Busy Signal

Clashing and competition are an essential part of dancehall culture, but rather than le...

Clashing and competition are an essential part of dancehall culture, but rather than letting drama and rivalry steal the show, Busy Signal has gotten back to basics. The rising Jamaican star’s second official album Loaded (VP) is easily one of the year’s hottest, showcasing the DJ’s uncanny mastery of flows and the sickness of his skills. Busy’s sticky hooks and precision speed chatting can make almost anything sound fly—from inspirational tales like “Nah Guh Jail” to basic “gal tunes” like “Wine Pon The Edge” and the dazzling “Cool Baby.” Check the way he attacks the track on “Tic Toc,” bobbing and weaving through the barren beatscape like a crazed hummingbird fiending for nectar. 

The ominous digital shuffle of “Unknown Number” perfectly matches the song’s paranoid atmosphere—“gangster no answer certain call”—plunging the listener into the mind of a hard-luck hustler. (And who better than an artist named Busy Signal to set the standards for proper telephone etiquette?) The DJ’s lyrical prowess is on full display in “Knocking At Your Door” which opens with a spellbinding 80-second crime drama (from the set-up to the raid to the thirst for revenge) delivered in rapid-fire patois that nearly disguises a narrative complexity reminiscent of Slick Rick or Notorious B.I.G. The song builds tension until Busy drops the doomsday punchline “When Mr. Dead come knocking at your door / no escape.” It’s both bewildering and brilliant. 

Hip hop heads may have an easier time digesting “These Are The Days,” a dystopian meditation on the perils of modern life for which the DJ slows down his flow so every painful detail is crystal clear. That’s the best way to make sure you really get Busy. 

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