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The most prolific, singles-driven artist in hip-hop, Busta Rhymes is not yet a maestro of the full-length LP (his best-of collection, however, is to hip-hop heads what the Eagles' Greatest Hits is to classic rockers). The good news is that longtime fans of the former Leaders of the New School frontman, waiting for Busta's first end-to-end burner, will be plenty satisfied with his J Records debut, Genesis. Rhymes comes forth with his strongest record yet, the closest Busta has come to creating an out-and-out classic since LONS' indelible 1991 masterwork Future Without a Past. Grimier, grittier, and more persistent than the sum of his previous four albums, this 20-track set is Busta at his most focused. "As I Come Back" is classic Dungeon Dragon Busta (à la his career-making guest shot on A Tribe Called Quest's "Scenario"), as he raw-raws over a spicy Neptunes beat, while "Why You Got Your Ass on Your Shoulders" sounds like a lost P-Funk jam from 1974 . Most exciting is the lightning-speed lead single, "Break Ya Neck," which demonstrates a chemistry between Rhymes and hip-hop's über-producer, Dr. Dre, that's so explosive, you wonder why this was their first collaboration. As the title indicates, Genesis returns to the Busta Rhymes that rap fans first fell in love with -- it's a very promising new beginning. Ron Hart, Barnes & Noble