B3auu
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2015 | SELF
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February 11, 2015
[INTERVIEW]: Bo$quiat Clique
I should start by saying that I’m not that familiar with independent hip-hop in the same way that I may know the “indie music scene”. They’re two very different communities, but a lot of it has to do with how one of the two isn’t so much a description of music, but rather an entire culture.
I received a different answer from each member when asking Hamilton rap crew Bo$quiat Clique “What is hip-hop to you?”, – however, there was an overall agreement that it’s something beyond words.
The Clique’s EJ Grant, focuses on its uniqueness: “Hip-hop is a culture, man. It’s a culture about creating originality. It’s the diversity that it can really show. Hip-hop has more diversity than any other genre, and that’s what’s amazing; it’s an actual culture…”.
I think that’s the key difference between something like the garage music scene and the hip-hop music scene; a lot of the artists in the garage community wouldn’t necessarily see it as a “whole culture”. In saying that, I mean the way that one presents themselves onstage doesn’t necessarily have to be who they really are (think King Kahn). The idea of performance is a bit different here, because hip-hop is something that tries to get to a deeper sense of identity.
EJ continues: “…especially with the poetry behind it, and how everything coincides. It’s this unbelievable, speechless feeling that you get from it. Just what the person’s saying, how they’ saying it, the attitude that they bring to it – it really presents people’s character and it really shows who that someone is as a person.”
Main producer and rapper, B3auu (think “ ‘beau’-tiful), talks about hip hop’s power as a teaching tool: “It’s like how Pac wanted to be a journalist or a poet or some shit to reach young black kids, but he couldn’t really do that and be free and let alone young and black. So the next best thing was to be an MC because that’s the only way mothafucka’s are gonna hear your message.”
Being the one who’s the newest to making hip-hop out of all the members of the Clique, 88 Flow keeps it simple. “Hip-Hop is new to me. The culture, the deep, deep roots that you guys have shown me [referring to B3auu and EJ] – pump some Big L, pump some Biggie, pump some Nas’ – I’m a man who come’ up on Dancehall, and little bit of Gucci Mane cause’ I have older siblings. That’s what it is for me man, music’s in my soul.”
Bo$quiat Clique have been making music for some time now and have put out an impressive amount of material. With each of the different members having their own solo mixtape (88 Flow’s Foreign Waves and Foreign Waves 2, EJ’s Grant’s From the 90s, and B3auu’s YEBO) as well as group mixtapes. Currently, they’re working on a new body of work called CLIQO, and these guys are on a serious grind to make music.
EJ’s confidence is charming: “We really want to attack 2015, especially with this project. We’ve been working on it for over a year. This project is an album and we really want to attack on shows, get on the platform, and get it out – ya’ know, really connect with the people. We’re gonna step it up a notch, so all the producers and rappers, they gotta step it up too.”
B3auu adds: “We’ve been droppin’ mixtapes and singles for a while, but we haven’t dropped a Bo$ project in a long time. And that’s the exciting part about about it”.
The Clique got set in motion when EJ was working with Ulterior Motives Street Crew (USMC), and ended up bringing B3auu and 88 into the project. Their first Mixtape MDMA, (“Music Defines My Attitude”), was their first attempt at getting into the scene back in 2012.
EJ: “Over the span of like 3 days, we made the whole thing. We just broke it out from like 8 in the morning to late at night… We started getting known like crazy. Our first single “Real Fucked Up” , and that shit just blew, like, unexpectedly.”
Despite the success, the three of them started to hit a rough patch with the head of UMSC as well as a fourth member of the group who’s mixtape hadn’t done as well as their single. Shortly after, 88 put forth the idea of the three of them working together and calling it Bo$quiat Clique.
“It’s from Jean Michel Basquiat, you know about him, right?”
“Yeah, I was wondering about Basquiat, how does that come into play?”
88 responds: “Well we all have different views on it, we’re artists, just young black artists who are trying to make somethin’ dope, that’s what it means to me.”
To B3auu, the names stems from the idea of going against the grain, to make something others might not. “Right now,” he says “hip hop is taught. The one who’s poppin’ is teachin’ everybody else, that’s what Bo$quiat is, is creating originality.”
