Buddy

Buddy

is having the time of his life.

WORDS EMMANUEL MADUAKOLAM

PHOTOGRAPHY ALEXANDER BORTZ

STYLING CHLOE & CHENNELLE DELGADILLO

This last year has been a celebratory one for Buddy. A preacher’s son from Compton, the 25-year-old MC’s anticipated full-length debut Harlan & Alondra was one of the stellar projects of 2018, showcasing his penchant for soul-infused hip-hop, blending his skills as a singer and rapper.

Pushing the boundaries of West Coast hip-hop, Harlan & Alondra is the product of the accumulated years of hard work and tutelage from some of the best in the music industry. Nine years of groundwork from some of the best talents in music such as The Neptunes comes together in full glory on Harlan & Alondra.

A rising rapper from Compton, California, Buddy had already inked a major label deal by the time he was a teenager—discovered by Scott Vener and signed by Pharrell's I Am Other label in 2009—and collaborated with future stars such Chance the Rapper, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa and Nipsey Hussle. “I didn’t really have a goal for what I wanted,” said Buddy, outside of the Brooklyn Navy Yard last summer. “I kind’ve just went in and started making music. We had Brody Brown, Mike & Keys, Roofeeo, 1500 or Nothin’… We tried a bunch of ideas and then the album kind of just made itself.”

Harlan & Alondra is a 12-track LP that featured guest appearances from Snoop Dogg, Guapdad 4000 and Ty Dolla $ign, A$AP Ferg, and Khalid. Earlier this February, a deluxe version of his debut album was released. The project added four new songs: two solo joints (“It’s Love” and “Bad Attitude”), one track featuring California rapper 03 Greedo (“Cubicle”), and one record with Dreamville’s J.I.D. and Bas (“Link Up”) to go with the original 12 songs.

Since the release of his original and deluxe albums, Buddy has been everywhere, touring across the globe, performing at festivals such as Coachella, performing on late-night television such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Late Late Show with James Corden, all the while still managing to c-walk on national monuments and landmarks. However, the year did not go without heartbreak as his mentor and friend, Nipsey Hussle, was fatally shot in Crenshaw this past March.

While he records his sophomore album, we got Buddy on the phone to discuss life after his debut, working with Pharrell Williams again, losing Nipsey and how he thought Brandy tried to steal his weed.

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Q & A

How do you feel now that your debut album is so widely celebrated? It's so great because I had an opportunity to make the album in the first place, see it all the way through and then make amazing music that I enjoy. Me and my friends and my producers all agree that we thought it was tight and then put it out, and then everyone else thought it was tight as well. That's reassuring. And then having the opportunity to travel the world once the music was out and just go to all these crazy places and perform. And just have opportunities to take my friends, you know— my DJ, my team, just around me, just growing together. It's beautiful because moving into the next album, we kind of know what people already like.

It looks like you toured for almost a year nonstop since your album came out. It was amazing, a bunch of places I've never been. A bunch of new experiences that I gained just doing what

I love on a day-to-day basis. Getting paid, too. I got money; I moved out of my parents' house. It's just super tight. Life is great.

When did you begin recording for your second album? Probably two, three months ago. I'm so in it, I don't even know. Time is a crazy concept. I'm just trying to finish, you know? Last week it was me, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo making music. I ain't kick it with him since, you know—it's been a minute. I hung out with him and Snoop Dogg, Kid Cudi. But we were working together. I was working with The Neptunes. That shit's everybody's dream. That's probably the most exciting thing that happened to me.

It was fire because the next day, Pharrell had to bounce because he's busy. Then I told Chad to pull up. He pulled up and he was kicking it with me. I was trying to write some of the raps because I had mumbled it and he was trying to figure it out. He would be like "Nah, that's tight,” or, “You sure you trying to do it like this?” I had help, you know. It was fire.

Do you think you’ll release new music this year? Yes. I think I'm gonna drop this year.

A signature moment was your NPR Tiny Desk performance. I remember reading it was “one of the most dramatic Tiny Desks in recent memory.” I didn't know NPR was that crackin'. I've seen a couple NPR Tiny Desks. My management was like, "We got to practice, we got the band together." We watched a bunch before we went. So I'm watching all these other Tiny Desks, and I'm like "Ooh, I got this. I'm gonna roll a blunt and I'm gonna smoke in there."

They told me not to smoke as soon as I walked in. I took the blunt, kept it close and then I sparked it. I lit that shit on fire and when I stepped out, I blew a cloud of smoke.

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“I WAS WORKING WITH THE NEPTUNES. THAT SHIT’S EVERYBODY'S DREAM. THAT'S PROBABLY THE MOST EXCITING THING THAT HAPPENED TO ME.”

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“Oh, I can't smoke here? Oh my god, my bad.” They made us re-cut that scene because I was smoking. I should have said no. They would have just had to use the footage. I'm still trying to email them to get the footage of me sparking the blunt because it's legendary.

Can you tell us what happened with the Brandy situation on Twitter? I met Brandy. We was at G-Eazy's birthday party. I was talking to Ty Dolla $ign, and then I was hanging out with ALLBLACK, Nef The Pharaoh… and you know they love flavors. Nef The Pharaoh gave me some Runtz and that's some fire ass weed. They was giving out free weed at the party too. I brought my own weed tray because I had weed that I brought. Then I took my tray, filled it up with the free party weed, then I had the Nef The Pharaoh blunt, and I just had hella weed.

There were random cups of liquor [on a table] that’s halfdrunk. I put my cell phone light on them because it's dark. I'm getting situated so I could roll me a blunt. I finally got comfortable, settled into my little section of where I'm rolling up. All of a sudden, I see a hand creeping, grabbing a nug off of my tray.

“Who was it, who was it?” “It was some lady and another nigga behind her.” And I couldn't really recognize her, so I'm like, ”What is your name?” Genuinely concerned. [Laughs]

“Brandy.” I'm like “Oh shit, Brandy? You wanna smoke? We can get high. Like, I got weed.” I shake the nigga’s hand that was behind her. I forgot his name because it's Brandy, you know. She didn't even want a smoke, she was just joking. [But] I'm the wrong one, don't try to grab my weed off my tray.

How are you coping with the loss of Nipsey Hussle? Man, knowing Nipsey and hanging out with him every day, seeing how he lives. He led by example. His example to me was super blatant. He said it over and over: hustle, motivate and just own some shit. Learn some shit and just grow.

I listen to Nipsey every day. I have my Nipsey cries when I'm down, and I just kind of keep moving forward. I'm trying to make another album, make it way better than the first one and do all the coolest stuff that I already did on a higher scale. Bring my family and my friends. Do something for my city and do something for the world. Change some shit, learn some shit, grow as a human. That's all he would ever want.

What does the phrase “The marathon continues” mean to you? It just means it don't stop. It's another day. We have an opportunity to just grow ourselves. Teach somebody something, learn from someone, do something that can change somebody's life. We have the opportunity to change lives and it's a marathon, this life. It just keeps on going. Even after he’s dead, he got kids, he got homies and people that are all spreading his message. People who never heard his music that's out to hear it and he's going to change their life, just like he did to us when we first heard it. And it just keeps on. It's a never-ending cycle of this thing—life.

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“I HAVE MY NIPSEY CRIES WHEN I'M DOWN, AND I JUST KIND OF KEEP MOVING FORWARD. CHANGE SOME SHIT, LEARN SOME SHIT, GROW AS A HUMAN. THAT'S ALL HE WOULD EVER WANT.”