Fifty four years ago today, David Parker --a.k.a Chief Rocker Busy Bee Starski -- was born. Still regarded as a legend for his clever battle raps, Busy Bee is one of hip hop's greatest pioneers, who helped shaped the art form of rap into what it is today.
Busy Bee burst onto the scene in the late 70's, before the terms "hip hop" and "rap" had even been coined. He performed alongside fellow legends like Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz, Afrika Bambaataa, and Kool Herc. Busy Bee helped pioneer the rap battles that emcees are still using to test each others' skills to this very day, and his undeniable stage presence and powerful rhymes helped changed the role of emcees from working in support of a DJ to being the stars of the show.
During his almost four decades in the music industry, Busy Bee released three studio albums, and worked on countless tracks with many other hip hop legends, including KRS-One and Marley Marl on their historic 2007 collaboration album Hip Hop Lives. Busy Bee's contributions to the history and evolution of hip hop are already immeasurable, and he continues to dedicate his life to furthering the art form: earlier this year, Busy Bee also served as the host for Ice T's recent Art of Rap tour, which featured many of classic hip hop's biggest acts, including Public Enemy, EPMD, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Mobb Deep, and more.
By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com
