Exclusive: Busta Rhymes Reveals 'E.L.E. 2' Summer Release Date

When Fuse caught up with Busta Rhymes at the Soulfrito Urban Latin Music Festival in Miami, the legendary Brooklyn rapper exclusively revealed the release date for his upcoming album Extinction Level Event 2, the long-gestating sequel to his groundbreaking 1998 album.

"I'm trying to put the album out on the Fourth of July, which is a Friday this year," Rhymes tells Fuse's Zuri Hall. "Typically albums are released on a Tuesday, but I wanna drop mine on Friday." (So expect a Friday, July 4 drop date for E.L.E. 2, because who's gonna argue with Busta Rhymes?)

"I'm at a stage in my life where I don’t want to just make a hot album," he continues. "I don't want to be out there promoting anything that feels like the cliché sh-t every other artist is doing. I want the music to speak for itself. I'm working on a legacy album. This ain't a hot album: This is a legacy album… That's why it's taken four years to record it."

Busta tells Fuse that part of the reason he took his time on E.L.E. 2 is to make sure it wouldn't "disrespect the legacy" of E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front. "It's the one that's deemed appropriate to be called Extinction Level Event 2," he explains. "So while others run around and flood the market with content we don't need, I'm gonna clean that sh-t up and whoop ass in a new way. Y'all know me for whooping ass in general, but I'm gonna do it in a way that's unlike anything you've seen from me or anybody else."

Watch the interview above for more on Busta's mindset when he recorded E.L.E. 2, and just try not to get excited.