Kal Banx is a producer from Dallas, Texas. He first made his name by producing tracks on Revenge Of The Dreamers III, before moving on to Isaiah Rashad, SiR, and Smino. He officially became part of Top Dawg Entertainment’s team of in-house producers in 2021. His latest track features Buddy and the aforementioned Smino, who both skate over a smooth beat with a soul sample in the background. Smino’s verse sounds particularly effortless, sounding similar to Krayzie Bone in terms of how he flows on the track. It also features some of Smino’s trademark singing passages. Everything comes together to create a track that would not sound out of place on one of his albums.
“HOP OUT CHO FEELINGS” is the latest appearance for Smino. Earlier this year, he released the singles “Polynesian,” “Nokia,” and “mister misfit but ain’t missed a fit in months.” He claimed in January that he had three albums ready to be released in 2024. However, none of those albums have seen a release yet. His previous album, Luv 4 Rent, was released in October 2022. At the end of 2023, he joined Noname and Saba to premiere a new song by their Ghetto Sage supergroup during Noname’s Tiny Desk Concert. Buddy released his latest album, Don’t Forget To Breathe, this past March. His album also featured Smino, marking their first release together in years. They both appeared on the Revenge Of The Dreamers III‘s track “1993.” As for Kal Banx, the next time fans will probably hear production from him on an album is when Isaiah Rashad’s next release comes. Rashad has yet to announce a release date, but confirmed its existence earlier this year. Stream the new song and watch the music video from Banx, Buddy, and Smino below.
Ooh, thinkin’ ’bout running from air Looking at the Lakers, Assalamualaikum Wa-Alaikum-Salaam, why thank you We’re the realest n***as alive Hi hater, bye hater Bye hater Bye Felicia, not today, not tomorrow either
“Not Like Us” has become the anthem of the year. Kendrick Lamar’s number one single has taken over the airways and the parties, much to the chagrin of its target: Drake. Nowhere is K. Dot’s victory more apparent than the West Coast. Dozens of Los Angeles rappers have played the song at their shows, to the point where it’s become a trend. Buddy recent appeared at an L.A. festival, and the talented emcee decided to bring the house down by dancing to the diss record onstage.
Buddy’s music has a laid back, contemplative feel. This is what made his decision to switch it up such a surprise. The rapper decided to throw on “Not Like Us” in the middle of his show, and the crowd lost its collective mind. Everybody in the audience sang along to the diss, and Buddy loved every moment if it. He can be seen egging the crowd on. At one point, he abandoned rapping and starting dancing on the stage. The only time he used the mic was to join the crowd in chanting the “A minor” punchline that Lamar levels at Drake. The rapper had an absolute blast.
Buddy has been a longtime admirer of Kendrick Lamar. He secured a feature from Lamar on his 2014 mixtape, Idle Time, and has repeatedly credited him as an inspiration. “I’m a big Kendrick fan and that sh*t happened so damn early in my career,” he told The Fader. “Even in Kendrick’s career. He wasn’t the Kendrick he is today when I got the feature. But I was still fully aware of the talent so I was super gung-ho. I figured out my first Backwood and I got a Kendrick feature. It was like a combo.” The rapper has remained close with the other members of Top Dawg Entertainment, as well.
Buddy met Lamar through Pharrell Williams, the artist he signed to back in 2009. Despite maintaining reverence for Pharrell, Buddy has made it clear that Lamar and the entire TDE roster has had a bigger impact on his musical style. During a 2022 interview with Billboard, the rapper revealed that he borrowed a line from Ab-Soul to make his song “Ain’t Fair.” “He said that in a rap back in the day so that was like a little homage to Ab-Soul,” he noted. “Shoutout Ab-Soul.”
As we mentioned recently, we feel that Buddy, California rapper and singer, deserves more recognition and respect in the genre. The steady veteran recently put out his fourth album, Don’t Forget To Breathe, and it might be his best work to date. He is bringing some great rapping with his smooth and confident delivery. It is tied for his longest record, but it is still only 12 songs. Which means there is hardly any room for filler.
Buddy was certainly not playing around on this album, as “Should’ve Known” with Smino and Cedxric is one his best offerings. It is a smooth R&B-like track about dodging vices and moving through roadblocks. This makes it fit right into an LP all about self-improvement. Both rappers deliver great verses, and Buddy beautifully handles the song’s catchy chorus.
