever happened to the power couple of my dreams, Mariah Carey and Luis Miguel? I'm Maria Garcia. You may remember me from my podcast, Anything for Selena or My Divo. And now I'm back to unpack more stories from the present and the past. Listen to Muy Excited with Maria Garcia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 6 (1:05) This is Chris Christensen from the Amateur Traveler podcast. Your vacation time is important. You don't have enough of it. There are so many places to see. We help you choose where to go. Each week we cover a different destination, typically in an interview format, and we learn why you should go there and what you should do for a one-week itinerary. Get the most out of your vacation time by listening to Amateur Traveler. Go and subscribe to Amateur Traveler today and travel better. Speaker 3 (2:06) Listen to She Pivots on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 8 (2:11) Learn to prioritize your happiness over everything else. That is the way that I think Speaker 1 (2:19) you will be able to experience something that I am experiencing and I can't even really find the right words for. But it's a beautiful feeling when Speaker 8 (2:30) you know that your happiness is really... Something that you control. Speaker 4 (2:41) Thanks for watching, guys. Today's episode is brought to you by Boost Mobile. Oh, this is a long time coming. Speaker 1 (2:48) Yeah. Speaker 4 (2:49) Busta Rhymes and IRL. Speaker 8 (2:57) What's up, Speaker 4 (2:57) sis? Speaker 8 (3:00) Yo, Speaker 4 (3:01) we haven't done this in a little bit. Speaker 8 (3:03) Long time. And you have Speaker 4 (3:03) never done IRL. That's a fact. I mean, you know, we've had so many interviews, dope interviews over the years, but where are you now, my brother? What's happening in your world? What's Speaker 1 (3:13) your Speaker 4 (3:13) mindset? Speaker 1 (3:14) I'm in an amazing place. Like, I feel like Speaker 4 (3:17) everything Speaker 1 (3:18) that you was learning as you... We're going Speaker 8 (3:22) along with life and you kind of just get to the crossroad and figure out what you got to figure out when you get there. Speaker 4 (3:28) Yeah. I Speaker 8 (3:31) think we've all Speaker 1 (3:32) gotten to a place and I'm speaking for our alumni. Right. It's kind of obvious in how we're all moving and Speaker 8 (3:43) shaking and the way. the energy amongst Speaker 1 (3:47) us resonates when we get around each other. It feels like we figured out so much shit. We Speaker 4 (3:53) did figure out so much shit. Speaker 1 (3:55) You know what I'm saying? Speaker 4 (3:56) First of all, as I was getting ready for today and just thinking about the history of, first of all, the fact that you have been working since leaders dropped what? 35 Speaker 1 (4:05) years ago this year. You Speaker 4 (4:07) signed a deal in 1989. That's Speaker 1 (4:10) a fact. Speaker 4 (4:11) You drop in 91. Yeah. And you've been rocking ever since. Speaker 1 (4:16) 35 years. Like Speaker 4 (4:17) rocking ever since though. Speaker 1 (4:18) Yeah. It's been a blessing. Like a motherfucker. Are you Speaker 4 (4:22) exhausted? Speaker 1 (4:23) No. Speaker 4 (4:24) Really? Speaker 1 (4:25) I love it too much. I love this shit so much. Speaker 4 (4:29) I know you do. Speaker 1 (4:30) And I love, I love what, what, what this, this whole blessed opportunity and gift. has been able to allow me to do. And not just for me, but for like the lives that I've been responsible for, you know, my family, my kids, my woman, my... Speaker 4 (4:54) You can provide. Speaker 1 (4:56) Yeah, it's like... Speaker 4 (4:57) Is that a motivation for you? Like providing? Speaker 1 (4:58) It's primarily the biggest motivation outside of me just loving the shit. I love being in the studio. I love him. You love Speaker 4 (5:05) it. Speaker 1 (5:06) A lot. Speaker 4 (5:06) You know what I love about you too? You don't just love it for you. Like... You're one of the few people that you always show love to other people. Like not just our alumni, but you like genuinely like you're the guy who'll be like, I love you, sis. Yeah. Like you say it. Yeah. You express it to people. Yeah. Speaker 1 (5:27) You Speaker 4 (5:27) let people know you love them. Yeah. Every time I see you, I know I'm not going to walk away from you without hearing. I Speaker 1 (5:33) love