PBOTY X BUJEMANE
The votes are still rolling in but the scoreboard seems to be one sided this time around for Bujemane. The audio photoshop artist is back and receiving rounds of applause for his latest full length PBOTY. It is not as if in the past Buje's talents were dismissed because that is simply untrue but there seems to a newfound appreciation that people are willing to voice and it’s coming from outside the press. First adopter websites like Swidlife, Crane City, The Blow Up Co and KEXP have been featuring Bujemane for sometime. What makes this support different is where the immediate love is coming from, it's his peers, ears first playing PBOTY and running to their socials to unanimously agree that Bujemane made some jams that are worth giving a listen. It goes without saying that PBOTY has a level of personality and comfort in his delivery that still has yet to reach its final form. There is also the X factor - producer Gary.
In a slightly heated debate with Bujemane I argued against this being his greatest collection of songs. This release is more about consistency and timing speaking from an insider's point of view. Shortly after Gary and Bujemane worked on TYTHBAVFE - they began working together non-stop building a chemistry that is now undeniable. Bujemane understands Gary and Gary understands what Bujemane is trying to make, they share the same vision, the same end game. And as for the audience and fanbase not every process is the same, some moments are immediate and monumental and others take time to get comfortable with an evolving sound. But it's not just Bujemane, it's Gary that you have to understand and the development behind what he's been doing over the two and half years that has helped get Bujemane to this level on consistency. Bujemane can't perform without music and it takes bundles and bundles of music to compete in today's landscape. It is imperative to have a pace to your release schedule in order to saturate your market in a way that penetrates the culture/your respective scene. It is also no small task to build a sound from scratch with any artist but what makes Gary and Bujemane successful is their ability to adapt and need for constant change. They both are so experimental that everything is a "let's try and see". Before Bujemane and Gary re-birthed their work ethic and had a space to work out of regularly there was "I QUIT" a more traditional hip-hop sound than what normally fits the Bujemane brand. And it worked - the marketing behind it pushed Bujemane into some press and had people curious about his song making and lyrical capabilities. THAT is when the door creaked open for their team. Other people began to ask about being involved and it jolted Bujemane and Gary to (once again) try something new before hanging up their hats and it birthed TYTHBAVFE. That project is how we get to PBOTY Bujemane AND Gary in full form and growing a bit every session they complete.
Now that you're caught up on how we arrived at PBOTY, let me say that it is my second favorite project from Bujemane. Sorry We Couldn't Wait For U is numero uno. It has songs that I didn't think Gary or Bujemane would make and it has both personalities - it wasn't entirely produced by Gary but his executive production when it comes to Bujemane is spot on. He knows when Bujemane sounds his most comfortable and authentic on record and after all the songs were made Gary hand picked the ones that went together the best as he did with PBOTY. And there is even more exciting news. There is more on the way after the success of songs like "VIP" a Summer day-party dance floor junky jam, "PEEKABOO" a cheery sing-a-long about being with a baddie and your chopper simultaneously, "INTERLUDE" a dance energy kind of song that pays homage to the late KARICA$H and is organically infectious in the car or on the dance floor. So far the race is between “VIP” and “INTERLUDE” for popularity on streaming platforms. But my personal favorite, the song we choose to champion in the 907 is "DUNGAREES" - it has a spirit in it that relates to our fashion forward lifestyle the production is Gary's light-hearted side and has spacey timing that helps Bujemane's stuttered cadence align with ease. The ad-libs throughout PBOTY are another reason for the love from his closest peers this time, they are fun and clear and accurate to the Bujemane persona. It helps that Gary pitched them perfectly to flutter in rafters of every song like a crowd heckler from the nosebleeds.
And now that they are becoming more organized and just hitting their stride, the show offers are rolling in consistently and the representation has some validity to it. Now your ears are open to it. Bujemane is becoming Bujemane - to you.
But remember Benz? Been here.