Busta Rhymes has teased a surpsie collaboration with Oscar-nominated actor Tom Hardy.
The rap legend posted a picture of the two of them on Instagram on Tuesday (August 6) and hinted at an unspecified project they are both involved with.
“I KEEP TELLING Y’ALL THAT THE BLESSINGS DON’T SO WE WON’T EVER STOP, EVERRRRR!!! THE INCREDIBLE @tomhardy AND THE DRAGON STAY TUNED!!” he wrote.
Busta also uploaded a short clip of himself embracing Hardy on what looked like a film set, leading to speculation that he may be making a cameo in the upcoming Venom: The Last Dance, which Hardy has been seen filming in recent weeks.
Tom Hardy previously admitted that the voice he uses in Venom is inspired by Busta Rhymes, as well as fellow New York rap giants Method Man and Redman.
Speaking on BBC Radio 1 in 2021, the British actor was asked about the inspiration for the voice, to which he replied: “So I mix a little bit of Busta Rhymes, a little bit of Method and Redman, a little bit of James Brown, and ever so slightly an element of Richard Burton.”
Hardy is a noted Hip Hop fan and once tried to get a line from Bobby Shmurda‘s hit single “Hot N-gga” into his film The Revenant, which also starred Leonardo DiCaprio.
In a junket interview alongside DiCaprio for the 2016 film, Hardy said: “I said, ‘Shut your trap house,’ which never made the cut,” while his co-star laughed away.
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It has also been rumored that Hardy has his own secret rap career, going by the name Frankie Pulitzer (or Face Puller).
The speculation started after Venom: Let Their Be Carnage was released in 2022 and featured tracks from Czarface, a group consisting of Wu-Tang Clan‘s Inspectah Deck and 7L & Esoteric, playing in the background of scenes in the movie.
Czarface’s Good Guys, Bad Guys album feature multiple appearances from Frankie Pulitzer, who raps in a British accent.
While Tom Hardy has never commented on the speculation that he is the rapper, he released a mixtape in 1999 and also has “Face Puller” in his Instagram bio.
Czarface’s Esoteric also said Hardy reached out to him to include the group’s music in the hit film.
He said to WBZ News Radio: “It was like 6 a.m. and an international phone number pops up from the UK and it’s Tom Hardy. I’m kind of unprepared because I have two big labs that were pulling me. That first conversation… I was a little flustered.”