MUSIC MONDAYS - Buddy - Creators For The Culture

#RunTheCulture

Hailing from musical and cultural hotbed Compton, California, this week’s #MusicMonday artists is rapper/singer/actor/dancer Buddy.

A true entertainer, Buddy can and does it all. His versatility and talents first caught the eye of legendary creator for The Culture Pharrell at the age of 15. After hearing a homemade demo of Buddy, Pharrell began to work with the teen and signed him to his I Am Other creative collective and record label. The partnership resulted in the songs “Awesome Awesome” and “Staircases” featuring a young Kendrick Lamar.

Los Angeles has and continues to be a main source of his creativity and since his early days with Pharrell, Buddy has branched out on his own to make his unique brand of Cali music. He finally released his debut full-length album Harlan & Alondra in 2018 backed with songs like”Trouble on Central”, “Black” feat. A$AP Ferg and “Trippin'” feat. fellow #MusicMonday alum Khalid. His goal with the project was “to paint a well-rounded portrait of my home city”. He’s also worked with West Coast legends like DJ Quick and collaborated with Nipsey Hussle on every song in his epic “Status Symbol” trilogy.

In 2020 in the midst of the new revolution, Buddy dropped the single “Black 2” and ode to how we set The Culture for the entire planet.

Interlacing funk, soul music, and trap beats, Buddy’s sound is eclectic and always changing. From track to track he flips between rapping and singing, sometimes even doing so on the same song (check out “The Blue”). And all of it is meant to show the good, the bad, the beauty and the beast sides of being a young black man looking for love, peace, and the meaning of life in modern-day South Central L.A.

#FunFact: Buddy began singing and acting at the age of 7 starting out in musical theater in plays and musicals. He was in musicals including The Wiz and Dreamgirls at Amazing Grace Conservatory. Eventually he attended a high school for the performing arts in Long Beach while he was working with Pharrell.