Busy Bee Starski

David James Parker (born October 26, 1962), known by the stage name Busy Bee, is an American old-school hip hop musician from New York, NY.

First coming on the New York City music scene in 1977, Busy Bee worked with many of hip-hop's founding fathers, including Melle Mel, Afrika Bambaataa, and Kool DJ AJ.

Known for his comedic rhymes, Busy Bee originally gained a large following through MC rap battles in Staten Island, Brooklyn, and New Jersey.

In the early 1980s Afrika Bambaataa asked Busy to join his Zulu Nation where the Young MC would DJ for Bambaataa's Zulu Nation parties.

He was famously roasted by Kool Moe Dee at Harlem World in Manhattan, NY, December 1981, in one of the earliest documented rap battles.

Busy Bee was featured in the 1983 film Wild Style, billed as the first hip-hop motion picture, directed by Charlie Ahearn.

In 1985, he won the New Music Seminar's MC World Supremacy Belt.

More recently, he played himself in the 2002 inner-city drama Paid in Full.

Busy Bee continues to rhyme today, most recently appearing on KRS-One and Marley Marl's collaborative 2007 album Hip Hop Lives.

In 2007, he was included in the video documentary Hip Hop Legends.

Thirty years after the song's initial release, in 2018 Robert Rippberger directed the official music video for “Suicide” by Busy Bee, the single off his gold album Running Thangs.

The video features a cameo by artist Ice-T.

He currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, with Michelle, his wife of over 20 years.

He has two daughters.

Albums

Singles