Busta Rhymes Responds To T.I. Turning Down His Verzuz Challenge
Busta Rhymes has offered his thoughts after T.I. turned down his offer to battle him on Verzuz.
As Swizz Beatz and Timbaland gear up for season two of Verzuz, Busta was on The Fat Joe Show, where he called out the Grand Hustle to step into the virtual arena on the acclaimed Instagram Live series. “From one brother that loves you to my brother that knows I love him; I’m begging you to step in the ring with me. I’ma bust your a**,” he issued.
“We gon' do it with grace, but I'ma bust your a**,” Busta clarified. “Come on, T.I, let's have fun.”
It wasn’t long before T.I. took to social media to answer Busta’s call, hopping on Instagram Live. While he was honored by the consideration, the Grand Hustle chief respectfully declined the offer. He didn’t feel that he and Busta were a good match and likened it to “Brandy against Dionne Warwick,” both respected vocalists in their own right.
“Busta is one of the most phenomenal talents of our time, and the catalog is thick. It just ain’t the same,” the Atlanta native explained. “I salute and respect Busta a whole lot. I just think the generational gap might be just a little too much.”
As you would have guessed, Busta jumped back online to address T.I.’s rejection.
"Ayo Tip, you're my brother and I love you very much, King,” he prefaced, sending his praise for Tip’s new album, The L.I.B.RA.
“It's okay to let people know that you backed down from this Verzuz offer. Come on now, let's be honest. It's okay, Tip,” he added. “You respectfully declined? I guess that's the fancy way to say that you turned down this Verzuz battle. You wanna talk about generational gap? That's a very respectful way of not saying that you don't really want to sit in the smoking section with me.”
He continued, “Just let the world know truly that you don't want this bust a** that you was about to get. It's okay. Cause, see, the difference between me and you, my brother, and we're both kings. I'm actually a god.”
As he sees it, “age don’t make no difference, saying, “it don’t matter when you came out. I know people that been out before me that I put out more albums than them after I came out after them. This ain’t got nothing to do about generation.”
With said, Busta reiterated that he's ready to put up 20 hits against whoever. In his closing remarks, he made it clear that all he needs is a time and date. In fact, the rapper proposed that he's down to go up against two artists simultaneously, which would be a first for Verzuz.
“Anyone who wants smoke please respond accordingly,” he concluded. “Y’all know what to do.”
Listen to his remarks in full below.
