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Busta Rhymes is paying respect to a trailblazer.
As the 53-year-old accepted the inaugural MTV Rock the Bells Visionary Award during the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards at the UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. Sept. 7, he shouted out late MTV VJ Ananda Lewiswho died in June following a battle with breast cancer.
“I want to thank and I think we all need to acknowledge the incredible woman that loved us very much when we came to MTV during the ‘90s,” Rhymes (real name Trevor George Smith Jr.) said during his acceptance speech. “An incredible woman that loved me and she loved us. She loved the culture, she lifted us up.”
He added, “I love her very much. I miss her very much. The late, great, incredible, royal empress Ananda Lewis.”
The rapper also acknowledged the former Total Request Live host’s family, saying, “I want to big up her mother, her father, her sister, Lakshmi.”
Rhymes—who, like Latin Icon Award recipient Ricky Martin did earlier in the evening, performed a medley of his hit songs before receiving his trophy—paid respect to the awards ceremony’s host LL Cool Jtoo.
