If you know something about rap music, you certainly know about Busta Rhymes. Often characterized as “iconic” and “legendary”, Busta Rhymes has been rapping for over 30 years, releasing over 10 albums and 56 music videos.

The Brooklyn rapper rose to prominence during the early 90s, right as New York rap was entering its golden age. While most NY rappers of that era were all about grimey beats, rhymes, clothing, and music videos, Busta Rhymes came through like a colorful tornado of hyperactivity. His flashy and exuberant style brought new energy to East Coast rap while redefining the esthetics of music videos for years to come.

Busta Rhymes in the 1996 video Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check.

While Busta’s videos were about general fun and craziness, his albums mostly revolved around a sinister theme: The Apocalypse. Indeed, his three first albums were named  The Coming (1996), When Disaster Strikes (1997), and E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front (1998). All of these albums predicted the coming of a major disaster in the near future. 

Fast-forward to 2020. The general context is a lot bleaker than it was in the 90s. Also, Busta Rhymes is 48 years old and a lot heavier. Understandably enough, he probably doesn’t really feel like bouncing around in videos while wearing funny hats. Instead, he decided that the time was right to release Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God – an album filled with intense messages and symbolism.

An Album With Messages

The cover of ELE 2: The Wrath of God features a skull wearing a facemask with an ELE symbol on its forehead.

Judging by this creepy cover alone, one can already feel that ELE2 carries a different vibe than Busta’s previous works. In the 90s, his apocalyptic theme was mainly perceived as a creative concept that gave his albums an interesting vibe and intensity. However, in his 2020 album ELE2, Busta is not really joking around anymore. One gets the feeling that he actually believes that the world (as we know it) is ending.

In an interview with NME, Busta explains the meaning of his album cover and its relation with the current COVID crisis.

Hello Busta! Your new album’s artwork shows a skull in a face-mask. How are you coping with this COVID-19 period?

This is one of the most unfortunate times in the history of the existence of this planet. It feels like our intelligence is being insulted significantly and there’s no accountability for the suffering we have to encounter as a result. There feels like there’s a blatant inconsistency in truth for us to be able to protect our well-being in the right way. People want to go to work and not be subjected to doing anything illegal to take care of themselves their family, and people have worked hard to build businesses that are being taken away from them, and can’t see family members.

Who’s ‘they’? What would anyone exactly have to gain from this?

There’s obviously something wrong and some other agenda going on – a lot of it is political. It feels super-imbalanced and unfair. We’re getting caught up in the overwhelming abundances of propaganda that’s keeping us distracted from realising that there’s some truth we need to start working towards and getting to the bottom of.

Let’s agree to disagree. 1998’s ‘E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front’ was loaded with apocalyptic imagery, so 2020 feels an appropriate time to release the follow-up…

With my work, I try to point out that a day was coming that is going to permanently end the world we’ve grown to know and love. I never knew we would live to see this time (Laughs). I named my albums ‘The Coming’, ‘When Disaster Strikes…’, ‘E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front’, ‘ Anarchy’, ‘It Ain’t Safe No More…’, and ‘The Big Bang’. I was hoping none of these events did happen, but felt it was my duty to start these conversations about how do we prepare for it if it does. So I would always have these narratives attached to the themes of my albums. That’s why ‘Everything Remains Raw’, the B-side to my 1996 single  ‘Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check’, I said ‘There’s only five years left’. Five years later, the World Trade Centre falls. Then in 1998, my first ‘E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event)’ album, the artwork is the World Trade Centre gone and New York in flames. Three years later, it actually happens.

I wasn’t prophesising anything; I just wanted to share the sh*t that was actually out there that people are told they’re conspiracy theorists if they read it. You know, the ‘conspiracy theorist’ term is to discredit whatever truth you might be getting close to. Now there’s no changing my mind. It’s not coincidence. Somebody planned this sh*t, but I don’t know who.

– NME, Busta Rhymes on ‘Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God’: “It’s my duty to start conversations”

This interview revealed a couple of things. First, the interviewer is kind of a douche. Second, Busta Rhymes clearly believes that there are shady forces at work in the world and they’re involved with the COVID crisis. Finally, the rapper is looking to share some important messages through his album E.L.E 2.

Here’s a look at some of its messages.

