FEW GUUD THOUGHTS w/ BUPPY. — Interview + Review

Moving from your tiny hometown to a big city comes with pains and gains. Between learning how to maneuver in a new society and pursuing your dreams amongst others who share those same motivations can be challenging. Utah native, now LA-based artist BUPPY recently dropped a six-track EP titled Cold Nights In Hollywood. On his latest sonic offering, BUPPY provides heartfelt stories about love, loneliness, anxiety, and acceptance through the lenses of himself and his peers. The now 18-year-old artist experienced a lot of life, and due to the past two years keeping us inside, BUPPY found a therapeutic outlet to express his thoughts without barriers.

The cover art embodies the emotion behind the EP. BUPPY’s writing is personal; borderline mnemonic in the way he uses objects to push his story forward. The soundscapes provided by BIOA, HARRY WAS HERE, DXCKLIN, eeryskies, pnkblnkt and Geller highlight the various emotions BUPPY purveyed on the EP.

The production on “Down&Low” creates a comforting atmosphere for BUPPY to reflect on his father's absence at an early age. The voice experimentation and electric drum patterns make BUPPY. fearless when discussing challenging topics. On “WTDWTS” BUPPY finds acceptance in life's imperfections and embraces the yin and Yang of adulthood.

How did you get the name BUPPY? 

"When I was a kid, my family and like close friends would call me that. As I grew up, it started to fade out because earlier in my career, I was doing rap music and went by Visionary. (Chuckles) it was terrible but I was also young.”

Where are you from? 

“Uh, I'm from Utah originally park city, Utah. It's like 30 minutes away from Salt Lake.  So I did have a city near me, but it's a pretty small town. It's like 10,000 or something.”

How has your city influenced your music?

“Being in salt lake is cool. Like park city, I would say, probably not any influence but it's fucking beautiful… Salt Lake is cool because there's like a lot of bands that come out of there that are huge in indie stuff. Like Backseat lovers are probably the biggest outta Utah right now”

What is your creative process? 

“I definitely write about situations and like memories and I'll write about shit that happened like three years ago today or I'll write about something that my homie is going through right now from his perspective and not even tell his ass just cuz he gave me some interesting story, you know?”

The bigger story of “Man in the Stars” is mental health…um, like I've had a bunch of homies who, took their own life and like Utah is third in the us for teen suicide.”

How has LA influenced your music?

“I feel like musically, other than like the people here who much of which I work with are not from LA.  I wouldn't say LA has done much to influence my sound.

One thing I undervalue but should be more appreciative of is how often artist come into town for a few nights, get bored and hit other artist they know who live in LA. That’s how I end up in a lot of sessions and I believe that influences my sound more than anything.”

What are the best things to do in North LA at 2:05 AM?

“Honestly, very few times. Um, do I, uh, end end up in north Hollywood at, or north Los Angeles at two, five.. At the times that I have been. Uh, there's this bar in north Hollywood arts district and it's does not ever ask me if I'm 21 and that's, that's where I'm at, basically.”

Tell me more about Cold Nights In Hollywood and your writing process for it

“I write full songs pretty much entirely before I record them. Attaching experiences and stories; being very descriptive. Cold Nights In Hollywood is literally a story of what happened to me this past year and a half. And I was making these songs during that time.”

Are there really Cold Nights in Hollywood?

“It’s not like Chicago, New York cold. But yeah, like it gets weirdly cold, like in the winter, especially my first year here, for some reason. Was super fucking cold. But the meaning behind the cold nights things is the emotional coldness of this entire place (LA). I think a lot of people experience that same shit here, it's a pretty hard place socially.”

What’s the story behind “Man in the Stars”?

“Man in the Stars,” that whole song is about my friend's dad who killed himself. It's about a friend of mine whose dad took his own life. He was struggling with a bunch of issues; in and out of rehabs before. I kind of took that story and like, you know, wrote it out. So I think that’s my creative process, it has to be real.”

When did the switch happen? 

“August of 2020, I took all of my old shit down and like, did this completely new look. I was still BUPPY, but new in terms. Nobody has heard a single record from me before I moved to LA. Like even my manager didn't know me until three months after I had moved and the release of my biggest song, “Open My Letter.”

In three words, how would you describe your music?

“Super, Fuckin, Different” 

Last three projects you listened to ?

Steve Lacy - Gemini 

quinn - quinn 

See You Next Year 

A Conversation w/ lamuse

Last month, New York rapper lamuse dropped her latest project Automatic Shutdown as a sonic depiction of growing pains and acceptance. Throughout this nine-track body of work, lamuse reflects on past relationships and previous thought processes which made her surrounded emotions to protect her peace. Every track feels like a personal journal entry and lamuse does not shy away from being vulnerable.

