As a pop album, ELE is superior, yet Busta's ambitions alone don't allow this LP (nor his previous two) to transcend their own fleeting import. Its 18 songs are infectious, but none really reach the level of soul baring that artists like Lauryn and D'Angelo are willing to risk. If the big 2-0-0-0 truly threatens to end humanity as we know it, the most scavengers will take away from ELE are some fly rhymes and good times, but there isn't that much substance beneath the gloss. Busta's legacy is assured perhaps, but will it be as partier or prophet?
— Oliver Wang (Wall Of Sound)
ake lengthy production, much hype, a cast of stars, and an end of the world theme and what do you get? Deep Impact? Armageddon? Godzilla? Nope—Busta Rhyme's latest album Extinction Level Event (The Final World Front). In the midst of rampant premillennial fears, Busta has carved out a career while still taking the pop music world by storm. It's been a rather bizarre ride to Busta's far side over his last two albums, and ELE is no exception—it bursts with personality as ostentatious as Busta's wardrobe, but no less colorful either.
As a pop artist, Busta lacks Lauryn Hill's soulful sincerity and the Beastie Boys' frat-brat bravado, but his magnetism is irresistible. When he first debuted with the Leaders of the New School in the early '90s, writers went so far as to compare him to jazz great Charlie Parker. What seemed hyperbolic praise at the time now seems prescient as Busta, like Bird, has matured into a virtuous performer. His flurries of stabbing laughs and triple-time rhymes are far more sophisticated than mere gimmick (as compared to Mystikal's rabid flow on "They Wildin' Wit Us"). Whether he rhymes double-time on a certified club hit ("Do the Bus a Bus") or plays the dramatic doomsayer ("This Means War!"), Busta's destined to make that booty bounce.
Arming his arsenal are a squad of track masters who engineer everything from the surprisingly tense "Gimme Some More" to the Eastern-flavored "Just Give It to Me Raw" to the shamelessly funky "Hot S--t Makin' Ya Bounce." The collection of slick grooves is remarkably diverse, more so than you'd expect, and it's hard not to get your head nod/rump shake on whilst crossing through.