Listen To “Should’ve Known” By Buddy, Smino, & Cedxric
“Should’ve known, should’ve known / I been stayin’ out the way / And prayin’ for another day / Wе live on.” Don’t Forget To Breathe was led by two singles up until its release on March 29. “Like This,” which dropped in 2024, and 2023’s groovy “You 2 Thank,” were both great representations of this album. Be sure to check out “Should’ve Known,” as well as the rest of Buddy’s album.
What are your thoughts on this brand-new song, “Should’ve Known,” by Buddy, Smino, and Cedxric? Is this the best track on Don’t Forget To Breathe, why or why not? What is your favorite element of the track and why? Who had the strongest performance on the record? Is this Buddy’s best album in his discography, why or why not? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding Buddy and Smino. Finally, stay with us for the most informative song posts throughout the week.
Quotable Lyrics:
Pretty brown lil’ boo, the motherland of baba ghanoush Told me “Smino, papi, you belong on top, your missionary visionary” Vision-air, I’ll forever be in her gums, good veneers, cemented here So don’t come to me talkin’ about what she said if she isn’t here And I know what I said last night, but I changed Should’ve known, should’ve known
The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.
For all the various permutations hip-hop artists can display, rarely has one demonstrated such tongue-in-cheek self-awareness as Buddy does on “Buddy A Fool,” the fifth track from his newly released third studio album, Don’t Forget To Breathe. Over an airy but propulsive beat by Axl Folie and Royce Millennium, Buddy lists off a variety of the quirky behaviors that make Buddy, Buddy. “That n**** Buddy is nice / I seen him out the other night / He asked if he could borrow a light / That ni**** Buddy be high / I texted but he didn’t reply / I heard he got a DUI.” (I can’t speak to all of it, but a great deal is one-hundred percent accurate, as I learned while working on this piece.)
Buddy has always been unusual among rappers. Unlike many, he’s been performing since before he was a teen thanks to his attendance of Amazing Grace Conservatory. When he was just 15, he was signed to Pharrell Williams’ now-defunct I Am Other label. When that fell through, he landed at RCA, where he dropped a string of spacey, jazz-inflected meditations on his unusual upbringing including the collaborative EPs Ocean & Montana and Magnolia before dropping his official debut Harlan & Alondra nearly 10 years after his first record deal.
Although it’s now considered an absolute classic in some circles, the album’s lukewarm commercial performance curtailed RCA’s support for its 2022 follow-up Superghetto, and Buddy left the label, opting to remain independent and release Don’t Forget To Breathe through the Bay Area-based independent label EMPIRE. As it turns out, this was the best decision he could have made. For the first time, Buddy is allowed to just be Buddy on one of his albums, without the pressure to concede to commercial demands or industry expectations. Pardon me, I’m about to get expansive.
The recording industry, like the world around it, tends to look to categorize artists based on their circumstances and its preconceived notions of people from those circumstances. TL;DR: The music business doesn’t know what to do with Black folks who don’t fit the stereotype. Buddy, a rapper from Compton, doesn’t rap much about gangbanging and selling drugs, ergo, he doesn’t fit in with the expectations of a rapper from Compton. Even Kendrick Lamar, our erstwhile neighbor, digresses into tales of the trauma wrought by the effects of white flight and decades of divestment in the once flourishing community.
And while Buddy, like many of us, is scarred by his experiences, he unpacks his hangups in a more relaxed atmosphere, under a haze of THC-laced smoke — it’s more dream therapy than Kenny’s scream therapy. On “Free My Mind,” the album’s disarmingly mellow intro, Buddy details some of the bruises he’s collected since his last dispatch. “I was super ghetto at first / Redefined myself, left the label, bettered my worth / I could sign myself / Still go through real life shit / My daddy almost died, house exploded right before that Portugal trip.” His discursive musings range from the surreal (“How’d I lose that Rolex Presidential?) to the mundane malaise of everyday life (“Still stuck, only difference is I ain’t on Central”).
Relationship troubles? Just like anyone, Buddy would rather leave those later, pleading with his lady on “Talk About It” to save it for the morning when he’s in a better mood. When he feels like showboating, he calls up rising Long Beach native Huey Briss to trade boastful verse on “Got Me Started.” And his aspirations shine on “All The Way,” where he recounts the grind and vows to make it worth it for his mom. The honesty and vulnerability that Buddy displays here have always hummed through the vibey tunes he released in the past, but here, Buddy’s looser, more relaxed, unconstrained by any remits to recoup.
