Busta Rhymes Breaks Down Creating “Look Over Your Shoulder” Featuring Kendrick Lamar

The iconic emcee speaks with Trevor Noah about his first studio LP in 11 years.

Fans of Kendrick Lamar did not hear much from the music superstar in 2020. However, the pgLang co-founder did make an appearance on Busta Rhymes’s new album Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God which was released on October 30.

The track titled “Look Over Your Shoulder” included a verse from Lamar as well as a sample from The Jackson 5’s classic 1970 song “I’ll Be There.” Busta stopped by The Daily Show with Trevor Noah to discuss the ELE2 project and that particular record featuring K. Dot.

“[Producer] Nottz put it together in an amazing way and it just blew my mind when I heard it. And I took the extra step in getting my hands on the actual, original two-inch 16-track multi of the original recording of the [Jackson 5] song,” explained Busta Rhymes. “Kendrick heard it. And when he heard it, in about a couple of days I got back that monster verse that he put on there.”

The Hip Hop legend continued, “It was like, ‘Alright we’re sitting on a different type of gem with this piece.’ Once I heard his verse, I heard the beat and just realized the way the blend felt with the Michael Jackson sample and Kendrick’s verse and the music and my verse, I was just like, ‘This is such a defining moment in this body of work.'”

Busta went on to say that “Look Over Your Shoulder” was not completed until eight or nine years into the recording process for Extinction Level Event 2. The 21-track studio LP landed 11 years after the Brooklynite’s previous album. ELE2 also features Mariah Carey, Mary J Blige, Rakim, Pete Rock, Bell Biv Devoe, Q-Tip, Rick Ross, Anderson .Paak, Rapsody, and more.