Review: Busta Rhymes and Kendrick Lamar create a dynamic duo with “Look Over Your Shoulder”

Music Review

Micah Sanders, Staff Reporter/Writer
November 14, 2020

Look Over Your Shoulder ★★★★★

Genre: Hip-hop/Rap

Artists: Busta Rhymes and Kendrick Lamar

Producer: Nottz

Duration: 4:08

30 Sep 2014, New York City, New York State, USA — September 30, 2014: Busta Rhymes arriving at Tribeca Film’s New York Premiere of ‘Nas: Time Is Illmatic’ at MOMA in New York City. Mandatory Credit: Nancy Rivera/ACE/INFphoto.com Ref: infusny-220 — Image by © infusny-220/INFphoto.com/Corbis (© infusny-220/INFphoto.com/Corb)

After being absent from the music scene since “Year of the Dragon” was released eight years ago, the long-awaited 10th album by Busta Rhymes, “Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God” has debuted on Oct. 30. With a whopping 77 minute and 38-second length, this album certainly gives his diehard fans a reward from the 1998 version. Containing 23 songs and three reloaded bonus tracks, he collaborated with Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Rapsody, and the Grammy award-winning, Kendrick Lamar. This is the first rap verse that fans will hear from Lamar in 2020.

Rhymes and Lamar team up for this sparking collaboration called “Look Over Your Shoulder,” produced by Nottz. The track was co-written by Lamar, T. Smith, and Lamb Gordy. If fans of this song were fans of The Jackson 5, then you would notice the sample from their hit song, “I’ll Be There.” They will hear Michael Jackson say “Just look over your shoulders honey,” in the chorus of this Hip-Hop/Rap track.

Once Lamar busts out his lyrical content, the song really starts to come to fruition. The soothing instrumentals along with the quick and hard flows of Lamar and Rhymes complement the song tremendously. The four-minute song tells about their successful careers in the industry while Lamar emphasizes to keep striving and stay dedicated. “Devote my time and mind it seems. I’m ‘posed to shine, remind I’m king. Provoke the blind and bomb the fiends. The pros, the cons, the diamond rings.”

Rhymes further describes how the rap game has changed drastically since he was last active, using his fast spitting rhymes and vivid imagery. “Cause I done bodied the game to the point people scared to rap with me. Kept burnin’ til they anointed me one of the kings of Black history. And yes, I see the game is a little different, people lack simplicity. Them bars and I spit ‘em like darts ‘til they puncture your kidney.”

Overall, this dynamic duo created a masterpiece that will play on in the ears of fans for a while to come.

With this album being a direct sequel to the 1998 “Extinction Level Event: The Final World,” Rhymes does surprisingly well keeping up with the current hits of hip hop and rap.