Busta Rhymes

Busta Rhymes, born Trevor George Smith Jr. in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, on 20 May 1972, is an American rapper, record producer and actor. ¹ He rose to prominence as a member of Leaders of the New School and broke through as a solo artist with his debut studio album The Coming (1996), which sold a million copies in the United States and gained him a Grammy nomination. ¹ He has recorded eleven solo albums, most recently Blockbusta (2023), earned twelve Grammy nominations without a win, and founded the record label Conglomerate (formerly Flipmode Entertainment). ¹

He grew up in Brooklyn with his younger brother, then moved to Uniondale, Long Island, at 12, where his parents are from; he attended Long Island's George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School, where the Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z also studied, and first gained notable recognition in high school for participating in rap battles. ¹ A trip to London with his aunt in the mid-1980s was a major influence in developing his appreciation for rap, after which he began performing; Public Enemy's Chuck D gave him the name Busta Rhymes after the Oklahoma Sooners and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes. ¹ With Leaders of the New School he recorded two albums, and his guest appearance on A Tribe Called Quest's "Scenario" became arguably his biggest exposure before going solo. ¹ Over three decades his singles have included "Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check", "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See", "Dangerous", "Turn It Up", "Gimme Some More" and "Touch It", alongside widely heard features such as "Don't Cha" and Chris Brown's "Look at Me Now"; Billboard and Vibe listed him among their 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, and he received the inaugural MTV Rock the Bells Visionary Award at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards. ¹

Alongside the music he has acted in films and on television, founded the Conglomerate label and collective acts including Flipmode Squad, and, between 2019 and 2023, appeared as a panelist on multiple international editions of The Masked Singer. ¹

This section sets out different positions as reported in the sources. It is not a verdict by the museum.

His faith as the sources state it. The article's personal-life section states that he identifies as a member of the Five-Percent Nation and has been a Muslim since the age of 12, citing his own video interviews of 2007 and 2009; Wikidata's religion value is the Five-Percent Nation. ^{1 2} That movement is not a legal school, and no source names a madhhab for him; his record therefore carries his faith as unknown, with the attestation recorded in full. ¹

Other positions as reported. In 2007 he walked out of an on-air interview after being asked about homophobia in the hip-hop community; in 2012 he expressed support for Frank Ocean after Ocean's revelation about his sexuality, and defended an inclusive approach toward all listeners regardless of sexual orientation. ¹

Family life as reported. He has six children: three sons and three daughters. ¹

• The defined source entities cited above, recorded in data/source/.
• Revisions of this article must be dated, and must name the source that changed each fact.