The sphinxlike emcee Buck 65, also known to many CBC lovers as Radio 2 Drive’s host Rich Terfry (my personal favorite alongside Laurie Brown and Tim Allen), is celebrating twenty years as a Canadian artist, hence the name of his forthcoming 2011 record: 20 Odd Years (Warner, Canada).
20 Odd Years will be a collection comprised of selections from Avant, Distance and Albuquerque (each digital EP’s from 2010), and a few new tracks. It was produced by Charles Austin, Graeme Campbell and Buck 65, except for “Superstars Don’t Love” produced by Jorun and “She Said Yes”, produced by Emily Wells.
“The last twenty years of my life have been stranger and more amazing than I could have imagined”, Says Buck 65. “Hip hop glory and heartbreak! In 2010 & 2011, I’ll be taking a look back and forging ahead with 20 Odd Years.”
Buck 65 was born in Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia. He first heard rap on CBC Stero’s late night show Brave New Waves and the campus Halifax community radio station CKDU.
Buck 65, like hip-hop kin D-Sisive, is an artist I like to think of as a rap deconstructionist. They are
both undeniably brilliant, both esoteric, both perplexing, and both entirely unpredictable. On purpose.
Their musics and personalities don’t fit into any one category except for their own. I’m not sure whether their individuality is a result of a Canadian cultural pluralist mentality or whether they’re both just weird, but either way, they’re doing what any avant garde artist does best: push the envelope.
Check out “Shutterbuggin” from his 2008 album Situation.
This is the chorus: “Flashy Flash (Watch the Birdy) Trashy Trash (Wash the Dirty *Fuck You!*) Flashy Flash (Watch the Birdie) Trashy Trash (*Where’s my Money?* Wash the Dirty)”. Can we just pause to acknowledge how awesome that is?
Hopefully I’ll find out what that means over the next couple weeks and hopefully I’ll remember to fill you in on it. TILL THEN, WATCH AND GIGGLE.