Bo$quiat’s sound is definitely original. The melodies just flow overtop sometimes minimalistic drumbeats. B3auu’s production on tracks like “Real Fucked Up” or “Nothing” take light airy synths and pitched up vocal samples to give a woozy feel to the tracks. The production could be compared to something like Mount Kimbie or Clams Casino, but B3auu wouldn’t say he’s a producer that follows trends. “My production’s totally based on ‘What sound can I create for people to follow?’… I feel strongly about that…. If you’re listener you admire and if you’re a rapper you admire too but you’re like ‘fuck, I wish I had that sound”.
“So is this a Canadian sound?” I ask, noting that they’ve included a maple leaf in their logo.
B3auu responds, “I wouldn’t say we have a Canadian sound, I’d say it’s something that’s trying to shape Canadian sound. I remember I was driving in the city yesterday, it was like 3 p.m. and I was driving bumpin’ our shit, and I just felt that it was like, daytime in Hamilton. Bright, you know? … It just felt like the sound that belongs up here.”
Even though we were talking over the phone, I could tell that there was a genuine charisma and relaxed attitude to these guys. These are the dudes you could party pretty hard with, but they’d also be down to just chill and watch some Dragonball Z. When I tell them I haven’t watched much of it, they’re all stunned.
“What?!”
“Yeah, I only saw up to the Frieza series” I explain.
Usually, I only get this kind of reaction when I tell people I haven’t seen all three Star Wars movies.
“You missed out on Cell Saga? Cell Saga was super sick!”
88 is a big fan: “Yeah man, I watch that shit every fuckin’ day. 8 o’clock at night, I’m not missing that shit.”
Their love of something like Dragonball Z reminds me that Bo$quiat Clique are rappers who’s key focus is authenticity and honesty, but not in the guns and drugs way that a lot of people associate with hip-hop.
In an interview, Stitches (the batshit insane trap rapper from Florida) reminds us that everything he talks about is from his own life, mainly his love of selling assloads of cocaine. Bo$quiat have a similar approach, but they refuse to be lumped in with that kind of attitude. 88 Flow addresses that directly in “Pray for Y’all”, where he asks those younger than him to avoid the same mistakes he’s seen others make.
When I asked him why he made the track, I imagined him shrugging his shoulders: “It is what it is man. A lot of shit’s going on with these kids right now. No OG’s talkin to em, so it’s just like, I can do that with my record so when some of the little niggas look up to me in a certain way… I’m just trying to do my best, just do better.”
When asking them about a greater message, EJ was happy to respond: “Just be yourselves, be free. Don’t worry about what’s going on around you. I struggle with it, everyone struggles with it. At the end of the day, you gotta try and be firm and stand your ground, and just be that nigga.”
B3auu likens the idea of staying true to one’s self to more emotional rappers like Drake: “Drake came up, and every was trying to throw all this shit at Drake, like “aw, Drake’s so soft, Drake’s all this”, you know?” If he didn’t stand up and be like, “this is me”… If people are gonna try and change us we gotta stand firm.”
“If you’re yourself, who the fuck’s the competition?”
For more information check out Bo$ Clique’s website. - Graham F. Caldwell
Hamilton, ON – Looks like the homies in the Bo$quiat Clique crew have shortened their name to Bo$ Clique. And along with the name-change comes some new visuals for the track “Why Pre” (featuring Low Ke) off 88flow’s Foreign Waves 2 project.
This track features that signature smooth-vibing B3auu production, along with some pretty hungry bars. Each MC takes on a verse to throw shade at the cats who get up in other cats’ business for all of the wrong reasons. Also, hi T.Y. (aka: Yours Truly, T.Y.). I see you doing your thing over there. Check out the video after the jump.
Bo$ Clique - Why Pre ft. Low Ke (Prod. B3auu) [Video] - HipHopCanada.com
88flow starts it off and gets right to the point: “Why these n*ggas pree?/ Don’t watch me.” Then EJ Grant puts on a bit of flex: “Ladies come to me/ When they heart need surgery.” He also verses about his own personal progression in the rap scene. Seems like the dude is pretty stoked on his current position in the game. But he’s also questioning the cats who are only starting to pay attention to him now. It’s an indirect shout-out to the day-one fans.
B3auu takes on the third verse and plugs his Twitter account (go follow him at @B3auu, people!). He also stresses the importance of personal privacy. Oh, and check his Raptors tee. So fresh. Low Ke wraps it up with a short final verse. And then the track ends. And y’all will never want to pree on the Bo$ boys again.
