Having spent the late 90s perfecting his craft as a member of underground Michigan crew Athletic Mic League, Ann Arbor’s Buff1 is nowhere near being the newcomer some of today’s current Hip-Hop fans may view him as. Already proving himself to be a skilled lyricist on AML releases such as the well-received 2002 album “Sweats & Kicks”, Buff took center-stage last year with his debut solo project “Pure”, an apt title for an album if ever there was one.
Combining a deep-rooted love of Hip-Hop culture with a passion for cutting-edge sounds, “Pure” found Buff stepping beyond the strength-in-numbers comfort zone offered to him by Athletic Mic League. Using the album as a platform through which to introduce himself to a wider fan base, the forthright MC added his own worthwhile chapter to the Detroit area’s rich rap heritage, which, of course, includes such heavyweights as Eminem and the late J Dilla, with current local favorites like Guilty Simpson and Black Milk also playing their part in helping to shape the next generation of Motor City music.
Now returning with his recently released sophomore set “There’s Only One”, Buff is hoping to take his unique sound to the masses one listener at a time. Under no illusions about the realities of the rap industry, but prepared to grind hard to reach his goals, Buff offers a creative breath of fresh air in an increasingly predictable Hip-Hop scene. Meet a true leader of the new school.
Ryan Proctor: What lessons did you take away from your time as a member of Athletic Mic League?
Buff1: I definitely learnt the importance of having patience. Just being a young MC and being hungry, thinking you’re better than everybody else and wondering why you’re not always getting the shine you think you deserve, I definitely had to learn to be patient. Being in a group also taught me a lot about teamwork. You definitely have to compromise sometimes and you can’t always be on every song you want to be on. You might have an idea about a particular track, someone else in the group might have a different idea about the same track, and sometimes it’ll go your way, sometimes it’ll go the other way. So learning to be patient and the ability to work well with other people are definitely the two biggest lessons I took from being a member of Athletic Mic League. But that said, we all still get along and the crew are just as much a part of my new album as they were the last one.
RP: So what prompted you to go solo?
B: Actually, it was the group’s idea for me to go solo. They came to me and were like, ‘It’s tough focusing on this music thing now we’re getting older and have more responsibilities.’ Some of the guys have children now and other members had to do the regular nine-to-five thing to pay the bills. We weren’t a bunch of kids anymore just making music for the fun of it in the basement. So the group decided to fallback and focus on putting me out as a solo artist. I was reluctant at first, but I’m glad I did it and I’m proud that the group asked me to be the one to step out on their own. There’s a little bit of pressure for me to live up to what we did as a group in the past, but for the most part it’s just pressure that I put on myself because I want to make good quality Hip-Hop music. I’m always trying to grow as an artist and keep the music moving forward, so that’s the main pressure.
RP: How would you describe the Detroit Hip-Hop scene?
B: When the underground Detroit scene as we know it now was first blossoming, Athletic Mic League wasn’t really a part of that. For one, we lived about thirty minutes away in Ann Arbor, and secondly, we just weren’t old enough at that point in time to be able to go to Detroit to see what was happening. We just had to hear through the grapevine about stuff like The Hip-Hop Shop and The Shelter. So we had to create our own scene in Ann Arbor and that’s eventually what we ended up doing. But once we’d done that it was inevitable that we’d venture into the Detroit scene. So around 2001 / 2002 is when we first started doing shows in Detroit and getting recognition out there. It was tough at first because not a lot of people knew us, but once they saw we made good music it’s been all love ever since. It’s like there’s a big family in Detroit now when it comes to music because everyone’s supporting each other and working together. I think that the state of Michigan is producing the best Hip-Hop music out there right now.
RP: How would you say the new album “There’s Only One” differs from last year’s “Pure” project?
B: I would say it’s more aggressive than “Pure”. The Lab Techs brought a bigger sound to their production this time around. I wouldn’t say it’s a step away from what people heard on “Pure” because a few of the tracks on the new album were originally recorded for that project. So it’s not like we’ve tried to create a whole new sound or take my music in a completely different direction, but this album definitely feels bigger than “Pure”. I really think that when it comes to production and lyrics, the Detroit scene is leading the way right now, and it’s definitely an honor to be a part of that. Nowadays, so many people are talking about taking the music back to the old-school, but whilst I think it’s definitely important to pay homage to that era, I think we should be concentrating on moving the music and the culture forward, and that’s something I’ve tried to do with the new album.
