Busta Rhymes Criticizes COVID Mask Mandates In Viral Video

Et tu, Busta Bus? Et tu? Nah bruh, don’t do this. Don’t do this to the fans.

Some of us have been here for you since Leaders of the new School. Since “The Coming” when there was “only five years left“—even though there turned out to be a significant amount of years remaining.

We’ve been here for you from “Extinction Level Event: The Final World Front” all the way to the release of “ELE 2” last year.

However, we are not here for the spreading of anti-COVID precaution nonsense—not when we’re going on two years into the pandemic with nearly 700,000 COVID-related deaths in the U.S. and a looming Delta Variant.  

Source: Jeff Kravitz / Getty

WOO HAH!—please get your mouth in check. 

A video clip of New York Hip Hop icon Busta Rhymes has surfaced from a block party in St. Louis back in June when the “When Disaster Strikes” rapper proved he doesn’t actually recognize when a literal disaster has stricken.

“It’s called the God-given right to freedom, right? No human being supposed to tell you you can’t even breathe freely. F**k your mask,” he’s heard saying in the clip. “I’m sayin’, some of y’all might feel differently. F**k your mask. I can’t rhyme to you with a mask on. You can’t eat food with a f**king mask on. You can’t even see each other’s smile with a mask on. Damn, yo.”

Sir…

Sir…

SIR… you are far too Black to be out here joining the Republican Caucasian chorus line in equating mask mandates with a loss of civil liberties. Mask requirements meant to help save lives do not constitute a civil rights violation. They. Just. Don’t.

Unfortunately, Busta’s diatribe only gets worse from there as he descends into the faux-tep world of vibes and chakras in explaining away his position on mask mandates.

“All of that energy gets blocked when your mask is on. Energy is important and we are all conductors of good f**king energy. We also gotta be clear when a mothaf**ka tryna give you bad energy. You can tell from only the expression on they face. I wanna see your face, f**k your mask. I’m sorry I got a little political and sh**, I miss my people. We gotta talk. We can party but we gotta talk. We gotta communicate, we gotta establish new understandings.

F**k that, I ain’t going through that sh** again. And make sure y’all prepared too. ‘Cuz if anything came outta this mothafucka was a lot of learning. I learned so much shit in this little time off. One thing that came good outta this f**king shutdown, I have become more empowered. And this energy right here is un-f**kwithable. They can’t f**k with us when we together like this.”

Ok, but have you really “learned” anything though? Has Busta—who, unfortunately, isn’t the only celebrity who has voluntarily exposed his COVID ignorance recently—really more “empowered,” or is he just showing us that he too can trivialize what the actual fight for civil rights in America is actually about? Just because the “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” rapper doesn’t like the fact that people are having to put their masks where his eyes can’t see their smiles doesn’t mean oppression that is comparable to police violence and systemic racism is happening. 

Listen, it’s understandable that people don’t want to go into lockdown again or continue to wear masks over their noses and mouths in public. Last year’s quarantine was no picnic for any of us. Even the most introverted homebodies among us were likely feeling the cabin fever after a whole year of isolation—but we’re still not out of the woods and people are still vulnerable to COVID infection. 

It’s not just about you, Busta Bus, it’s about everyone.

We still love you though.