I mean, there’s a difference between being a supportive fan and being a jerk-faced troller. This song sets it off on the jerk-faced trollers. If you’ve got enough time to nose around the business of your fellow MCs, you’re not hustling hard enough. So quit nosing around and get back on your own grind. - Sarah Sussman
B3auu who is one third of the Canadian hip hop trio Bosquiat Clique just released his 2nd solo effort “YEBO”. He’s an emcee and producer who has been making some great music these past years with his partners EJ Grant and 88flow. The beats are smooth and something you can vibe too with a variety of subject matter. Make sure to take in the tape below - Roger Kimbeni
Hamilton, ON – Bo$quiat Clique recently dropped their latest track “You Know Us,” which is set to appear on their forthcoming spring album entitled CliQo. Upon first listen to this this track – produced by B3auu- that dutifully nods to the golden era of ’70s funk, the wonderful sample of Kool & The Gang’s “Summer Madness” sets apart the Bo$quiat Clique’s sound from anything else coming out of the North.
In today’s continually shifting hip-hop scene, the laid back, De La Soul –reminiscent flow of “You Know Us” sounds as if it could be flowing from the mouths of one of New York’s many third-eye and ’90s-throw back obsessed rap troupes. Instead, the Bo$quiat Clique delivers a distinctly Canadian flow that hears them prepping us for what is sure to be an unforgettable summer to come. Check it out below.
Pushing lyrics like “Tasha, Debbie, Aaliyah/ I’m on stage and they all paid to see ya,” the Bo$quiat Clique members emblazon their rhymes with a fast-paced flow and funky beats that are sure to take hip-hop lovers back to the early days of Will Smith and Jazzy Jeff’s careers.
Their playful raps about women and haters have them sounding like members of the Native Tongues Posse, decades removed. With these groovy rhymes that glamourize the thrill of performing and the beauty of the female figure alike, the Bo$quiat Clique easily secure the title of some of the funkiest music producers coming out of Canada. - Brandon Bastaldo
Hamilton, ON – Remember back in September when T.Y. teamed up with the Bo$ Clique fam to drop that dope track titled “Hate”? Well our dudes just hit us with a fresh released video to accompany the track.
T.Y. is gearing up to launch a new album next year, so he did a weekly T.Y. Tuesday series earlier on this year to get us listening to his new tunes. At first the series was just a bunch of T.Y. remixes. But then he pulled a whammy on us by teaming up with the Bo$ boys (88Flow, B3auu and EJ Grant) for this hot original track. The song features old school-influenced production, courtesy of Joel Johnston. It’ll take you back into the ’90s and have you vibing out in no time.
T.Y. - Hate ft. Bo$ Clique [Video] - HipHopCanada.com
The video was directed by Primitive Mike. Mike’s been doing a bunch of videos for the Bo$ Clique lately, and I always love how he puts things together. His visuals are always carefree and minimalistic. He doesn’t shoot these elaborate weird irrelevant story lines. Instead, he puts the artists in the spotlight and lets them do their thing. It’s natural, and it’s hilarious. Like when T.Y.’s on his verse at 1:23 and says “We all eatin’ dinner.” And EJ Grant video bombs him with a dramatic pretend-eating cameo.
Real talk, though: some artists kill their reputations by releasing music videos. They go as low-budget as possible and end up ruining a perfectly good track with a really amateur video. But when I watch videos for T.Y. or Bo$ Clique, I always feel like the visuals take the art to that next level. You know what I mean? I fangirled out when the audio for this track dropped. And now that there’s a video for it too, I’m downright overheated. - Sarah Sussman
Discography
1: MDMA 2012 - http://www.datpiff.com/UMSC-UMSC-MDMA-mixtape.353457.html
2: STAY HIPPIE LIVE TRILL: 2013 - http://www.datpiff.com/Bosquiat-Clique-Stay-Hippie-Live-Trill-mixtape.469689.html
3: FOREIGN WAVES: http://www.audiomack.com/album/boquiat-clique/foreign-waves
4: FROM THE 90S: http://www.audiomack.com/album/boquiat-clique/from-the-90s
5: YEBO: http://www.audiomack.com/album/boquiat-clique/yebo
6: FOREIGN WAVES 2: http://www.audiomack.com/album/boquiat-clique/foreign-waves-2
7: CLIQO [SPRING 2015]
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