RP: Speaking of paying homage, the album cut “Classic Rap” is a throwback track with a difference – instead of calling out artists’ stage names you refer to them only by their real names. Why did you decide to do that?
B: Everyone knows that artists paying homage on record to those who’ve come before them has been done many times. I also wanted to show respect to those artists I looked up to coming up, but I wanted to do it in a different way. I had the first couple of lines to the song in my head for a couple of weeks and I didn’t really know what I was gonna do with them, then I heard the beat and it inspired me to keep writing the song and I decided I was going to go all the way with the concept of using artist’s real names rather than the names they record under. If people hear the song and don’t recognize the names I’m mentioning then I hope they’ll jump on their computers and do some research because if you really love this music then studying the history behind it is something you should be prepared to do.
RP: The album’s lead single “Beat The Speakers Up” is a potentially radio-ready record that actually criticizes the same playlist system it could possibly find itself a part of. Isn’t that something of a risk on your part?
B: Yeah, definitely. It’s tough as far as the radio is concerned, especially here in Detroit, because there’s only a handful of people who support local music on Detroit radio. I don’t think that’s right and it just doesn’t make sense to me that you can listen to the radio for a short period and hear the same song three or four times. The purpose of “Beat The Speakers Up” was to highlight that issue. I like to go to the club and I enjoy club music, so I wanted the song to be catchy, but I also wanted to put a twist on it with the lyrics. I wanted the track to be able to be played in the club and on the radio, but at the same time, I wanted to challenge people and make them think about the music that they’re hearing.
RP: Another album track that really stands out from a lyrical point of view is “Rain Dance”. What was the inspiration behind that?
B: That came from being in the club and seeing everybody doing something like the Soulja Boy dance. I was watching all these people reacting the exact same way to certain records, whether it was by doing a dance or some call-and-response routine, and I started thinking, ‘What if everyone could be on the same page and reacting in unison to other things in life that matter a bit more than a dance or the fashions people follow?’ I mean, what if we were all working together to help raise the next generation of kids or cleaning up our communities? That’s where the idea for “Rain Dance” came from. Obviously, I wanted people to be able to groove to it, but I also wanted the song to capture the feel of a large group of people all moving and pushing in the same direction for something that matters, like the marches that used to happen back in the day with Martin Luther King.
RP: Do you still feel that Hip-Hop has the ability to instigate positive change amongst its listeners? Or do you think we’re at a point now where most people aren’t even looking towards Hip-Hop for any sort of lyrical substance, they just want the simple, redundant music that’s largely become the norm on a mainstream level today?
B: To answer the first part of your question, I definitely think the potential is still there in the music to make a change. But really, in the current musical climate we’re in right now, I think it will take someone unexpected to do something in that vein for it to really make a difference. I mean, I’m doing my part, but I’ve only got so many listeners right now. I’m not really on TV or on the radio, so I can only reach so many people. Obviously the internet helps a great deal, but even still, I’m not the coolest cat on these blogs right now (laughs). But if someone like a 50 Cent was to try something different and start addressing certain issues in his music, I know it would have a real impact on his listeners because so many people really follow what he does. But that’s the whole conundrum in Hip-Hop right now because I don’t really know what people want, but I still make music because I do feel that I can have a positive effect on people and I feel that there is room for me in today’s Hip-Hop landscape. I don’t know if the masses will ever get sick of only being offered a particular representation of mainstream Hip-Hop music, but I do feel that artists like myself could get to that same level of exposure if people within the industry and the media were willing to push the envelope in order to help us get there. It’s tough because it seems like nowadays we’re pitted against each other in Hip-Hop, like you have to choose a side. But I’m trying to do my part to balance it out.
Ryan Proctor
Buff1 – “Beat The Speakers Up” ( A-Side Worldwide / 2008 )
Old To The New - Ryan Proctor's Beats, Rhymes & Hip-Hop Nostalgia 