Somewhere, at this moment, Busta Rhymes is spitting at 52 miles an hour about passing the Courvoisier. But come this Sun God, at double his speed and with lyrics that manage to stay relevant even when read outside the strip club, Regan Farquhar – better known as Project Blowed hip-hop trendsetter Busdriver – is hyper-rapping about everything from the war in Iraq to how to piss off your parents. Claiming jazz singers as his greatest influence, and serial sampling from all genres, Busdriver whips up countless eccentric beat cocktails of jazz, blues and funk – a dizzying whirl matched only in intensity by the drunk-since-8 a.m. spin that we Sun God-ers have come to know and love.
Like last year’s underground Cali-hop rep Lyrics Born, Busdriver is right to flaunt his role in bringing the innovations of the scene’s undercurrents to the masses. Immersed in Los Angeles’ budding hip-hop culture and son to the penman of “”Krush Groove,”” one of the first films about the genre, Busdriver (hopping on the train as fast as he rhymes) recorded his first raps at age 13. He spent most of the chaotic 1990s working open-mic nights and collaborating with local MCs, joining forces with the freestyle-based Project Blowed, where he improved his sharp-edged linguistic skills until 2001, when he released the first of seven full-lengths, Memoirs of the Elephant Man.
Slammed for his choppy discontinuity, Busdriver refined his craft and quickly released Machine Kills Fashion in 2002, followed by the highly praised career-best Temporary Forever. He received particular praise for tracks “”Imaginary Places”” – which revived the flute as a cool instrument – and the percussion-rich “”Jazz Fingers,”” featuring founding Freestyle Fellowship member Aceyalone. With newly achieved solo success, the wiry oddball went back to collaborate with fellow Los Angelinos Radioinactive and Daedelus on 2003’s The Weather, given a funkily ominous tone by the mysterious rhythms of Daedelus. To counter such dark beats, as on “”Exaggerated Joys,”” Busdriver alternated sincere sentiments like “”Save the little boy genius/ From a self-employed zenith”” with ridiculous lines like “”Do you have a monkey wrench or somebody/ To invest for my Mars shuttle?””
Sustaining a marathon-speed release calendar, the now-seasoned rapper dropped Cosmic Cleavage – his ode to lost loves – in 2004 and immediately followed up with the self-deprecating and less-obscure beats of Fear of a Black Tangent in 2005, lent a hand by then-upcoming producers Danger Mouse and Prefuse 73. After a gaping two-year absence – a virtual retirement in Busdriver time – he signed to Anti/Epitaph and released Roadkillovercoat in January of this year. Though the cutting lyrical weaponry is as prickly as ever, its vocal pacing now slows at times, making his material less dense but more awkwardly rock ’n’ roll on tracks like “”Pompous Posies! Your Party’s No Fun”” – but thankfully others, namely album-opener “”Casting Agents and Cowgirls,”” retain the intensity of the more traditionally catchy, hook-drenched throb.
If Busdriver’s recent showdown at Coachella is any indication, his Sun God set will touch on all beguiling fragments – not just the thicker puzzle pieces – of his long (even in light years) career. So don’t worry – it isn’t your 17th beer that’s making all those words sound light-headedly scatterbrained – it’s just as hard to understand this guy when you’re sober.
Boss ditties: “”Exaggerated Joy,”” “”Imaginary Joy””
