Busta Rhymes honors his longtime friend D’Angelo with the release of a new track, “Magic”.
The song features Busta rapping over D’Angelo’s 2000 classic, “One Mo’Gin”, as a heartfelt tribute to the late R&B legend.
In a conversation with OkayPlayer, Busta reflected on their enduring friendship, which began during a 1990 studio session with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad while working on A Tribe Called Quest’s iconic track, “Scenario”.
“It wasn’t too far from around the timeframe that we were working on ‘Scenario,’” Busta said. “When I met him, it was just a good, beautiful energy with the bro. D’Angelo’s personality speaks volumes because of how reserved he was. When it was time for him to actually speak – when you heard him sing or play the keyboard — it magnified the polar opposite of how quiet he was.”
Busta went on to detail their deep connection over the past 34 years, expressing immense admiration for D’Angelo’s unique artistry and influence. He described D’Angelo’s music as revolutionary, blending the traditions of the past with something entirely his own.
“I feel like the Earth shifted when D came to do music. He was the embodiment of some s—t that was a complete balance of what our ancestors created, to where he took it,” the rapper said.
“There’s nothing under the sun that hasn’t already been done. But it’s a whole other thing to make it your own and combine what has already been done with what hasn’t been done yet. There have been a lot of soulful artists who played and sang that came before him and came after him. But the impact was nowhere near the level that he was able to do it on just three albums across 34 years.”
D’Angelo passed away on October 14 after a private battle with pancreatic cancer, leaving the music world mourning the loss of one of its brightest talents.
