Buck 65 is not your typical hip-hop artist. Growing up in a small town in Nova Scotia, he was exposed to everything from Elvis and Johnny Cash to Grandmaster Flash and Black Sabbath. The nomadic rapper, who performed at Chapel Hill’s Local 506 last Friday, has moved from Canada to New York to Paris, which he now calls home. His style has transformed along the way, becoming elusive to those who try to classify it. Not really blues and not quite hip-hop, his music has become a non-replicable menagerie of sounds.
“When I was making my first hip-hop records on my own, I really didn’t know better,” Buck said. “I thought I was making really normal hip-hop, but with retrospect, even then these were weird records that were coming under the influence of other stuff I was into.”
From his tuba-playing days in grade school, Buck’s life has always been marked by music. With his own record label, Metaforensics, and his contract with Warner Music, he has proven that one can achieve success without sacrificing originality. In fact, by ignoring the standard preconceptions that go along with hip-hop, Buck has bridged the gap between older genres like blues and funk and newer mainstream styles.
“I think in hip-hop and punk there are still a lot of people looking at each other like, ‘How are we supposed to do this?’ And there’s a heavy expectation for it to be a certain way,” Buck said.
With his newest record, This Right Here Is Buck 65, Buck has trailblazed a fresh path, making his music more multi-dimensional. With the acquisition of a band, Buck reworked some of his previous songs and covered Woody Guthrie’s “Talkin’ Fishin’ Blues.”
“I felt a little dirty about it because it’s kind of like George Lucas going back and changing Star Wars,” he admitted. “On the one hand I’ve tried to make things a little slower and prettier and more contemplative, but it’s also a big challenge for me to actually move in the other direction as well and not be too afraid of faster tempos.”
Buck’s unmistakably coarse voice laces the tracks with rhymes that seem ludicrous at first, but upon further listening the lyrics prove to be quite profound. “I get what I want but got no one to share it with / A feeling in my chest and nothing to compare it with / The bachelor of science, I run my own company,” he raps on “Bachelor of Science.”
On this current tour, Buck has chosen to travel with minimum baggage: his turntables and a microphone. Like a musical mad scientist, he works the turntables with an undeniable passion, brandishing his trademark facial contortions and quirky mannerisms as he delivers his lyrics to the audience. Between songs, Buck entertains the audience with his Canadian wit.
As far as the future is concerned, he plans to release another album in May. Collaborating with DJ QBert, DJ D-styles and his fiancée Claire, Buck admitted that the new release will be different from This Right Here. On his new release he alternately raps and sings over a touch of strings, piano and danceable beats. After the new album drops, Buck will be touring with Moby. One might say it’s an odd pairing, but Buck believes Moby’s more mature and diverse audience will be more receptive to his style than the audience at an Eminem show would be.
Although the typical MC isn’t rapping about David Lynch films or the sex drive of a centaur, Buck 65 has the mettle to explore his own talent, even if that means straying from the mainstream.
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