the curious case of kid buu:
Instagram: @kidbuu
A collective eye roll was had by trap heads everywhere when the DJ Vlad interview with Kid Buu surfaced seemingly out of nowhere, and began flooding our YouTube recommendations and news feeds. Here we go again, yet another "rapper" covered in face tatt's, brightly coloured dreads, donning an outfit reminiscent of a mid 2000's My Chemical Romance video. The title "Kid Buu Says He's a 2nd Generation Clone that Escaped from Cloning Facility" got everyone clicking and sharing, along with his sullen tone of voice, ridiculous back story and robotic character. The topic of rappers being cloned has been circulating the internet for years now, with Gucci Mane, Kodak and Eminem being the main faces of discussion. Buu details how his "first gen" was cloned by 'Clonaid' (apparently a "real" human cloning facility, however a quick Google search on the organisation suggests otherwise) in Canada, where he escaped - stealing the documents on his way out. I'm not here to give you a run down of the interview, go watch for yourself. I want to take a look at what he might actually be doing...factoring in the significance of his name, how he acts in interviews, the way he dresses and his social media presence. Is this simply a desperate 31 year old trying to forge a mediocre rap career, or is Kid Buu the product of some masterful and elaborate marketing?
His Genuis video is hard to take seriously: It quite literally comes across like he has studied the "get clout quick" handbook for "mumble" rappers, constantly batting the fake dreads out of his eyes while gassing his lack of lyrical substance up as best he can. Only thing he's missing is a double cup of lean. It all feels so deliberate to me, like he dumbs himself down for this rap persona of his. Maybe I'm giving him too much credit, but I feel like he's quite intelligent in real life. Or, he's just desperate and manipulative, I can't be sure which as of yet. Is his whole identity as an artist a deliberate knock off of the now famous Sound Cloud rappers that came before him? Is he literally trolling everything about the new wave of rap music while simultaneously gaining a name for himself in the industry? His style, social media presence, music, speech, attitude, nod to devil worship and dark shit, not to mention using the clone theory in his back story all seems too calculated. He embodies everything I think of when I think Sound Cloud rapper, except it doesn't feel genuine, like he's subtly taking the piss out of it all. As the years go by we're seeing less street wear, more rock influenced clothing; more reference to satanic symbolism, less reference to God; more screaming, less rapping; less braids and fades, more nail polish and fake rainbow dreads. I am by no means saying he isn't a complete embarrassment. What I'm saying is, he has noted all the elements that make up a new wave rapper along with how social media culture works in relation to the music industry, and embodied every aspect of it in an attempt to become relevant. So unoriginal, its original.
Since watching the interview I've been pretty fascinated with him. I don't care for his music - it's generic at best with no noticeable consistency in sound. A knock off XXXtentacion or Ski Mask in some songs, a budget Nav or Trippie Redd in others. Whatever sound is currently most popular, he emulates it. It is important to note Buu has previously tried to make it in the game, going by HXTXG, or Humongous the God, and failed. His music under this name follows a similar theme... nothing unique, just recreating what was popular at the time. It was his bizarre demeanour in the Vlad interview that had me typing his name into my Instagram search bar, and I was surprised to find he was very different to how he originally came across. The videos he posts are a clear attempt at comedy (think 6ix9ine but not actually funny), next to a selection of generic pictures portraying him as yet another emo/rap hybrid, with his black nail polish, ripped jeans and leather jackets. His stiff, somewhat creepy persona was nowhere to be seen. We live in a world where trolling or acting a fool online can produce legitimate careers and truly keep your name in peoples mouths for a long period of time - just look at Boonk Gang, Danielle Bregoli or Woah Vicky. Even Cardi B was known for her personality and antics before releasing one of the best selling albums of this year. Gone are the days of putting sweat and tears in to lyrics and working hard to gain respect from those who paved the way for you. Artists know that one viral video can put you on the map, and are using this to their advantage - who gives a fuck about respect and integrity? It's 2018! It's certainly working for Kid Buu; he's now appeared on the Genius YouTube channel - breaking down lyrics to his song "Death to Soundcloud", he landed an interview with Felli Fell and was recently caught up in a controversy with Adam22 and his cat. Shit, I was inspired enough to write this whole post. I'm not sure who would actually listen to this guys music, but I think it's interesting to consider how the meaning behind his name may explain his entire entity as an entertainer.
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Kid Buu is a character from the popular anime series Dragonball Z, known for his relentless evil and unpredictability. If you know anything about the genre, hip hop has a long history of DBZ references, from Wu Tang to Vince Staples and Wale - the RZA even stated that DBZ "represents the journey of black men in America". Kid Buu is the original and purest form of 'Majin Buu' - meaning demon god in Japanese and from my understanding, all the Buu characters in DBZ absorb energy from those around them. Is this the idea behind everything he is doing? Because this guy might as well be called Pumpmaskpurrptentacion.
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I don't want to delve into the controversies surrounding Buu too much as I don't want this to be a gossip blog - but they are worth factoring in before I finish this off. Some say he is using the clone theory because he's currently banned from Canada and is covering up charges he obtained there. I've also seen evidence suggesting he buys chunks of followers and likes, and he certainly does lie about his age knowing a damn near 40 year old trying to make rap happen, ain't going to happen. Some also say he's an industry plant, this I'm not 100% sure on but it's always a possibility. In my opinion, he desperately wants to be noticed. I don't think it's about the money, my research into him suggests he already stacked a fair bit prior to any of this. He wants a piece of the rock star/rap lifestyle, which we all know comes with fame, groupies, designer clothes, cars and most importantly attention. Sounds alright to me. I'm not convinced he will be able to take his career where he wants to by these means, but I'm interested to see if hip hop culture has really sold out enough to enable him to. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be surprised.
Miya Hukins
The issue with garnering this type attention is there is zero respect gained in the process, and you'll likely become infamous at most. Great if you don't mind sacrificing your dignity for some short term fame, not so good if it's a long term career you're after. It's sad that this is what we've come to, particularly in rap music, but it's the reality. Who am I to knock anyone who understands how this shit works and wants to use it to benefit them in some way.