Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He has received 12 Grammy Award nominations, making him one of the most-nominated artists without a win. Billboard and Vibe ranked him among the 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, while Forbes listed him among the greatest rappers on their list of the "50 Top Rappers of All Time". Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes.
Rhymes was an original member of Leaders of the New School, a group that attracted national attention while opening on tour for Public Enemy. He gained further exposure for their guest appearance on A Tribe Called Quest's "Scenario". Shortly after, Leaders of the New School disbanded, leading Rhymes to become a sought-after solo artist, appearing on numerous tracks for other artists before his debut solo album, The Coming (1996). Critically acclaimed, the album debuted within the top ten of the Billboard 200, received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and was nominated for a Grammy Award.
He has released eleven total solo albums, with the most recent being Blockbusta (2023). His most notable singles include "Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check", "It's a Party", "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See", "Dangerous", "Turn It Up" (Remix)/"Fire It Up", "Gimme Some More", "What's It Gonna Be?!", "Pass the Courvoisier, Part II", "I Know What You Want" and "Touch It". He has also guest featured on the hit songs "Don't Cha" by The Pussycat Dolls, "Rumble in the Jungle" by Fugees, and "Look at Me Now" by Chris Brown. In addition to his music career, he founded the record label Conglomerate (formerly Flipmode Entertainment) and its namesake hip hop collective (formerly known as Flipmode Squad). In 2025, Busta Rhymes was awarded the inaugural Rock the Bells Visionary Award by the MTV Video Music Awards.
Early life
Trevor George Smith Jr. was born in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, on May 20, 1972, to Geraldine Green and Trevor Smith Sr., who both were immigrants from Jamaica. At age 12, Smith's family moved to Nassau County on Long Island, and settled in Uniondale, New York. For a short while, Smith attended George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Brooklyn with future rappers Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, and attended Samuel J. Tilden High School with Edward "Special Ed" Archer and Roderick "Chip Fu" Roachford of Fu-Schnickens. Smith eventually graduated from Uniondale High School in 1991.
Busta also spent time in England during the early 1980s where he resided with his maternal aunt. She lived in Morecambe, and he spent two summers there with his mother and younger brother. He told GQ in a 2020 interview, "One summer when we went down there I was 12, my brother was eight, so my aunt made sure that we actually went to school in England. Regular school and then we went to karate school too. We also were on some breakdancing that was so crazy, we ended up actually getting work to breakdance in clubs as minors. And our cousins used to run us around and they used to advertise us as TJ and Paul."
Career
1986–1995: Leaders of the New School and rising popularity
In 1986, Smith, alongside fellow Long Island natives Charlie Brown, Cut Monitor Milo, and Dinco D, formed the East Coast hip hop group Leaders of the New School.
Leaders of the New School released their debut album, A Future Without a Past..., in June 1991 on Elektra Records. Later that year, the group appeared on A Tribe Called Quest's critically acclaimed posse cut "Scenario". In 1993, they released T.I.M.E. (The Inner Mind's Eye). Smith gained popularity from his advanced rhymes as well as his unique style that was not common of many New York rap artists at the time. Soon after, however, internal problems arose because of his increasing popularity, and the group broke up on the set of Yo! MTV Raps.