you, sis. That's a fact. That has everything to do with home, though. Speaker 4 (5:38) Yeah, I was going to say, where did you learn that? Speaker 1 (5:40) That's my mother and my father. Like, you know, in the house, there was so Speaker 8 (5:44) much love in the house. It was like uncommon. If you didn't say it, it was almost like some weird shit. Speaker 4 (5:52) Really? Speaker 8 (5:53) Yeah. Like Speaker 4 (5:54) all day, every day? Yeah, Speaker 8 (5:55) like we see each other. You know, you get up to go to school. Speaker 8 (6:01) Mom's busting her ass making breakfast and cooking breakfast. It ain't no microwave food. It ain't no none Speaker 1 (6:09) of that. Like cooking breakfast and preparing lunch before she sent you to school and come home to home cooked meals. It wasn't no microwave shit. No day. You know what I'm saying? Like we Speaker 8 (6:23) constantly had an abundance of affection that was expressed and showed for how we appreciated the way. we was taken care of. And, and, and, and, and it's a proud, it's a super proud component for me to share Speaker 1 (6:42) that shit because number one, showing love is, is, Speaker 8 (6:49) is a deep respect to me. I'm selective with that love because I love. Speaker 8 (6:57) in a big way, which means I respect you in a big way. And it's important that my kids understand that. It's important that that's the characteristic that I want to make sure continues to move forward the Speaker 1 (7:12) way it was given to me and given to mom. Speaker 1 (7:18) my, my, my, my home. And I'm just grateful that those are the kind of parents that I had. Speaker 4 (7:24) Yeah. I was Speaker 8 (7:24) going Speaker 4 (7:24) to say, your dad was like that too, because you don't hear that a lot about dads. Speaker 8 (7:29) Mom did that more than dad did, but dad definitely wasn't like the type that would not express it as well. He just was more, he stood solid on that. I'm a man's. Speaker 8 (7:43) I'm a man, an old-fashioned, stern man. So for us, he's like a man's man, like, you know, that serious all the time. You know, there was a difference between he wasn't a person that really raised his voice, but there was that serious, stern tone where you knew don't fuck with him. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, Speaker 4 (8:08) you respected him. Speaker 8 (8:09) The respect for him was a no games respect. And don't play with even if I say I love you, don't play with me. So I got a lot of that from my father. And my mom's, you know, the whole hug shit and the... Speaker 4 (8:25) Mushy? Yeah, that's Speaker 8 (8:27) mom's. Speaker 4 (8:28) You got a mushy side too, bus. Speaker 8 (8:29) Absolutely. Speaker 4 (8:30) I love that about you, though. Speaker 8 (8:31) Thank you, baby. I Speaker 4 (8:32) think people who don't know you might not expect that. Speaker 8 (8:35) The people that ain't supposed to receive that side of me would be surprised. Right, Speaker 4 (8:40) right. You're not out here just throwing around? Nah, that Speaker 8 (8:42) ain't for them. You know what I'm saying? That shit got to be earned. That love got to be established before you experience. Speaker 1 (8:50) Yeah. The Speaker 8 (8:50) more loving and friendly and super jokey and that regular human people side. Speaker 4 (9:00) Well, as your friend, I will say, I will testify that I always feel loved when I see you. I always feel like that. My kids always feel the love from you when they see you. And you do it in a way where you like, I don't know how many times, how many clips I've seen of you telling a story about like. You telling a story of me interviewing Janet Jackson and her saying she wanted to work with you and then it happening or me doing the viral video of Look Speaker 1 (9:27) at Me Speaker 4 (9:27) Now. Look at Me Now. And like you, you will share that out loud, which I think people. don't do that enough. Like if you feel something about somebody or you appreciate something about somebody, like say it. Speaker 1 (9:41) Yeah. You Speaker 4 (9:42) might not know. They might need to hear it that day. Speaker 1 (9:44) Yeah. You Speaker 4 (9:45) know what I mean? I'm Speaker 1 (9:45) big on the, on the facts though. I'm big on the truth. It's like. Speaker 8 (9:51) You give so much love, too. And I think that's the reason why you're held in such a high regard in the