Busta Rhymes Wins Inaugural Rock The Bells Visionary Award at VMAs

Busta Rhymes closed out a high-energy set of his signature tracks Sunday night before accepting the inaugural Rock The Bells Visionary Award at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, held Sept. 7 at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. The 53-year-old rapper delivered a medley of classics with dancers and guest performers onstage, then used his acceptance speech to thank mentors, family and pay tribute to a late MTV figure who helped lift hip-hop into the mainstream.

Joined onstage by longtime collaborator Spliff Star and guest artists including Joyner Lucas, Papoose and GloRilla, Busta Rhymes tore through a series of hits, performing numbers variously reported as Gimme Some More, Break Ya Neck, Touch It, Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See, Pass the Courvoisier and his verse from A Tribe Called Quest's Scenario. The performance, which featured dancers dressed in red, was described by MTV as a celebration of the rapper's boundary-breaking cultural impact and indomitable musical career.

LL Cool J, who hosted the VMAs, presented the award. Busta, born Trevor George Smith Jr., called LL Cool J "one of my greatest inspirations" and said the host was the reason he wrote his first rhyme,...