Busta Rhymes says health scare in intimate moment with ex kickstarted weight loss journey

When it comes to reaching his fitness goals, Busta Rhymes knows how to turn it up.

However, it's been a journey. The rapper recently looked back at the health issues he experienced when he was at his highest weight.

"I think I stay in better shape now because I was in horrible shape in 2018 and '19," he told Men's Health in a video shared Aug. 2. "I never been as heavy as I was in my life until that time. So, I was about 340 pounds, and then I was having all kinda ailments happen."

Busta explained in a cover story for the magazine, he "never properly" dealt with the passing of his father in 2014 and threw himself into his work. Noting that he was "drinking, smoking, eating bad," the musician further revealed, "I also had a 90 percent blockage in my throat because of polyps on my vocal cords, and my breathing was bad."

In fact, he recalled how his breathing struggles affected him during an "intimate moment" with an ex.

"I was having a really difficult time breathing, so I got up and I walked out of the bedroom so she wouldn't panic seeing me trying to keep myself calm," Busta shared. "I was trying to inhale, and it felt like it wasn't working. I felt like I was having like an asthma attack — but I don't have asthma."

The "Break Ya Neck" artist said he then went to the living room to try to catch his breath.

"That was scaring me so much that it was a mindf---, because I had to stay calm and make sure she didn't hear me panic or hear me struggle to breathe," he continued. "I'm butt-a-- naked in the living room, trying to calm myself down."

Once Busta returned to the bedroom, he added, his ex "said something to me that really f----- me up."

"She was like, 'Yo, this is not who I fell in love with,'" he remembered. "She didn't know what had happened outside, but she was looking at my body and the weight. She was like, 'You gotta lose this weight. This breathing is scaring me. When I met you, you wasn't like a musclehead, but you, you was slim, you was cut, you had your s--- right. I need you to get back to who I fell in love with.'"

This isn't the only memory that's stuck with him. Busta also noted in his cover story that one of his sons slapped him on the stomach a few days later. In addition, the "Dangerous" star said he passed out in the back of a car in May 2019.

"I was also scared about surgery for the polyps on my vocal cords because my voice is how I feed my family —the voice is the dragon," he told Men's Health. "I ran from the surgery as long as I could, but after that weekend I saw the doctor and he looked at my throat and he said I could die in my sleep. That's when I got surgery and started to get back in shape."

And now, Busta shared that he works out twice a day, focuses on a healthy eating regimen, drinks more water and gets plenty of sleep. In his Men's Health video, the "Touch It" artist said he now weighs 255 pounds.

"I really want everybody to feel happy," Busta added in the clip. "That's the most important thing to the health and the fitness and the wellness."