Play video content Exclusive TMZ.com

Busta Rhymes apparently wasn't in the mood to mingle with a fan, and all hell broke loose when that fan got sour and used a homophobic slur while arguing with the rapper.

TMZ's obtained video that picks up in the middle of the heated confrontation that went down around 5 AM Wednesday in NYC. You can see the rapper arguing with a couple of men wearing construction crew reflective vests. Busta's being held back by friends and several NYPD cops.

There's a lot of shouting going on and Busta gets right up in the grill of one of the construction dudes. Things quickly escalated when one of the guys appears to drop the f-word on Busta. You can see in the video ... Busta appears to retaliate by throwing a punch but misses. Cops step in between the man and Busta and that's where the video ends.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... one of the construction workers filed a harassment report around 10 PM later that night .... claiming Busta was the aggressive one before cops showed up and before action picks up in our video.

The man alleged Busta swung at him but made no contact, and told him "I will f*** you up" after saying hello to the rapper. The man said he felt threatened and dropped his phone because he was scared.

Our sources say cops didn't witness what the man alleged. We're told besides the harassment report, cops have washed their hands of this incident. There's no further investigation and the matter's considered closed.

Play video content 1/1/19 TMZ.com

Lately, it seems everyone wants a piece of Busta. As we reported, he got into a heated argument with another man who was pissed the rapper hit on his wife.