SOUNDTRACK: BUDDY-Tiny Desk Concert #815 (January 9, 2019).
Buddy is a pretty upbeat rapper from Compton. He’s dressed in yellow, he laughs a lot. he plays a groovy kind of gentle raping.
The same soulful hybrid of rapping and singing that compelled Pharrell to sign him as a teenager found Buddy stretching L.A. hip-hop beyond its typical gangsta narrative, while dancing with his dreams and shaking off his demons.
So it’s funny that the blurb is all about the drama of his Tiny Desk.
When Buddy, a preacher’s son from Compton, turns to me with eyebrows raised on the elevator ride inside NPR’s corporate headquarters, it’s hard to tell if the question that comes next is in preparation for his performance or pure provocation.
“Can we smoke in here?!” he asks with a grin that elicits stifled laughter from his bandmates and a few newsroom journalists along for the ride. It’s a blunt request, even from a self-professed “weed connoisseur,” and it kicks off one of the most dramatic Tiny Desks in recent memory.
That drama doesn’t happen until midway through the 11 minute set, and we don’t actually see it.
He starts “Legend,” which is really only an introduction. He asks everyone to sing “Legend.” You all got to say this, Legend. You there in the glasses, you gotta say that shit Legend.
Everyone wants to be a legend, as far as I’m concerned, it’s my turn.
“Trouble On Central” is a song about aspirations and dreams, but being stuck.
Buddy is clearly a natural at this. He’s also an alumni of actress Wendy Raquel Robinson’s Amazing Grace Conservatory, an L.A. program known for steeping inner-city kids in the performing arts. Between the two, he earned his dramatic chops early.”I’m so used to being in front of an audience of people,” he tells me, “just doing my thing and not really caring about it.” He’s definitely not afraid of the camera. In fact, he’s one of the rare Tiny Desk guests who stares directly into it throughout much of his set, performing for the camera in the most literal sense.
I did think it was odd how often he looked at the camera, and I see that most people don’t
“Hey Up There” is where the controversy arises.
So when Buddy proceeded to fire up a blunt midway through his set, we had to stop the show and ask him to put it out before re-recording his song, “Hey Up There.” (Smoking is not allowed on NPR property.) The performance was still lit,
“Real Life S**t” has a sweetly sung “la da da da da” backing vocal which he joins in on from time to time. He raps mostly and throws in some fast rapping at the end of a verse, but mostly this is a groovy song.
While onstage drama kept Buddy a safe distance from the streets, he still experienced the kind of coming-of-age struggles that shaped his personal and political outlook. On “Real Life S**t,” the opening song on his album and the last song in his Tiny Desk set, he conveys that reality with raw sentiment for the sitting President in lyrics straight from the record: “Fuck Donald Trump and that Nigger’s son.”
At first I didn’t think too much of Buddy’s set but after another listen, I enjoyed his whole attitude. It would have been fun to see him light up and what reaction it caused.
[READ: November 1, 2018] Check Please Book 1
This was a fun, fully enjoyable graphic novel about hockey–with the typical First Second quality, of course.
Like many books lately, this one started as a webcomic and you can read all of this book and more online. (but print is better).
The story follow Eric “Bitty” Bittle as he goes off to college at Samwell University. Ukazu went to Yale and Samwell is meant to be in the ECAC league just like Yale and Princeton. Bitty came to hockey through figure skating. He is quite tiny, especially compared to the other players. He also bakes a lot of pies. And, we learn soon enough, Bitty is gay. Fortunately for our hero, he went to a school that is very tolerant (his coming out story is very funny).
His hockey team also has a star player Jack Zimmerman. Who? Jack Zimmerman is the son of the legendary Bob Zimmerman who has won more awards and trophies than you can count. But Jack was anxious trying to live up to his legendary father and he took anxiety medication for it which ended up with him in rehab and presumably no career. But he found a home at Samwell.
And he found an excellent skating partner in Bitty. The only problem is that bitty, who began as a figure skater, is terrified to take a hit. So much so that he curls up on the floor (“we can make a play out of this, I’m telling you”). So Jack’s job it to train Bitty to be less afraid of hits. Which works well until Bitty actually gets hit hard–in a game.
n addition to the narrative, Bitty also social media’s everything that happens. He’s constantly tweeting and instagramming, much to the dismay of Jack and some others.
But that’s freshman year and this book gets us through sophomore year. Bitty is back on the ice for year two. I
Year two for him is the senior year for Jack and some of the other players. It’s a bittersweet year as they try very hard to get a trophy for Jack. Year two also ups some of the romantic tension. As its clear that Bitty looks up to Jack as more than a hockey player.
Now that Bitty is no longer a “frog” he participates in the new hockey recruit hazings (they are light and not too mean). He offers the new frogs sweaters to wear even though they are supposed to be naked. (It was cold when he had to do it).
Living in the Haus is a change but Bitty adapts–he likes having his kitchen (your kitchen?) for all night baking sessions. And the parties are pretty insane–tub juice?
A lot of the end of the book concerns the older guys leaving and Bitty’s take on it all. its bittersweet The end of the book is an amazing setup for Junior year (which isn’t until the next book!).
In addition to Bitty and Jack there are some great ancillary characters. Shitty (no explanation give for the name or what his real first name is) turns out to be the best character, although nearly everyone else in the book is great in his (or her–Lardo, I’m looking at you) own way.
The Extra Comics at the end are great fun. They are extra scenes. I’m not sure why they were not included. Some flesh out the details a bit–like how Dibs are given for housing arrangements as well as a lot more of Bitty’s blog.
The extras also include hockey terms amusingly explained. Like flow: “the majestic mane that fluxes forth from the helmets of hockey bros. Widely considered to be the most glorious of all athletic ‘dos. Or Chirp: “to talk smack (with some good and bad examples of said chirping.”
There’s a whole section on nicknames (but not Shitty’s)–it’s so easy a n idiot can do it! An idiot like you!
The book ends with excerpts from Bitty’s twitter account. The whole book is Bitty’s blog but he is also a rampant tweeter. And they are all very funny. They fill in some details about the action, but mostly they are just funny.
I can’t wait for book 2 (even if I Can read it online).
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