city. Speaker 1 (9:57) And it's been Speaker 8 (9:58) that way. It's like down to the way you do what is considered to be your work. And you Speaker 1 (10:06) have guests come and see you. You do these interviews and they don't feel like interviews ever. It's just feeling like beautiful conversation pieces and moments. And a lot of that has to do with your warmth and your love and you being a giver of love and Speaker 8 (10:27) you loving what you do and making sure we feel that shit. And you're a nurturer and you care. And that shit is, we understand that on a general consensus level, Speaker 1 (10:40) like this is who Ang is. You know what I'm saying? And a lot of the times. It's so far and few between to see that and be able to experience that, that you Speaker 8 (10:53) have to you have to get that love. one way or another in Speaker 6 (11:01) the Speaker 8 (11:01) way that you give it. Speaker 1 (11:03) So I love you for real. And this ain't even got shit to do with no business shit. Like we was on the phone having a conversation for a long time and was brutally honest. And I appreciate that we can have those conversations, even if. I hope it could go other ways, right? You be Speaker 4 (11:24) trying to persuade me or shit. I be trying because, you Speaker 8 (11:27) know, it's like when I understand that there is two sides to things and I got love and respect and understanding for those two sides, I just want to be the one that could be able to gel it all the time. You know what I'm saying? And it's interesting because it's like, Speaker 8 (11:51) That's how I was raised too. Speaker 3 (11:53) When Speaker 8 (11:54) you got friends that might be in differences, you don't pick a side. You fucking try to neutralize it. Or if there's a difference in how the things are being viewed, you just try to offer a perspective that could be a happy medium. Yeah, you could do Speaker 1 (12:14) that too. Speaker 8 (12:14) Yeah, Speaker 1 (12:15) I love the peacemaker thing. I'm really not into... Speaker 1 (12:20) I try to prioritize the love. Word. I prioritize that shit as much Speaker 2 (12:27) as I can. Speaker 1 (12:27) You got Speaker 4 (12:27) other sides though, Buss. I seen you angry. I seen you impatient. I seen you tired. I was telling Brittany this earlier. I remember there was an interview. We've done so many interviews over the years, but I remember one time you came in, you were like at peak. Speaker 4 (12:38) I don't know if it was like put your hands era. I think it might've been put your hands era. And that you were like, I mean, your foot just didn't come off the gas. And, and you came in one day and you were tired. Like, and I, and it was emotionally like, I don't know. We just had a real conversation. And I say this, I'm not sharing something secret. Like we talked about it a little bit on the radio that day. Yeah. And Speaker 1 (13:03) it was at the same day that the thing was going on down at the other station. Speaker 4 (13:07) What was the thing? What thing was going on? That Speaker 8 (13:09) other thing when we was going outside and listening to the radio and hearing the shenanigans Speaker 1 (13:15) that was going on with with. Speaker 1 (13:19) The mother of my three sons. Oh my God. I forgot about that. I thought you was talking about that. It might've been Speaker 4 (13:26) that time too. That Speaker 1 (13:27) was a draining time for me too. We good now. You Speaker 4 (13:31) figured all that out? You figured out co-parenting and all that? I Speaker 8 (13:34) mean, the kids is in their twenties and thirties now. So it, you know, it's like those things that was contributing to the, the draining part of that experience at the time. All of that shit has expiration Speaker 1 (13:47) dates. Speaker 4 (13:48) Oh, wow. You Speaker 1 (13:49) know what I'm saying? Fortunately. Right. You Speaker 4 (13:51) have to be a co-parent king, and I do want to talk about that today. But Speaker 1 (13:55) I Speaker 4 (13:56) thought in that moment, you know, we come from a generation of hustle, like the hustle mentality, that hustle spirit. Things are a little different now. People like to have balance, and I've learned how important that part of life is, and maybe we did get some of those things wrong. I mean, hustling got us. where we are and we're still here and we're blessed and all that. But