Accordingly, the music is also 100 percent reflective of his eclectic, soulful tastes. Chunky bass lines buzz under warm piano chords, jazzy drum rolls, and alluring brass. As much as Don’t Forget To Breathe sounds like a weed-enhanced therapy session, its instrumentation sounds like a jazz troupe’s late-night jam session, a laid-back, anything-goes musical conversation between players who like each other as much as they like showing off for each other. Meanwhile, the final song is the most upbeat; “You 2 Thank” adopts an of-the-moment afrobeats rhythm, giving Buddy a celebratory canvas to delight in stepping into his next phase, lighter, freer, more grounded than ever. The pressure is gone and he’s breathing free.
Don’t Forget To Breathe is out now via EMPIRE. Get more info here.
Buddy, a Compton, California rapper and singer, is someone we feel does not get enough praise. He has some underrated solo hits, as well as some fun features. He has been a steady veteran in the genre for about seven years now and has consistently dropped solid projects. The same can be said about Buddy this time around too with Don’t Forget To Breathe.
This is now the fourth LP from him and his first since 2022. In fact, it was nearly two years to the day that Buddy put out Superghetto. That was a star-studded release, which included features from Tinashe, Blxst, T-Pain, and Ari Lennox. The guests on Don’t Forget To Breathe are nothing to sneeze at either. Buddy tapped BJ The Chicago Kid, Smino, Kent Jamz, and more.
Up until Don’t Forget To Breathe dropping, Buddy put out two promotional tracks. The first of the pair was “You 2 Thank,” which we had the chance to cover. Then, he put out the album’s biggest hit so far, which is “Like This.” It is a chill track that exudes themes of chasing your dreams and locking in to focus on yourself. Buddy is delivering very-well produced and performed cuts across the tight 12-song, 35-minute long tape.
What are your thoughts on this brand-new album, Don’t Forget To Breathe, by Buddy? Is this the rapper’s best project of his career, why or why not? What songs are you gravitating toward and why? Who had the strongest guest performance on the record? What is the best song on the record and why? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding Buddy. Finally, stay with us for everything the most informative project posts throughout the week.
Don’t Forget To Breathe Tracklist:
Free My Mind
Like This
Do Thangs
Talk About It (feat. Kent Jamz & BJ The Chicago Kid)
Grammy-nominated artist and actor Buddy has released his long-awaited studio album, Don’t Forget To Breathe, under EMPIRE. The album’s title holds both literal and figurative significance, reminding listeners, including Buddy himself, to pause, reflect, and appreciate the present moment.
The album, featuring 12 tracks, encapsulates Buddy’s carefree demeanor and encourages mindfulness. Collaborations with Kent Jamz, BJ The Chicago Kid, Smino, and others add depth and diversity to the project, setting a positive tone for the year ahead.
Don’t Forget To Breathe marks Buddy’s debut as an independent artist following his successful album “SuperGhetto,” which garnered 42.4 million total streams and contributed to his impressive career total of nearly 1 billion streams. With its feel-good vibes and introspective themes, Buddy’s latest release is poised to captivate fans and critics alike.
Contrary to popular belief, rappers – and hip-hop fans at large – have always been nerds. Look no further for proof than Wu-Tang Clan, ostensible stalwarts of hardcore, no-frills, gun-grime-and-crime street rap, who also chose a number of aliases from the world of Marvel Comics. Now, “nerds” isn’t here to demean anybody; after all, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo deliberately reclaimed the term for hip-hop heads with the name of both their experimental rock project, N.E.R.D., and their label, Star Trak (a direct reference to the OG geek obsession, Star Trek).
But just in case none of that was enough to convince you that hip-hop culture and geekdom are as inextricably tied together these days as politics and corruption, just look at the outpouring of admiration, grief, and respect from rappers and their fans for the late Japanese comics creator, Akira Toriyama, upon the news of his death last week — and for his unintended but undeniable contributions to the culture through his best-known work, Dragon Ball. Incidentally, I wrote just last month about the sprawling impact of anime on hip-hop, and much of that — I’m talking a good 80 percent or better — is very likely due to the popularity of Dragon Ball. Toriyama may well have created the most hip-hop anime of all time.
