Undeniably one of rap’s elders who has maintained his relevance, time after time, is back with a new album.  “Year of the Dragon” marks the next project in Busta Rhymes enormous catalogue of music.  The new album, in conjuction with Google, Inc, is Busta’s first music compilation that is being released to the public for FREE.

 

In March 2012, Google relaunched their music service (known as Android Market) and renamed it Google Play.  Google Play is a platform in which artists are allowed to sell their music, maintain their creative control, and intellectual property (somewhat similar to iTunes and Amazon). Being centered on creative control, Google Play created several marketing strategies with the release of Busta’s album.  In addition to the free album stream, Busta headlined Brooklyn’s Hip Hop Festival back in July.  Google Play took that opportunity to shoot the concert and repackage the event into a mini-documentary for Busta titled “Life & Rhymes”.

 

With a career spanning 20 years, Busta Rhymes was a bit hesitant when the opportunity was presented to release a free album.  Here’s what he told BillBoard:

 

“I’ve never put out an album for free before, but I’ve got people that have been rocking with me, spending their money for the past 20 years of my career,” the rapper says. “I take great pleasure in aligning myself with people who understand what the ‘Busta Rhymes brand’ is about, and Google definitely has a whole lot of people who do.”

 

Last fall, Busta Rhymes signed a label deal with Cash Money Records.  Although he is still under Violator management, this partnership with Google is a great outlet to reach his fans and other diverse audiences.

 

“Year of the Dragon” features Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, Trey Songz, Rick Ross, Robin Thicke, Reek Da Villian, Vybz Kartel, Maino, and Anthony Hamilton.  If you haven’t downloaded your copy, do so now!