E.L.E 2 Intro

As soon as the listener presses “play”, things get very real, very fast. A narrator greets listeners with this prophetic monologue:

Genesis, chapter eleven, verses one through nine
Thousands of years before Christ
Tyrant Nimrod, Gilgamesh of Shinar, enslaved the first empire
One world language, one world religion, one world order
We have learned nothing (One)
Making the keys to heaven a gift to the devil
Those who desire to supplant God
Illuminati who tempt and horrify us as the most perfect angel Lucifer
Seek to rebirth a new world order upon the flesh, blood, and bones of all humanity
Again, towers rose skyward to challenge his divine glory
To conquer his serene domain
As in ancient Babylon, the one true Lord brought them down
In 2001, three became naught, conspiracy is reality
Fear is the weapon of thine enemy
Acts of terror a lie, told to convince the meek to surrender to their rulers
Atmospheric variances melt the polar ice caps and drown the rats who walk on two legs
An incurable virus to decimate the dark, nuclear rain to set us aflame
Obscured by a curtain of venom from space in the name of science
Fall to your knees, pray to a last choking breath
A new world order is here, arrogance over God means annihilation

Daddy, what’s it gonna be like in the year 2021?
Only He can save us
This is the second coming
Extinction Level Event 2

The intro talks about the Biblical figure Nimrod who is said to have unified the world through one language and one religion while building the Tower of Babel to defy God. The narrator then says “We have learned nothing”. Today’s elite is building a New World Order that is perceived as a new version of the Tower of Babel – one that will inevitably attract the wrath of God, again.

The intro also contains a reference to 9/11. By stating that “conspiracy is reality” and “fear is the weapon of thine enemy”, the narrator conveys the sense that the destruction of the twin towers in 2001 launched an era of false flag attacks meant to terrorize the population into submission.

The intro also refers to COVID-19 with the bleak words saying “An incurable virus to decimate the dark, nuclear rain to set us aflame”.

During this chaotic 7-minute intro, the veteran rapper Rakim also drops a verse of “biblical” proportions. Here’s the first part of it.

I tried to warn ’em with The Seventh Seal
The world is wounded, it may never heal
Even Mother Nature’s gettin’ ill, it’s gettin’ real
When millions get killed when that deadly weather spill
Until Sodom and Gomorrah’s on America’s turf
The horror, it’ll forever get worse
Yet and still, it’s like a gift at birth then you inherit a curse
But the meek must inherit the Earth, it’s Heaven’s will
Meek meaning powerless in the form of politics
Giving power at the dawn of the apocalypse
And war is stronger than peace
It’s poverty ’til the majority is scarred with the mark of the beast

In short, there’s a lot going on in this intro. It ties in a lot of the issues we hear about in 2020 as signs that the world is ending.

On a deeper level, the intro (and the album in general) is permeated with concepts and symbolism relating to the Five-Percent Nation. Considering the fact that both Busta Rhymes and Rakim are prominent Five-Percenters, the message of this intro can only be fully understood through the lens of Five-Percent philosophy (more on this later).

The rest of ELE 2 tackles several issues (riots, police brutality, etc.) while also containing a hefty dose of lighter tracks. However, the last song of the album is not “light” at all.

Satanic

The final song of the album – dramatically titled Satanic – addresses the overtly satanic imagery that has taken over rap in the last years. Busta warns artists that, by bowing down to Satan in their music, they’re “playing with a match that can grow into an inferno”. Here’s the entire verse.

