BUCK 65: SXSW DIARY
On my way to Austin, I had a layover in Chicago. There I saw a woman with the most unusual hairdo I’ve ever seen. It was sort of a kabuki-Trump arrangement. I could help staring. She caught me. The man seated next to me on the flight to Austin wore an orange blouse and picked his nose for two and half hours. Biology is amazing.
On Friday night, I played the indie hip hop extravaganza that took over Mohawk. Chuck D. was there to check out the action. I saw Hannibal Buress lurking around. It was a special night and it felt like everyone loved each other and the world wasn’t horrible.
The next morning I had a chance encounter on 2nd Street with Oakland rap legend Too $hort. I told him I bought his first album, Don’t Stop Rappin’ on cassette when it came out in 1983 and he was impressed. I was surprised to find out that he’s not actually short. He’s very much an average-sized man.
After my Saturday night performance at “Canada House” I tried to see Christine and the Queens. There must have been 5,000 people standing in line. I didn’t have a chance. But I was able to watch her perform her hit through a hole in a fence. She sang in English. I prefer the French version. She looked very happy.
On Sunday morning, I saw Earl Sweatshirt skateboarding through the airport at high speed. A moment later – with perfect comic timing – an elderly-sounding lady made a public address admonishing us all to refrain from skateboarding. Earl Sweatshirt fans could be picked out of the crowds by their laughter.
I always have fun at SxSW, but every year when it’s over, I swear I’ll never go back. This time I mean it and I can’t wait ’til next time.
Buck 65 is on tour in the USA throughout April and also releases his book ‘Wicked and Weird – the True Tale of Buck 65’ in August. His new mixtape album ‘Dirtbike 4’ is available to stream now. Check the link below.
“Dirtbike 4 is lo-fi as hell. It’s scrappy. It’s one hour-long track. It’s dense. It’s extremely uncommercial. It’s selfish. It’s also an outlaw’s errand. There’s a lot of stealing going on, which is always thrilling (to me, anyway). This is the way I always want to make music. But keeping it low-profile, not selling it, not making a big deal of it is the only way it can be done. It has to stay under the radar and it can’t be commodified. The philosophy with the Dirtbike project is “no money goes in, no money comes out”. That’s it. I’m happy to share it with you. But it’s really just something I feel I have to do to make myself happy. It’s strictly for the joy. If you get some joy from it too, great. There’s definitely a lot of silliness running through it.”
