Nobody does real talk like Reggie Ossé a.k.a. Combat Jack. The former rap industry attorney, media executive, author, and Internet radio talk-show personality now hosts The Combat Jack Show, where hip-hop's biggest names are put on the front line. The questions will be tough—and shots will be fired. Co-hosted by Dallas Penn, Premium Pete, and Just Blaze, The Combat Jack Show appears every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday on Complex TV.
In the first part of our three part interview with Busta Rhymes on The Combat Jack Show, Busta opens up about attending high school in Brooklyn with The Notorious B.I.G. and Jay Z. "I met B.I.G. in school smoking weed," Busta says. "B.I.G. had a lot of weed, and we would blow trees everytime. Hov wasn't one of them type of dudes though. Hov ain't smoke or do none of that."
While the three New York natives would soon find their calling as hip-hop stars, Busta explains they all shared a normal academic experience. "School was just regular. It wasn't like you was walking around in there already knowing you was that dude any more than you just felt on the norm," he says. "When you in school, you still was trying to front like you was the dude anyway."
Known for his impressive double-time flow, Busta recalls a time when he and Jay Z battle rapped in school, and he came up on the losing end. "I had been fucking with the speed rap off and on a little bit, because I was really into Papa San and Lieutenant Stitchie. Them dudes was classic reggae artists at the time," Busta says. "In school, I'm thinking I'm able to kill anybody with this shit, and me and Hov got to battling. He had it finessed just a little more than me at the time."
Watch the full clip above, where Busta also goes into depth about how some tough love from Chuck D of Public Enemy motivated him to step his game up. Busta Rhymes' album E.L.E.2 (Extinction Level Event 2) is coming later this year.
Also check out Busta Rhymes on Complex TV's Combat Jack Show below.