On “Take Less,” she raps about wishing the woman of her past didn’t put up with her childish ways. Lamuse’s choice of words is precise and adds to the story. The emotion that lies beneath “I’m Crying” comes second to none; it feels like a harmonized spoken word piece.

“Reddit” featuring Dachelle is one of the many stand-out tracks on the project. Lamuse’s cadence meshed with Dachelle’s gentle vocal arrangements. Rounding off at 20 minutes, Automatic Shutdown would make listeners understand yesterday is not tomorrow and it takes effort for true peace. 

Our conversation, lightly edited for content and clarity, follows below.

All right, so automatic shutdown. What does that mean to you?

Automatic shutdown is kind of like my natural state. When I feel like people are trying to make an emotional connection with me, I automatically shut down. Like, I've had a long track record of just being detached from people on an emotional level. So automatic shut down is that defense mechanism that we enact when we feel like danger is near.

How have those feelings translated into your music for this project?

On this project, it was the opposite; I think I was reflecting on those emotions of detached. I’m at a point in life where I'm beyond shutting down; It’s not normal for me to shut down automatically and doing so blocks off connections that other people may want to build with me. I believe those feelings translated through reflection…reflection on that chapter in my life. 

Going off of reflection, what was the inspiration for “Take Less”?

When thinking back on some of the women I’ve dealt with in my past, I feel like they gave me a lot and also feel like, “damn bitch, how stupid can you be?” (chuckles). I felt like the woman of my past would try to give a lot and force something that's not there. At times, they would force monogamy or exclusivity onto me knowing that I was not ready for that and I would tell them. 

Have those reflections in your music ever come back to bite you?

Honestly, back then, no matter the content I was speaking on, the girls would still be happy and excited that its a song about them. (Chuckles) and at that time, I was doggin’ them on tracks. Now, I’m older and in a committed relationship, my music is no longer dedicated to one woman, it’s a collection of it all. I feel like it’s pretty great to be someone’s muse.

How did you approach your music differently this time around?

I think on previous projects, I focused a little bit too much on the craft. Make sure the words and the rhymes are all going together; that the writing is beautiful. But this time around, I also made sure that I stayed true to the story.  Like on “I’m Crying,” every line is factual. 

All of the music was created at my home studio, which was also different because I usually work in collaborative environments. It was more solo, which I felt was necessary because this project was more personal and emotionally felt.  Every song and every beat aligned with those experiences I’m reflecting on Automatic Shutdown. 

Can you describe the emotions behind “I'm Great”?

 I was having a really shitty day. Okay. Was hysterically crying and honestly felt a little suicidal.  Didn't have a therapist at that time.  It came to a point where I called my mom because I was scared that I was really going to hurt myself. After that day, my mom called me every day. A week after that, we found a therapist for me. And that kind of, like, motivated me to seek medical help for whatever's going on in here. Funny story, my therapist broke up with me a few weeks ago, but that’s a whole nother story. 

 I think it's cool that you ended the tape off with “I'm Great,” because I feel like throughout the project, you're talking about those emotions and trying to find balance within it and at the end of it all, you do. Was that transition of emotions and songs intentional?

That was 100% intentional. I felt everything that came before “I’m Great” was very covert and very much emotionless. But then you have those songs like “I’m Crying” where I’m tiptoeing around my awareness that, yeah, I could be an awful person sometimes, I see it. Then “Comfort” is like sadness but then “I’m Great” ties everything together… embracing those emotions and now that I’ve had those experiences I could attach myself emotionally with someone. 

“Crowded Lottery Ticket” being a bit more upbeat than the other tracks, would you consider that a distraction for your audience while you’re dancing through the pain?

Honestly, I could see that... Like, imagine being at a party and everyone is dancing, having a good time but still carrying their own baggage. No one knows what you’re truly going through and believes everything is well based on the perception you present. But on the other side, I saw it as, a woman in my past would try to change me and aye, that’s like winning a lottery ticket (laughs.)

How was it working on “Retro 3” with yeahCaleb?

Working on that song was fun, it was from one of the sessions with my collective thebaremax. We ended up not putting it on our last project, SMUDGE and I felt it was such a good track and connected well with my story for automatic shutdown.

What are your favorite Jordans? 

Gotta be the ones, highs, and lows. 

What's next?

Singles and hopefully another thebaremax album. 

What is one thing you want your audience to get out of listening to this project?