there is something too, that we were working ourselves. Speaker 4 (14:22) to like exhaustion. Yeah. I mean, I passed out in the street one time. I had done a thing, a video of this. I hosted this. I went to the club, hosted the after party, left the after party, came outside, was on the corner store, talking to people and passed out in the street. Speaker 1 (14:35) Well, Speaker 4 (14:35) that's crazy. Exhaustion, dehydration. Wow. Take me to the hospital on 14th Street that is now no longer, what was that hospital on 14th? I don't remember. Speaker 1 (14:43) That's crazy. But I'm Speaker 4 (14:44) just saying we were, that could have happened to you. Speaker 1 (14:47) Yeah, Speaker 8 (14:47) fortunately, I never experienced that, but I never heard that about you. I never knew you went through that. Like, that shit sounds crazy to me right now. It's Speaker 4 (14:54) really not that crazy. I mean, we weren't sleeping. We were working around the clock. Studios. Well, just whatever. Clubs and the streets. I mean, I don't think the work ever... I don't know. I just think we loved it so much. Yeah. And we were trying to chase... I don't know. What were you trying to chase? Like, what were you... Because you were working hard, too. Speaker 8 (15:16) Yeah, I mean, for me, it was several things. I never wanted to misrepresent the way my, like the respect that I have for my Speaker 1 (15:34) family's name and face and respect amongst family and peers and friends of the family. I'm talking Speaker 8 (15:44) about like my parents, you know, like, you know, the pressure that we. We had, from our parents to me, the certain standard is way different. Even though we still, everybody want the best for their kids, but our parents, they was on some fuck whatever you doing if we don't believe in it. You know what I'm saying? If we don't think that it's going to work. Speaker 4 (16:08) It's not going to work. Speaker 8 (16:09) We're not even supporting or tolerating wasting time watching you do some shit that we don't think is going to work. Speaker 8 (16:20) That was hard because it's like, well, it ain't your vision for it to work for you. It's my vision for it to work for me. And your support would be appreciated. But making sure that we understood how serious that respecting of how hard they worked to make sure that they maintain the respect of the family was more important to me. Speaker 8 (16:51) because letting them down wasn't an option. So even though they wasn't supportive of the vision that I had with this rap shit or with this music shit, I knew that there was no way that I was going to even allow there to be a plan B or failure being an option. Speaker 4 (17:07) Oh, so you're trying to prove to your parents that this is the right way to... Speaker 8 (17:10) I'm not only just proving to them with the I told you so once it works, I'm proving to me that I was able to manifest something. That wouldn't only be great for the respect of the family, but allow me to add on to the respect of the family in a productive way because I'm able to continue to do the providing and the upkeeping and the maintenance of the integrity and the respect, which was big to my father. It's big to my mom's. You know what I'm saying? Like in the house, you can't even respond to my parents with. Like if they call you by name, it ain't no yeah or huh or what. Like that shit. What do you say? Yes, ma'am. Yes, mom. No, mom. Yes, dad. No, dad. Like you had to attach the mom and the dad acknowledgement to every response. Speaker 4 (18:09) They want a good morning in the morning. Good Speaker 8 (18:11) morning, mommy. Love you, mommy. You need some help, ma? Dad, you good? Dad, you want me to... Whatever it was, that mom-dad was... Acknowledgement is a respect thing. And it was serious. So if you fucked around and slipped up and mom's just calling you to go get something from her out the kitchen, she in the bedroom want to call her some shit and she call you and you be like, yeah, you get one more time to respond correct. Or she going to tell you to come to her. Pull up. And you're going to get a box or a backhand that is going to rewire your whole way of thinking in milliseconds. And that's the shit that I understood. So it's like the shit that we was chasing obviously started in the house with making sure that that respect and that