Ben Buck

Breadcouch: “WAIT” (feat. Ben Buck)

We’re struggling to find the exact quote, so maybe we just imagined it, but we’re pretty sure Notorious B.I.G. said something along the lines of, “Ready to Die was 10% skill and 90% the chronic”, alluding to his lauded lyricism. And while we don’t advocate for substance use as a sole source of inspiration, we do appreciate how much a quick smoke session can convince a lyricist to get comfortable and let the beat play as long as it needs. Because when an un-rushed set of free-association bars have spent enough time in the oven, they often come out hotter and fresher than your run-of-the-mill one-take freestyle.

That brings us to Austin’s Breadcouch, who’s been baking his eccentric brand of alternative hip-hop/R&B since 2020. The multi-genre fusion of Breadcouch’s boundary-less beats really lends itself to the versatility of his vocals, which switch between rapping and singing for evenly-toasted slices of bedroom soul-pop, electronica, trap, boom bap, and even indie rock, all from the same, surprisingly-cohesive loaf. And although you could sample a few brief crumbs from Breadcouch’s expansive catalogue and label his style as “wordy” or “busy”, we respect the grains of brevity that Breadcouch brings to his hooks.

Case in point: a new tune featuring fellow Austin rapper-producer Ben Buck, “WAIT”. They’ll both be performing at Hole in the Wall tonight for the Speaker Bump Social, so smoke ’em if you got ’em, and let the hazy wordplay, sativa-scented samples, blunt-ready bass, and doja-derived drums of “WAIT” whisk you through this showery Wednesday.

Velvet Rut (Austin, Texas) (prod. Karavelo)

Austin brands itself as the “Live Music Capital of the World” and for damn good reason; think about the thousands of players who fill our hundreds of event spaces over the course of any given month. But that artist multiplicity and venue ubiquity entirely within our city limits actually makes breaking out of the ATX “bubble” and gaining traction in other locations extremely difficult, even for those who’ve built reputations as tireless performers and songwriters.

Take for instance an outspoken member from one of Austin’s most fruitful family dynasties, Ben Buck. As a creatively voracious rapper/producer/beatboxer/cassette presser/event coordinator who’s been a major staple of Austin’s hip-hop scene for the past decade (who recently earned his own official day this past April), Ben’s bucked around long enough to find out that all that hard work does make him a god in the eyes and ears of locals, but unfortunately not too far beyond that. But for someone who clearly gets their biggest highs from gripping the mic on their favorite stage instead of staying at home and losing sleep over unsatisfactory streaming traction, this young Buck still excels when things are in his own hands.

Case in point: the Ben Buck Birthday Bash 7PM-2AM happening tomorrow night at The 13th Floor, featuring a hand-picked lineup of wholesome friends and heavy-hitting collaborators. The show precedes Ben’s next LP, The Back Burner ’23, a nine-song joint effort between Buck and sample-based beatmakers ranging from Austin’s Butcher Bear to New York legend Statik Selektah, plus two remixes of the album opener. Overall The Back Burner ’23 scorches with a gritty old school feel whose varied influences can be traced to all three coasts. On top of its status as one of the most poignantly honest songs written about the Austin scene we’ve ever heard, “Velvet Rut (Austin, Texas)” totes bemoaning homegrown references, a pensive vibraphone instrumental from Vancouver producer Karavelo, and a mellow-yet-aggressive verbal flow that’ll make you wanna blasts past the stanchions and blaze up the second you’re indoors.

Ben Buck & BoomBaptist: “Gene Wilder”

No one can deny how taxing 2021 was, and though we can’t make any guarantees for 2022, we’d be remiss if we didn’t recognize some gems that made the Winter season a little less bleak. Case in point: two of Austin’s most outspoken hip-hop creators, Ben Buck (who’s had a fruitful solo career as a rapper-beatboxer-producer on top of endeavors with Aux Cutter and Big Wy’s Brass Band) and BoomBaptist (a sample-based producer who’s taken Bandcamp by storm with his Rick James and NBA Jam themed beat tapes in addition to his work as one half of The Vapor Caves).

Both masters of their craft in their own right, these equal-and-opposite personalities collided once again for last year’s The Marquee, a seven-song balance of bops, braggadocio, overall a cavalier conquest of their preferred musical styles. The Marquee is short and sweet, but still packs plenty of firepower from these two B.B.s, enough to get you out of your 2021 stumble and somersault straight into the new year just like “Gene Wilder”!