IT WAS September 4, 1997; 57-year-old Martha Stewart was the omnipresent home-keeping guru, and 25-year-old Busta Rhymes was hip-hop’s linguistic contortionist with visuals as twisted as his lyrics he was stretching. These paths had no reason to cross except at the nexus of all pop culture in the ’90s: MTV’s Video Music Awards (VMAs).
When the now matured and ripped 51-year-old MC, who covers Men’s Health‘s special September issue, looked at a photo of them together at the 1997 VMAs as part of our new video series The Rewind, all he saw was growth, opportunity, and the now-83-year-old Stewart’s stunning 2023 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover.
“I love Martha Stewart; she needs to let me take her on a date,” Busta Rhymes says with a laugh. “Back in this MTV picture, I was young. But I’m grown now. I’ll give you the business.”
While he laughed off his romantic advancements inspired by Stewart’s swimsuit spread, he shared a lot of truths as he described key moments from his career. The Rewind has celebrity guests look at old photos of themselves and reflect on who they were and what they were doing when that photo was taken, or let their minds wander wherever their recollection takes them. Busta saw a ’90s photo of him, Tupac, and Treach from Naughty-By-Nature and remembered how each of his contemporaries ensured he got his respect from others. The 37-year veteran is inextricable from hip-hop history, to the point where pulling stories out of him includes never-before-heard revelations about other legends like A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip and neo-soul deity D’Angelo.
Not only has age afforded him an affinity for older women like Stewart, but it’s also given him a new appreciation for his body, which has fluctuated in weight over the decades. In the episode, he opens up about the high blood pressure and trouble breathing he experienced when he weighed roughly 340 lbs when he was at his heaviest in 2018 and 2019. “I think the ass beating it took for two years to get that weight off is why I do everything I can to keep it off,” Busta explains. “At my best shape, I was probably 240-245 lbs. Right now, I’m 255. So, I’ll stay within the 10-15 lbs range of what my best shape is.”
You hear that, Martha? Busta’s close to the best shape of his life. Don’t be surprised if you see them glued at the hip like he and Janet Jackson were when they slithered around like sexy liquid symbiotes in their trippy 1998 “What’s It Gonna Be?!” music video. Only time will tell, and we’ll be listening.
This video shoot and interview were conducted prior the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Senior Editor
Keith Nelson is a writer by fate and journalist by passion, who has connected dots to form the bigger picture for Men’s Health, Vibe Magazine, LEVEL MAG, REVOLT TV, Complex, Grammys.com, Red Bull, Okayplayer, and Mic, to name a few.
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