Look, I had to compile this sh*t in a song
It’s so intriguing, all this f*ckin’ satanic sh*t goin’ on
Playin’ with symbols and signs, devil worshippin’
People talk like thеy prayin’ to Lucifer, but what happened to “Jеsus Walks”?
Yeah, we have demented thoughts, then you conversate with your savior
Askin’ for forgiveness while displayin’ blasphemous behavior
At first, we seen it subtle, now n*ggas display it major
And goin’ out they way like they doin’ Satan a favor
And gamble with they life like rattlin’ dice in a shaker
Another life forsaken, turnin’ your back on your maker
I’m only tryna cater to the facts and sh*t
I’m seein’ a lot of questionable sh*t, like the f*ck these n*ggas believe in?
But now, we don’t figure the same, your music is lifeless
And your visuals lookin’ like rituals and sacrifices
Makin’ deals with the Devil in exchange to be the nicest
You dead like your flesh was eaten by maggots and lices
We’ve all witnessed the change, now nobody wanna be righteous
The days we live is dark and unquestionably a crisis
The Devil tried to plant the fear from when we was in diapers
And some grew up possessed, staring in the Eye of Osiris
Now I know you see this sh*t while you sit and wonder what happened
It’s strange how niggas brandish devil worship like a fashion
The signs of the times, clouds from the heavens open
Where birds fall from the sky and fish die in the ocean
Now who you think you foolin’? We seein’ the way you’re movin’
I hope you take the time to start thinkin’ ’bout what you’re doin’
You’re playin’ with a match that can grow into an inferno
Undescribable, the burn when the fire’s feelin’ eternal
I hope you document this and write it down in your journal
And read it back to yourself while overcomin’ your hurdles
Now trust me and be careful of who you let in your circle
‘Cause the Devil f*cks a life and will breed the p*ssy that’s fertile
I know it’s gettin’ cold and you’re fightin’ the war internal
Body decayin’, turnin’ all grey and blue, even purple
You portray a lotta shit with no rehearsal
But in life, we don’t rehearse, what you do can come back and hurt you
And until then, watch how the Devil will work through
Look at what you’ve become and what the Devil gave birth to
And when it hits the fan, you’ll be wonderin’ where your folks went
Your n*ggas’ll disappear when the science gets kinda potent
I’m just buildin’, I ain’t mean to give an earful
Just carryin’ out my duty, everybody just be careful (Be careful)

In this intense verse, Busta talks about artists’ visuals “looking like rituals and sacrifices”. This is easily verifiable. For the past 11 years, The Vigilant Citizen has been documenting the occult and satanic imagery found in rap videos with loads of screenshots and references. Busta says that they used to be subtle, but now they “display it major”. That is 100% true.

Ironically enough, despite the messages found in ELE2, Busta Rhymes himself ended up being accused of being satanic.

Controversial Promo

On October 7th, Busta released a promotional video titled THE PROPHECY WILL BE FULFILLED. Directed by industry veteran Sam Lecca, the video takes place in a church where something unholy is happening.

A Catholic priest gives a sermon that quotes various parts of the Bible including Psalm 37: “The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them.”

Then, the priest marks the foreheads of children with the ELE2 logo. The Mark of the Beast?

The priest then shows his true demonic face.

The children run along with glowing eyes. Are they possessed?

Nearly all of the comments on YouTube accuse that video of being satanic. This is the top comment right now.

So, what’s exactly the message of this video? In his song Satanic, Busta talks about ritualistic videos and even wonders what happened to Christian-themed songs such as Kanye West’s Jesus Walks. But then, he releases this promo video where a Catholic mass is portrayed as a demonic rite.

Some answers can be found by better understanding the heavy influence of the Five-Percent Nation on Busta Rhymes’ works.

Five Percent Influence

The symbol of the Five-Percent Nation containing the sun, the moon, a star, and the number 7 (which represents God).

The Five Percent Nation – also known as Nation of Gods and Earths (NGE) – was founded in 1964 by Clarence 13X, a minister of the Nation of Islam (NOI) who was working under the tutelage of Malcolm X. After years within the organization, Clarence 13X created an offshoot to the NOI because he rejected the teaching that Wallace Fard Muhammad (the mysterious founder of the NOI) was God incarnate. Instead, Clarence 13X taught his students that the black man (individually and collectively) is God. Conversely, white people are “devils” and their technology is actually “tricknology” that will not stand the test of time.

Members of the group call themselves Allah’s Five-Percenters because they believe that only ten percent of the people in the world know the truth of existence. These elites and their agents keep eighty-five percent of the world in ignorance and under control. The remaining five percent are those who know the truth and are given the mission to enlighten the eighty-five percent. They are known as the “poor righteous teachers”.

While the NGE is said to be close to Islam, its teachings are actually much closer to esoteric schools such as Freemasonry. Indeed, Five-Percenters are taught that there is no “mystery God” and that the “Original Man” can become a god through “knowledge of self”. This concept is similar to the hermetic axiom “Know Thyself” taught in Mystery Schools such as Freemasonry. By affirming that divinity can be obtained on Earth through knowledge, disciple, and enlightenment, the NGE is philosophically closer to Gnosticism rather than traditional religions. In other words, the NGE does not believe in a god but instead teaches a form of apotheosis where the Asiatic black man is God and his proper name is “Allah”, the Arabic word for “God”.

