Buddy is an 18-year old spitfire from Compton ready to win over ears of a new generation of Hip-Hop enthusiasts. Rapping since he was eleven, Buddy has always put all his heart and effort into being the best emcee he could be. This eventually caught the attention of Pharrell, who mentored his growing skill and consequently produced his debut track “Awesome Awesome.” Currently featured on HBO’s “How To Make It In America 2” mixtape, the track is building momentum in both the Hip-Hop and mainstream world. HipHopWired.com recently caught up with Buddy to talk about the single, signing with Pharrell, and if he feels theirs more pressure on him than other MCs by Jason Weintraub.
HHW: What’s some of the influences you had groing up in Compton?
Buddy: A lot of West coast rappers, Ice Cube, NWA, Snoop, all those guys, and 2Pac of course. I like Nas and Kanye West too, but I was also drawn to a lot of mainstream growing up too.
HHW: What’s the relationship with Scott Vener?
Buddy: Andrew my manager brought him on the team and thought he would be a good fit. Andrew Shack is my manager though.
HHW: And that’s how you ended up with Pharrell?
Buddy: Yeah, Scott showed Pharrell some videos I did, and once he showed Pharrell the videos he was pretty sold. He was feeling all of them so he called me in for a meeting and I met with him. So I meet him shake his hand and next thing I know I’m in the studio with him in Miami recording “Awesome Awesome.”
HHW: What was it like working with him for the first time? Did he already have the beat for Awesome Awesome?
Buddy: Yeah, he already had the format for the beat and pretty much the whole concept, so basically I just had to come up with some killer verses. Which I personally think I accomplished.
HHW: The Video is basically a day in the life of you; did you come up with the concept?
Buddy: When Pharrell heard the final version of the song, he told me he could just imagine the movie Kids. He just got that feel from it, so I just took it and made it a day in the life of myself. That’s pretty much how I’m living right now with the homies just looking for fun.
HHW: You’re also working with Snoop too right?
Buddy: I worked with Snoop once and it was crazy. It was pretty amazing and I didn’t know he was coming. Pharrell tried to hit me with a little surprise while I was working on some other stuff. So he said “I think somebody is going to come in and talk to you,” and I didn’t know who to expect. So when he walked in with that whole “Fashizzle Dizzle,” I knew who it was.
HHW: You’re working on your mixtape, tell us about that and the concept.
Buddy: The mixtape is dropping and it’s called “Idletime.” I called it Idletime because growing up during the Summer I didn’t have a lot to do. I came up with the concept before I had a car and before I was 18 and I had a lot of free time. It was idle time where I wasn’t doing anything and the first thing I when I got bored was write lyrics and record it. That’s all I did, almost every song I ever made was made out of boredom. I don’t know when it’s dropping but I want it at the best quality ever.
HHW: You’ve been rapping since you were eleven and you’ve been constantly changing, so how do you know when you’ve found your style?
Buddy: I’m big on flows and I love to switch up flows but then I’m also big on consistency as far as flows. It’s busy, I’m always changing my flows and that’s what I’m very big on.
HHW: Tell us about the new single.
Buddy: Bell Ring, that’s a big one. It’s going to be on the IdleTime mixtape and was another song I made when I was bored. In high school I may of walked out of class to get some hugs from girls, so it’s kind of like memories and me just looking back at the old high school days.
HHW: Being under a legendary producer, do you feel any more pressure compared to your peers?
Buddy: Not at all, I really don’t even worry about that. I just do me to the fullest and if I just do me then that’s all I should be worried about.