Moments before Busta Rhymes was honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce with a star on the Walk of Fame, he celebrated the momentous occasion on the KTLA 5 Morning News.
When KTLA 5 entertainment anchor Melvin Robert asked the Brooklyn native how he was feeling about the prestigious achievement, he didn’t mince words.
“I definitely know that God is constantly throwing nice dosages of blessed sprinkle dust on me every day. Yeah, so I can’t even find the real words to describe how grateful and just how appreciative I am, and how happy and just filled with joy I am,” he gushed.
While staying at a nearby hotel before the ceremony, he said he looked down and saw the “long roads with the stars on Hollywood Boulevard” and took note of the journey it takes to get there.
“The eligibility is 25 years to even be qualified to get it, but then there are so many people, even in entertainment today, who are 80 years old, who have been doing this thing for 60 years, 70 years. Ten years old, they probably were in their first film, or did something from back when television was still in black and white and (they) still haven’t gotten their star,” he explained. “I just can’t understand sometimes when we sit there and we have these conversations when we’re doing this thing, and we’re just like, ‘Damn, when are we going to get our shot to really get our flowers and smell them while we’re still alive, right?’ But then you’ve got to think about how there ain’t no real clock better than God’s clock, that divine timing is the best timing. It’s happening when it’s supposed to happen, not when you want it to happen, but the longer they waited for me to do the receiving ceremony of this moment, the longer my speech is going to go.”
And flowers are something Busta has been receiving a lot of recently. So much so, he says he now has a “botanical garden.” While he doesn’t prepare speeches for major moments, he did acknowledge that he gets emotional.
“When I got my Lifetime Achievement award at the BET Awards two years ago, I couldn’t fight it. That was a moment for me, where I had all of my kids in the same room as adults for the first time. So seeing them, and then being able to see all of the people that was a part of the journey, directly, indirectly, and was able to just see all of that in the moment- it was super overwhelming, and I just started bawling like a baby before I even uttered the first word.”
During these major moments, he finds it best to be present.
“When you’re present and you’re in the moment, it’s really a gift, and a lot of these moments have been not only feeling like a gift, but it’s been feeling like they’ve been packaged with the most amazing gift wrap and ribbon on it for me, and this definitely is one of those days,” he gushed. “I almost couldn’t even sleep last night, but I definitely didn’t want to look like I had a luggage face today.”
The Guinness World Record holder also mentioned just how the acknowledgement will cement his family’s legacy for generations to come.
“One of my brothers was just talking to me in the dressing room, and he was like, ‘You know what’s so incredible about this moment? You know your kids, even way long after we’re gone, you’re going to always be able to take your grandkids and your great grandkids and your great great grandkids and be able to show them this was your grandpa, your great grandpa, your great great grandpa.'”
Shortly after making this revelation, Busta, whose real name is Trevor George Smith Jr., was shortly joined on the anchor desk by two of his six children, daughter Cacie and son Ta’Zir.
“It’s just amazing I get to be here and see him in this moment, get all of his flowers,” Cacie said. “It’s been a blessing. I’m just grateful to be here. I’m grateful to love him. I’m grateful to support him in every way.”
The 12-time Grammy nominee’s big day doesn’t stop in Hollywood.
He stars in “The Naked Gun,” alongside Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson, which also hits theaters on Friday. He also dropped the song “Taking Everything” for the DreamWorks animated movie “Bad Guys 2,” which is also releasing on Aug. 1.
Busta was honored with the 2,818th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Recording category. It’s located at 6201 Hollywood Blvd. in front of East Town.