BUCK 65 [12:12:07] WHERE IT’S AT Crackling piano loops; parched drum licks; musty mulch-driven beats and rhymes direct from a haunted prairie. This is the world of Buck 65. Richly textured and crooked like the nose of a battered street brawler, the Canadian emcee-cum-poet has just dropped his new album 'Situation'. “I would say that it reflects a part of me. A side of me. But I don't think it's a complete representation of where I am and who I am as an artist at this particular time,” Rich Terfry aka Buck 65 says of the album. “I think the more I learn, the more people I meet and have the opportunity to work with, and the more I live as a person and grow and the more books I read and music I'm exposed to the more ideas I get. And I think it's fair to say that I'm a dilettante. I don't think I'll ever be just one thing. I like to challenge myself. I like to experiment and try out different things. And I'm always interested in collaborating with new people. And that is an important thing to say about this record, it's a collaboration between an old friend of mine Paul 'Scratch' Bastid who's a hip hop DJ. He is an enormous part of the equation when it comes to this record. He's the reason why it's more of a hip hop based record. That's what he brought to it. That can't be overlooked and more of an indication why I would say it's not a full reflection of who I am and where I'm at.” Definitely not a musician coveting the Billboard charts, Buck 65 openly admits to creating beats for himself. If others find joy in his work all the better. “I've never been motivated whatsoever by ideas of fame or wealth. I was always driven to music and all kinds of art as an introverted person just looking for some kind of way to express myself as that introvert and loner person. “It seems to me if I get an idea and I'm feeling inspired and I stop and say 'Will this idea sell? Will this idea get played on the radio? Will this idea be popular'. That just seems like a corruption of inspiration and art. It just feels very wrong to me. So I guess I really need to believe in myself as a creative person and hang on to the hope that if I pursue that as purely and honestly as I can then that's the best thing to do and it'll work.” The Matchstick 'Situation' is out now on Warner Music. Buck 65 plays the Great Northern January 3 and GoMA January 4. back to top ^

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