American rappers are inclined to view Britain as little more than the English-speaking sector of the European land mass. Perhaps because of his Jamaican parentage, though, Brooklyn's Busta Rhymes has more of an affinity with the British. But his relationship with fans here got off to a disastrous start five years ago, when his first London show was cancelled at the last minute: he had neglected to secure a work permit. The disgruntled audience caused thousands of pounds' worth of damage to the venue.
Rhymes hadn't toured here since, but his belated return received a hero's welcome, which the dreadlocked, tattooed rapper spent a good five minutes acknowledging. "There's a lot of people from Blackpool and Liverpool and Manchester in the house," he observed, adding, "And Brixton," in case he displayed a north-western bias.
Rhymes, it should be noted, is a chatty type. He devoted a large portion of his show to swapping one-liners with his sidekick, Spliff Star (the only member of his Flipmode Squad band to make the trip), rather than rapping. The comic touches made a change from the usual macho hip-hop show, but infuriated some. "Fuck the talk, man, bust the lyrics!" screamed someone in the balcony.
Rhymes obliged with Pass the Courvoisier from his current album, Genesis. His hoarse ragga inflections duelled with the DJ's poppy beats while Spliff Star howled the chorus. It was splendid. So was his main claim to a rap classic, the ridiculously infectious Woo-Hah! Got You All in Check, which he performed roaming predatorily across the front of the stage as the audience strained to touch his ankles. His Jamaican heritage reared its head again via rapid-fire, tongue-twisting rhyming on Break Ya Neck.
The catchy tunes and clowning (which reached a climax of sorts when he and Spliff, pretending to be driving in his car, discussed left-hand versus right-hand drive) rather negated Busta's darker side. You would never know it from his stage persona, but predictions of apocalypse appear on great swathes of his albums. Yet at this gig, he only referred to them during the intro, when a taped voice intoned: "They misconceive you as a prankster, let them respect you as a gangster." Though he shines as a prankster, this crowd would most likely have preferred a gangster.
· Busta Rhymes plays the Essential Festival, Bristol (0117-929 9008), today, and Wolverhampton Civic Hall (01902 552121) tomorrow.
