"Life is Not a Monolithic Thing": The Unpredictable Music of EB
IDK WUT?!
cover art, designed by EB
There's been a lot of talk recently about up-and-coming musicians skirting traditional pathways into the music industry by finding fame online instead. Emmanuel Buachie, an independent musician from Norfolk, Virginia, thinks this phenomenon is nothing new. On a Zoom interview with me in October, Buachie explains that there has been a clear divide between mainstream music and independent music since the internet began, and he feels that the surge of musicians finding notoriety from apps like TikTok is merely a part of "loops that happen again and again" in the music industry. Small, independent artists getting famous on social media is often treated as earth-shatteringly novel, but Buachie says that technological and social developments have always driven changes in the music industry, and that "the best thing a person can do is evolve" to whatever new technology is shepherding the next cycle.
He would know — he has been on the internet a long time. Buachie, whose stage name is EB, was making commentary videos on YouTube in 2015 when he noticed an exodus of commentary Youtubers towards music production, inspiring Buachie to begin producing music himself. Six years later, now eighteen years old, Buachie has a surprisingly extensive discography. His first release was an EP titled Golliwog in 2018, followed by three albums and several singles. He writes, records, and produces his music himself, often collaborating with other independent artists.
On Zoom, Buachie is eager to discuss his work, gesturing enthusiastically and referring to a list of things he wants to make sure he mentions. This same passion is palpable in his music. He describes his style as "experimental, alternative hip hop/rap," but his list of inspirations tells a more nuanced story: A Tribe Called Quest, Queen, MF DOOM, Radiohead, Moby, Kendrick Lamar, Stevie Wonder, The Roots, and Earl Sweatshirt, among others. This array of eras and genres is a result of his commitment to the unexpected, always trying to surprise the listener with where his music goes and surprise the onlooker with where his life goes.
A freshman at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, Buachie hasn't decided on a major yet — for the moment, his inclination to dabble has overtaken, and he's "not stressing about that right now." Instead, he wants to explore one of his many passions: film. When listing influences in his creative process, he includes directors like Bong Joon-ho and Wes Anderson, citing their movies as instrumental in discovering his own course as an artist. Film directors like Bong and Anderson may seem out of place in an inventory of muses for a musician, but their inclusion is a testament to Buachie's ability to find inspiration anywhere.
Books have also greatly impacted Buachie's work. The first book that came to mind as his favorite was The Wretched of The Earth by Frantz Fanon, a seminal revolutionary text which outlines the repercussions of colonization, nationalism, and imperialism, offering solutions in the form of decolonization. "I really like his politics and everything he shows us through the book," Buachie said of Fanon's groundbreaking political and psychological analysis.
Political commentary appears throughout Buachie's discography, most notably in the song "Skin Glowin' When My Headspace Low," which was released in June of 2020 amidst the Black Lives Matter protests. The song explores how racism has negatively affected his self-esteem as a Black man. The lyrics condemn Western education for limiting the power of Black people, teaching them to "hate us when our skin glowing." Buachie also reprimands "performative hypocrites" in his song "U Talk 2 Much!", referencing people who claim to be on the side of racial justice but whose action extends only so far as posting black squares on Instagram. "There are a lot of people doing very performative stuff online, to go ahead and get attention," Buachie remarks, mirroring his muttered comment at the end of "U Talk 2 Much!" — "Not everyone wants to hear your terrible opinions on Twitter, alright?"
Immediately following his contemplation of revolutionary politics, Buachie dove into reverential praise of Where The Wild Things Are, the children's picture book by Maurice Sendak. This wide-ranging assortment of motivations and interests is reflected in his music, which keeps the listener on their toes from track to track and from album to album. Buachie says his style has evolved over time, from the "terrible synth beats" he used to rap over to more fluid, polished pieces. As he experiments with pacing and sound, each project seems progressively more at ease, as if he is settling into his craft. His most recent album, Idk Wut?!, feels reminiscent of a more relaxed Tyler, the Creator at times, peppered with bouncy beats, heady backing vocals, and staccato rap verses.
In an effort to reach as many people as possible, Buachie puts his music onto every music platform and streaming service he can find. However, like many independent artists, he has qualms with Spotify's business model. Despite being one of the largest music platforms on the internet, Spotify pays musicians very little, making it difficult for smaller artists to jumpstart their careers. Buachie understands that Spotify's free service is accessible, but he disagrees with their treatment of artists and how they handle appeals for more compensation: "If you're trying to approach a big corporation like Spotify for change, they're barely gonna budge because they already have a system that's already been working for the past couple of years." Instead, he hopes more people will use services like Bandcamp, which allows musicians to control how much their music costs. Fans can support their favorite artists by paying more, or by buying merch directly. This approach gives more agency to artists rather than to large corporations profiting off of the power of the internet.
Although he is frustrated with some aspects of music production in the burgeoning digital era, the internet has given Buachie his most important community in the form of an online collective called Manipulated Records. The collective is a group of artists who work together over social media to help each other create, publish, and circulate their work. The members have, for the most part, never met in person, but their support system is still strong. In Manipulated Records, Buachie has found musical partners, graphic designers, editors, and friends, all of which he credits as invaluable in his creative approach, characterized as a "massive collaboration process." Having a welcoming group of people with common interests and challenges helps up-and-coming artists like Buachie pool resources and energy, giving each other both expertise and moral support.
Starting college has provided even more opportunities for connections. Buachie feels that the new environment has helped him "get out of [his] comfort zone and get out of that box that [he’s] imposed on [him]self." The abundance of artists at VCU and in the surrounding Richmond community has encouraged him to reach out to as many people as possible, an effort that culminated in his first live performance on October 8th. He performed outside in front of a captivated audience, who danced and cheered as he fervently rapped. After producing music at home for nearly five years, presenting his work for a crowd was a completely different experience. "It motivates me to see people actually listening to you, actually taking every word, every lyric and really understanding you," he said. He plans to perform more outside, preferring the open air as it gives him a chance to "jump around a lot," but he wants to mix it up as much as possible.
This desire to branch out extends into his goals for the future. "One of the main things that I've always wanted to do since I was a child was put myself in every field of entertainment that there was," he said. "I was always musically inclined throughout my childhood, I just never tapped into it. So once I started talking to a couple of people online, it really inspired my process." In the short term, he's learning to play piano to add to his repertoire of instruments, which currently includes the trumpet heard in the background of some of his tracks. In the long-term, he wants to enter the filmmaking world, writing and directing movies that intentionally do not fit into typical categories. He refuses to let himself or his work be defined by a single genre because "life is not one single genre. It's a mix of everything. You know, it's tragedy, drama, comedy, mystery, romance, everything. Life is not a monolithic thing."
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