Oakland rapper Guapdad 4000 summed it up best in his extensive tribute to Toriyama on Twitter when he wrote, “NGL, Toriyama passing feel like I lost a real family member. This shit worse than when Micheal Jackson died.” Some version of this sentiment was shared across the rap landscape, from the expected, like Thundercat, who once paid tribute to the series with his tongue-in-cheek single “Dragonball Durag,” to the more subtle, like Big Sean recording a freestyle verse with the film Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ on television in the background.
That foundational love for the franchise permeated each of the conversations I had with rappers ranging from Grammy favorite Cordae to Top Dawg Entertainment mainstay Isaiah Rashad to my fellow Comptonite Buddy. Although Dragon Ball isn’t ostensibly about hip-hop, nor most of the subjects with which rap music historically concerns itself, all of them considered the franchise a profound inspiration to their lives and art. Even beyond that, they each saw a reflection of themselves in characters like Goku and Vegeta, who they even likened to the fractious history of Blackness in America.
Just in case you have by some chance been stranded on a desert island with only a volleyball for company for the past thirty years, Dragon Ball is one of the most successful Japanese entertainment franchises of all time. It encompasses comics (manga), animated television shows and movies (anime), video games, which Cordae calls his introduction to the franchise, and mountains of merch from t-shirts (oft-derided in the early days) to action figures, accessories, and even cafes in its native Japan where fans could dine on themed cuisine inspired by the aesthetics dreamed up by Akira Toriyama over the franchise’s 31-year history.
Toriyama had previously worked on a book called Dr. Slump before creating Dragon Ball in 1984 out of a desire to write a kung-fu shonen (or boys’) manga. Shonen manga revolve around action and adventure tales about heroes who often hold goals of self-improvement and being “the best” at something or finding some MacGuffin. Dragon Ball, loosely based on the Chinese classical novel Journey To The West, has the best of both in the form of protagonist Son Goku, who searches for the seven titular balls that will grant the holder one wish from a mighty dragon.
The manga became so popular that it spawned five anime series, the second of which, Dragon Ball Z, was aired in the US twice. The first time, in syndication, it garnered a small but loyal fanbase despite numerous edits for content and a season order that cut off in the midpoint of the second season (a source of unending frustration for this writer). However, in 1998, the show began running on Cartoon Network’s afternoon Toonami programming block, increasing the show’s popularity stateside tremendously. It was many American children’s first experience with the concept of “anime” as Japanese cartoons.
After a redubbed airing continued the story beyond that original loop of 53 episodes, anime became an obsession at an unheard-of scale. This is the one most of the rappers I interviewed were most familiar with, but Cordae admits to being a fan even of the widely derided sequel series Dragon Ball GT. “I know a lot of people shit on GT, but that sh*t was tight to me,” he maintains. “I remember I watched Bio-Broly. That was one of the first movies I got from Blockbuster!” Still, DBZ is such an important part of his life, he’s even wearing a T-shirt in his breakout video for “My Name Is.”
Meanwhile, Toriyama’s distinctive character designs – those square eyes, that spiky hair – graced the graphics of a handful of popular video game franchises throughout the rest of the ‘90s and early 2000s. Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger are popular in their own rights, with many gamers holding them among the best of their genre and generation. Still, Dragon Ball and its sequels and spinoffs remain Toriyama’s best-known and most beloved works – especially when it comes to hip-hop.
Buddy recalled catching the show at home (off of Harlan and Alondra, the two streets after which he named his 2018 debut album) on Toonami, “fresh from playing basketball outside, hoopin’, skatin’, climbing trees.” Describing his recipe for the ultimate syrup sandwich, he says he watched Dragon Ball Z, Inuyasha, and Cowboy Bebop in the afternoons. “Goku was my favorite, ‘cause that n**** be kickin’ ass and makin’ friends,” he enthuses. “Everybody he beat up, he’s homies with!”
Today, multiple rappers litter their rhymes with phrases from the show such as “going Super Saiyan,” a reference to a power some of the franchise’s characters can tap into to reach an empowered state complete with a flaming aura and golden hair. Florida rapper Denzel Curry name-checks Senzu beans — a restorative food eaten by the Dragon Ball heroes — and Broly, a villain from the 11th film, Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan on 2015’s “Ultimate,” his breakout hit. Chance The Rapper throws out a reference to both the Super Saiyan state and one of the franchise’s many sidekick characters, Krillin, in his 2016 song “Blessings.”