That I'm not an asshole but I am an asshole. 

What were the last three albums you listened to?

The Essentials of Michael Jackson 

Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper

Sorry 4 The Wait by Lil Wayne  

“We Like Being Anonymous” -Doublethink Interview

Finding music organically is impossible nowadays. With all the curator influenced playlist flooding social media and the overly saturated music blogs, it feels like a quest to discover new emerging artists without propaganda surrounding them. Earlier this year, peak pandemic, while blindly surfing Soundcloud, I came across an emerging faceless duo named Doublethink. The beautiful thing about the duo is the cloak-and-dagger energy that surrounds them. There’s barely any images of the duo online which force listeners to heavily depend on their music to capture a glimpse of their reality. 

Living Drones” was my first encounter with the mysterious duo based in NY and Bali. The track embodies funkadelic elements with pop-ish delicacies sprinkled on top. Like many of their tracks, it feels like a plot twist. While their songs encourage listeners to strike a dance move, the underlying message of their song ignites thought. Their sound resembles Daft Punk in the most admirable ways- hiding their identities and allowing their effervescent synth chords to paint a passage. 

“We like being anonymous”

Their upcoming single “I Find God,” embodies the duo’s soul purpose of creating music that’ll make you tap your foot while becoming engulfed by their underlying message. The track sends listeners on an adventure of blissful distress and immaterial beatitude. The song tells a story about a young man who battles with paranoia and seeks spiritual guidance as his world is on the verge of crippling. The duo’s production and dense stanzas heighten those internal emotions of unsteadiness that builds up throughout the song. 

As year is coming to an end, the duo is just getting started. With new music on the way in efforts to build anticipation for the debut project , Doublethink is carving out a lane with their experimental and stimulating sonic offerings. 

Our conversation, lightly edited for content and clarity, follows below.

How did you meet?

We met on Soundcloud about seven years ago but we didn’t actually meet in person till a few years later. Being on opposite sides of the world , the internet sorta brought us together.

How would you describe your first time meeting each other?

We met for the first time in 2019 in Amman, Jordan after five years of sending each other music back and forth. One of us was working over there already, so decided to meet up halfway. It felt organic and destined that we were finally going to be in the same place and at the same time.

Do you remember the name of the first track ? 

Oh man, off the top to my head , no but the thing with our music , songs never end the way they start. 

How would you describe your creative process ?

Being in two different time zones , we’ve developed a system over the years. Now that I'm in Bali, when it's morning here, it's night time in New York and when it's night time in Bali, it’s morning time there. 

(####) would record a bunch of demos and I'll go through them all and start building on the ones that resonate the most. We try not to force anything. 

Did the pandemic disrupt that process?

Truthfully, prior to the pandemic happening, we sorta took an unacknowledged hiatus. We both were experiencing these transitional phases in our lives. We still would create on our off time and would send music back and forth but didn't post anything on music platforms. As bad as the pandemic was, I also view it as a silver lining… it made the world and including us, sit still.  

What’s the meaning behind Doublethink?

In 1984, Orwell used the term Doublethink to explain how a hive mind can make people believe that 2+2=5 even though it counters everything they know. Doublethink is a take on that, we talk about the hypocrisy of it all. It’s also a kitschy name for a duo though ain’t it?

I feel like the music you make correlates with your name.  “I Find God” is one of those tracks; The production embodies a dance track but the lyrics hold a deeper message

Just as you get used to the pop structure, the song flips a 180 into ethereal synths; It’s disorienting. The song is about our main character finding god as their world comes crashing down. The verses display the character’s paranoia and nightmares coming to reality as police raid his home. Our character sees visions of his family, while peaking through the floorboard and finding god in his freedom. All of this is happening over some poppy synths and basses, which feels disconnected but it's intentional. 

Cont’d - “Bombs are hitting Yemen, send Lockheed to The Hague” sounds like euphoria; that dissonance is the message. On first listen, it’s a chill jam but on second listen it’s an apocalyptic story of fear and faith in god. The idea was inspired by Radiohead’s lyrical imagery on OK Computer, but we wanted a meandering futuristic sound and vision to set our journey. You can think of it as a chapter in a book, a piece of the story.

Is maintaining your anonymity a piece of your story or music?

It’s music first, and that’s why we value anonymity. At the same time we think it speaks to the message, somebody hiding from the world around them. Not that we’re hiding but it builds a universe around the messages in our songs. I can remember the allure of mystery around the Weekend, the clues dropped around to find him, the blogs trying to find him. You may find us but I don’t think it matters.