The NGE also teaches its followers arcane systems called Supreme Mathematics and Supreme Alphabet as keys to understanding how man relates to the universe. This concept is similar to systems of numerology found in Freemasonry. For instance, in Supreme Mathematics, the number 7 and the letter G (the 7th letter of the alphabet) are associated with God.

While Freemasonry is a rigid secret society that recruits the local elites within its ranks, the NGE is a community-based organization that attracts disenfranchised men and inmates in urban areas.

Probably for this reason, a long list of rappers joined the ranks of the NGE, especially in the 1990s. Artists such as Rakim, Busta Rhymes, Jay Electronica, the entire Wu-Tang Clan, Erykah Badu, Jay-Z, Nas, and many others integrated NGE concepts and symbolism into their lyrics while heavily influencing hip-hop slang in general. Expressions such as “word is bond”, “peace”, “cipher”, “dropping science”, “dropping knowledge”, and calling each other “god” all originate from the NGE.

Rakim, Jay-Z, and RZA wearing the symbol of the NGE.

Busta Rhymes is one of the most prominent representatives of the NGE in hip-hop. And his latest album ELE2 is heavily infused with its philosophy.

Busta stands next to a picture of Clarence 13X in his recent video Master Fard Muhammad.

Busta’s verse on the ELE2 intro is pure NGE. It begins like this:

Well, it’s the God (Yes), no illusions
Blessings while I greet y’all in the absence of confusion
With science to spark the mind with thoughts of greater living
It gets deeper than secrets in Masonic symbolism
And I understand if you can find it extremely hard to calculate it
As dude who refer to himself as God, let me demonstrate it

Through this verse, one understands the album’s subtitle The Wrath of God is actually a reference to Busta himself. More NGE references are found later in the verse:

But I’m addicted to exposing the truth, it’s a habit
Since a youngin’ using a pencil to write the mathematics
Incorporating the science while I give you the classics
While some’ll find it strange and resort to measures that’s drastic
I articulate with clarity, reassure when you hear this
Some identify me as cuckoo or conspiracy theorist

With all of that being said, we can now better understand the reasoning behind the promotional video featuring an evil priest. Here’s an excerpt from an NGE FAQ that explains how the Nation perceives organized religion in general.

“Clarence 13 X taught that eighty-five percent of the population is made up of ignorant, unlearned and uncivilized people who need to be led (mostly churchgoers). This eighty-five percent are believed to have “no knowledge of self”. Ten percent of the population have SOME knowledge of self (i.e. the real truth), however they use this knowledge to wield control over the eighty-five percent instead of “liberating” them (most baptist preachers including Rev. Jesse Jackson are believed to be in this category). Lastly, he considered the five percent to be those who do possess knoweldge of themselves, their origins and the way the world system really is — and additionnally, the way in which the new world order will come about. Their job/mission is to educate the eighty-five percent to what this hidden or veiled knowledge really is.”
– Nation of Gods and Earths FAQ

This FAQ explains why the Catholic priest was portrayed as an evil figure. According to Five-Percenters, preachers in traditional religions actually help the elite keep the 85% in ignorance.

In Conclusion

Analyzing the works of veteran artists such as Busta Rhymes is a different task than analyzing regular pop stars. These artists usually have full creative control of their works and their messages are often an amalgamation of the various influences in their lives. Busta Rhymes’ ELE2 contains a wealth of messages about the pandemic, the New World Order, and satanism in the music industry. However, to fully understand the album’s meaning, one must first understand the NGE philosophy that permeates it.

As exemplified by the YouTube comments on Busta’s promo video, NGE philosophy is rather divisive and controversial. Its teachings about the nature of God, the role of religion, and the origins of white people are bound to be received with anger and skepticism by many, including religious black people. Furthermore, some might argue that all of this divisiveness only serves the elite’s favorite tactic: Divide and conquer. On the other hand, those who were around during the NGE’s 90s heyday say that the organization actually had a positive influence on black men by creating a community focused on truth-seeking and general righteousness which helped them turn away from gangs, drugs, and crime.

In short, I’ll leave the task of judging the NGE and everything around it to God. And I’m not God. Meanwhile, we should probably all set our differences aside and focus on a common foe: A satanic elite that is creating a dystopian new world order right before our eyes.

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