Big Sean once fanned out when he and his mother met Sean Schemmel, the American voice actor for Goku and several other characters on Dragon Ball Z. Thundercat, best known for his work with Kendrick Lamar, recruited Guapdad 4000 and rapper Smino to rap on the “Dragonball Durag” remix in 2020. The video for the song sees ‘Cat trying to woo the Haim sisters adorning with the eponymous hair accessory and the resulting repulsion of (most) of his targets — a reference to the confusion faced by the franchise’s earliest American adopters.
There’s still some of that old embarrassment lingering through some of my conversations with the rappers, even though we’re all here for the same thing. Isaiah Rashad apologizes for “nerding out,” but needs very little encouragement to continue doing so. Mostly, though, these are some of the most enthusiastic interviews I’ve had in seven years at Uproxx. Ask rappers questions about the music, you might get one-word answers; ask them about Akira Toriyama and the impact that Dragon Ball has had on them, it’s like they ate a Senzu bean.
Even as Rashad frets that his musing gone too far afield, he credits his exposure to the wider world through Dragon Ball and other anime. They gave him an outgoing curiosity for other cultures – even ones that weren’t strictly connected to the franchise. “When you grow up in a Black household,” he says, “What your parents like, you like. So when you see something else that you really respect as much as you respect people that look like you… that got me into all kinds of different music like funk, live renditions of the music… I got hella influences. I love Thai funk. Dragon Ball is how I got into a lot of that.”
The aspects of the show that draw such energetic admiration from these entertainers vary as widely as their approaches to rap. Buddy loves the bond between the green alien Piccolo and Goku’s son Gohan, who takes up the battle to save the earth from extraterrestrial threats after his father’s death (don’t worry, he gets better). “I loved watching Piccolo and Gohan bond,” he gushes. “Uncle Piccolo, raising Gohan in the wilderness, training him, making sure he was book smart.”
Meanwhile, Cordae found himself fascinated by the world-building in an arc involving intergalactic supervillain Frieza. “It was like a caste system of just how you got your lower level, just army guys with the guns,” he explains. “Then you got your Dodoria, Zarbon, then you got your Ginyu Force. I just love the clear pecking order of how strong everybody was.” He says that Dragon Ball Z “was the one anime that was socially acceptable in the hood. When people ask me, am I an anime head? I’m like, ‘Nah, I just like the n**** anime, bro, just like Naruto and Dragon Ball Z.’”
A common throughline is how much the world of Dragon Ball reflects social issues, despite being technically apolitical. Cordae compares the Saiyans to Black Americans, calling Frieza a racist for his treatment of the group, which he employs as enforcers to carry out his dirty work. Buddy makes the same comparison to the planet Namek, which Piccolo calls home. Rashad notes that the prolific variety of character types and species made them relatable because “you didn’t know what the f*ck they was, you just know they was cool-looking.”
But sometimes, the love for Dragon Ball and Akira Toriyama was as simple as giving young Black kids something to do when it felt like America didn’t provide very many other options – let alone ones enforcing positive messages about getting stronger, turning enemies into friends, and never giving up no matter the odds. As Guapdad put it in his loving tribute to Toriyama, “Dragon Ball Z literally saved me from just going back outside and ending up a street n****. I know this sounds like a stretch but I’m not kidding bruh. Toonami played it right when the streetlights came on.”
I asked everybody I interviewed for this piece what they’d want to tell Toriyama given the chance. Rather than words, they all shared another similar sentiment. “I would give him a big ass hug,” says Cordae. “I’d try to draw him, embrace my inner eight-year-old,” Rashad echoes. “I wouldn’t say anything,” Buddy admits. “I’d give him a fist bump. Then a side hug. And then it’d be an obsessed grab with a head on the shoulder.” They all say they’d tell him “thank you.”
Thank you for creating a world we could escape to. Thank you for giving us characters we could relate to. Thank you for inspiring our creativity, for expanding our horizons, and for telling us there is no limit to the power inside of us if we only keep pushing. Thank you for one hell of an adventure.
Buddy, the acclaimed rapper, has unveiled his latest single, “Like This,” now available via EMPIRE. In this track, he presents a classic, relaxed anthem infused with a G Funk beat, weaving vivid imagery of a day out West. With lyrics depicting cruising in his whip with the top down, Buddy invites listeners to join him in reflection on a good day.
“Like This” showcases Buddy’s signature style, both in performance and writing, as he effortlessly crafts a narrative that transports listeners to the sun-soaked streets of the West. Produced by Kaelin Elis, the track embodies the essence of laid-back California vibes while maintaining Buddy’s distinct sound.
