Public Enemy’s Chuck D gave Busta Rhymes his rap name.
Before Brooklyn-born Busta Rhymes was known as the Busta Rhymes, he was Trevor George Smith Jr, who went to the same high school as Jay-Z and they once battled in the cafeteria.
Busta Rhymes’ family would then move to Long Island where he would meet Uniondale natives, Charlie Brown, Dinco D, and Cut Monitor Milo. The four of them would then form a Hip-Hop group called Leaders of the New School when Busta Rhymes rapped under his first rap name “Chill-O-Ski.”
“I thought it was cool because at the time all of my favorites had three-part rap names like LL Cool J or The Fat Boys, right?” Rhymes revealed this during a 2018 interview with ThePostGame. “Prince Markie Dee or Kool Rock Ski or some of the pioneers like Grandmaster Caz or Grandmaster Flash.”
The group would go on to open up for Public Enemy, where Busta would meet Chuck D, who gave him a new rap name, inspired by NFL wide receiver George “Buster” Rhymes.
“When Chuck met me I was about 13, 14, I’m so animated and energetic, I like to give it all to the people, and he just said, ‘Yo, with this aggression that I ain’t ever seen with your performance skill set, you’re such a showman, it almost looks like you’re playing football when you rhyming, so you should call yourself ‘Busta Rhymes.’” He recalled.
Busta Rhymes didn’t like the name at first, “I hated the name,” He told ThePostGame, but it ended up sticking.
With their member Busta Rhymes, Leaders of the New School would then sign with Elektra Records and release two albums, 1991’s A Future Without a Past… and 1993’s T.I.M.E. (The Inner Mind’s Eye). Busta would then go on to pursue a solo career.
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