After T.I. publicly turned down Busta Rhymes’ offer for a Verzuz battle and instead scheduled a season 2 showdown with Jeezy, Busta has some more options in mind.
In a recent interview with Complex about his latest album Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God, the rapper (real name Trevor George Smith Jr.) revealed the necessary criteria for doing a Verzuz with him and which three legendary MCs he’d love to go up against. “I would love to spar against anybody … as long as their catalog is a powerful catalog, because I don’t want to do a corny Verzuz,” he said. “I don’t wanna do no Verzuz with anybody whose catalog isn’t crazy. And I would love to do a Verzuz with somebody that I’m a fan of, because I’m only trying to compete with people that brings the best out of me.”
He went on to name Eminem, Lil Wayne and Jay-Z as his top three picks, but he’s also not opposed to taking on two artists at the same time. Busta already has experience rap battling (and unfortunately, losing to) Hov back in high school, when the two attended George Westinghouse Career And Technical Education High School in Brooklyn. Now, he’s ready for their long-overdue rematch.
“Ultimately, Hov got the best of the battle in that moment,” he recalled earlier this month on the 85 South Show. “I was just starting to figure out how to master my fascination with the speed rap. He was already on it. He was doing it at an incredible level of skillset. … Me, at that point, with my competitive a–, I always wanted to have my rematch. It didn’t happen which was fine because I ended up getting my skillset developed to the point where I don’t think nobody want to f— with a n—a now.”
T.I. first denied the battle with Busta because of the generational gap, but he still acknowledged him as “one of the most phenomenal talents of our time” in an Instagram Live video. Busta later responded to Tip’s claims on his own IG Live video, saying that Fat Joe first brought up the idea of their Verzuz and that if it were to happen, “I’mma bust your a– any given point in time.”
Tip and Jeezy will face off next Thursday, Nov. 19, at 8 p.m. ET on IG Live and Apple Music.
Watch Busta’s entire interview below.
