Last time on Scenes, St. Petersburg hip-hop group Nü Age Syndicate kicked off the season with their refreshing sense of individuality and style. In this new episode, we’re featuring Van Buren Records, a Brockton, MA-based hip-hop entourage that have a lot to show the world.
“Van Buren Records is a brotherhood — a collective of thirteen strong, independent, hungry Black men from Massachusetts trying to make a way,” explained one member named Ricky Felix. “Confidence plays a big role.” Along with confidence, the group uses their connections with each other to their advantage, thriving together as a whole while simultaneously treasuring their individuality. Each of them has something to bring to the table, which was obvious on their 2021 debut album Bad For Press.
“There’s a lot of different personalities,” another member, Meech Bold, added. “Van Buren is deeper than rap and it’s just beautiful to be a part of that, as you can see.” Their chemistry is evident, and it definitely helps that they all make sure to prioritize artistic freedom above everything else. Each of them has clocked time in all sorts of different projects, but Van Buren is where they can come together and express themselves in a new, refreshing way.
Meet the Van Buren Records crew in the video above, and keep an eye out for future Scenes episodes.
Van Buren Records continues to show why they are one of the most talented rap collectives in the game today with their new video for “Foul.” Lyricists Luke Bar$, Meech Bold, Jiles, and Felix rap from the side of their homes, their bedrooms, and anywhere they please really; despite the changes in scenery, there is no falloff in their delivery.
“Foul” is a welcome reminder of how great posse cuts have been throughout hip-hop’s history, and it doesn’t even feature all of their members. Van Buren Records also includes rappers Andrew Regis, Saint Lyor, and Invada. Thus, even when not all full strength, they still put on a star-making performance.
“Foul” arrives with Van Buren’s announcement of their forthcoming album DSM, which they are calling the album of the year. DSM is set to arrive on September 9 and follows the Brockton collective’s 2021 debut album Bad For Press, highlighted by the records “Medic,” “Braindead,” and “Relax.” They also shared the EP Black Wall Street which was anchored by “Cash Rules” and “Cult” later that year. With a record like “Foul,” one can only imagine what is in store come release time for DSM.
Check out Van Buren Records’ new video for “Foul” above.
DSM is out 9/9 via Van Buren and Good Partners. Pre-order it here.
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.
Collaboration is nothing without chemistry. It’s why when a superstar athlete joins a new team, critics question if success will be attained or things will crumble into failure. When a group effort sees each member recognizing and making up for one another’s weaknesses, more times than not, art in its most beautiful form arrives, leaving its consumers to stand starry-eyed to take in the new experience. Elsewhere, doubters rush to eat their words in an attempt to hide them and avoid having to own up to their wrongs. It’s this excellent chemistry in collaboration that lives on Van Buren Records’ debut album, Bad For Press.
The thirteen-track effort compiles some of the best hip-hop talents Massachusetts has to offer. The heavy-muscled collective includes names like Luke Bars and Saint Lyor, who both caught attention in 2020 for their respective GoodEvil and If My Sins Could Talk. Jiles is the epitome of a flower blooming in a dark room, as his sinister verses both rattle and enthrall listeners. Meech, Andrew Regis, and Lord Felix punch jaws and dizzy minds with their bars while Ricky Felix and Kiron create the ideal landscape for the rappers to go berzerk in.
Bad For Press arrives with a “yeah, so what?” sneer from the Van Buren collective. Suits & ties with smiles never fit the group’s desired aesthetic like a mean mug and slight tilt of the head do. Just two songs into the project, “Braindead” captures the groups overwhelming audacity towards anything that steps before them. Lyor’s straight-faced hook delivers a message within the words that menacingly leave his mouth: this is not a group you want to spar with. Similar sentiments arrive on “Medic,” a song that sonically warns of impending danger all for the Van Buren rappers to be the individuals to make these fears a reality.
On the album, individual egos aren’t left outside the door, rather, they’re combined into some supernatural force that entwines itself with the words the group raps throughout the albums. So when songs like “It Is What It Is” or “No Interview” pierce through your headphones, it’s a huge disservice to ignore the talent, energy, and persona that are packaged into what is the Van Buren collective. Both tracks encapsulate the rambunctious energy the group would present onstage in a perfect pandemic-less world, but simply hearing them rapping their asses off makes this impending moment all that more desirable.
Despite the strong-armed reinforcement Van Buren delivers on the album, there are moments where the aggression is replaced with reflection and an effort to look into the past and see how far they’ve made it. “Looking For Trouble” opens the memories of their turbulent youth that Lyor describes best, rapping, “I be looking for trouble, I had nothing else to do.” Luckily for them, things have changed for the better. Van Buren also documents their struggle to thaw their cold hearts to receive the warmth of love on “Nevermind” while “Outro” is a smooth landing that ties an elegant bow around the wild ride Bad For Press is. In letting their guard down for a few moments, Van Buren effectively proves why it was up in the first place.
Bad For Press could be dissected in many ways. You could focus on individual talents and applaud Bars’ show-stealing verse to close “Gangbanger (Remix)” or Andrew Regis’ knife-wielding bars on “Medic.” There’s Meech’s slick-talk over Ricky Felix’s best-produced song with “No Interviews” and Jiles’ cutthroat contribution to “Braindead.” Not to mention Lyor’s honest tales on “Looking For Trouble” as well. However, this approach overlooks and diminishes the best thing about Van Buren: the fact that these individual qualities, which vary in presence and effectiveness on each song, contribute to the gleaming pot of gold that represents the Massachusetts rappers and all their glory. If Van Buren thinks they’re Bad For Press so be it, we could use more artists who embrace going against the grain.
Bad For Press is out now via Van Buren Records. Get it here.
