One interesting thing that has happened in Hip Hop over the last few years has been a subgenre of rappers who toe the line between “comedy” and “seriousness.” They make Hip Hop music with excellent production that certainly sounds the part, and their lyricism will bounce back and forth from being about more deep or important topics and more silly subjects. These artists know how to make music that sounds fun and is easy to listen to, yet still, respect the art of making good Hip Hop music. Like Yung Gravy and TMG, bbno$ has become one of the biggest artists in this “meme rap” genre. bbno$ has had an interesting trajectory to the start of his career. His music originally actually blew up in China. He was getting millions of listens on Chinese music streaming services before he ever had any sort of following in America. Early on in his career, he started collaborating and touring with the aforementioned Yung Gravy. They have a similar tongue-in-cheek approach to making music, and a lot of their fans enjoy both artists equally. This makes them touring together and making so much music together work super well. Over the last couple of years, bbno$ has risen to the top of the “underground” internet rap scene. He even broke into the mainstream in 2019 when his single ‘Lalala’ went viral; it has garnered over 700 million streams. With that being said, here is how I feel about bbno$’s newest project eat ya veggies. Please let me know in the comments below if you agree with my opinion on this project, and also let me know in the comments what your favorite songs are on eat ya veggies.
The record starts out with a smooth and funky track called ‘resume.’ Unexpectedly, right off the bat, we get a song with an instrumental that one would generally not expect to hear when listening to a Hip Hop album. This track has a Future Funk sound that reminds me a lot of artists like GRiZ and The Floosies. It has a bit of a soft dubstep sound to when the bass drops, and the tempo and melody have a major old-school Funk feeling to them. bbno$’s flow goes very well on this instrumental. His low voice and laid-back approach to his delivery slide over the beat so well. The second song on this record is called ‘yoga’ and features Rebecca Black. This song keeps the Funk feeling that the last one had, putting more of an old-school spin on it. The instrumental for this song actually kind of reminds me of Disco music. bbno$ brings out his rapid-fire flow on this track. The fast flow that he uses on this song matches the tempo and sound of the song super well. I do wish that Rebecca Black was incorporated more into this song. Her voice fits this instrumental super well, and I think her contribution should have been a little greater. Following this, we have ‘edamame’ featuring Rich Brian. This song takes yet another approach to the Funk undertone this album seems to have. ‘edamame’ has a funky Piano Pop riff that kind of reminds me of something Bruno Mars or Mark Ronson would do back in the day. This song has a groovy beat as well, and it will make anyone want to dance when they hear it. Both bbno$ and Rich Brian glide on this instrumental. They both excel at keeping up with the pace of the beat and providing the necessary energy. Next, we get the song black eyed pees,’ which is probably the most eclectic and sophisticated song on the record so far. It has a sort of creepy yet very funky bassline that drives the beat throughout the verses and a catchy drum groove. When the chorus kicks in, a Chicano-Rock-style guitar riff comes in to give the chorus more of a sweet and fun sound to it. On this track, bbno$ goes with a slower, lower energy, and a little more of a monotone approach to his rapping style. It goes with the sound of the song pretty well, keeping the same weird feeling that the baseline and melody do. Even though it is kind of a strange song, I appreciate the experimentation on ‘black-eyed pees.’
The unique and off-beat Canadian DJ Lentra has been a frequent collaborator of bbno$’s in the past. The song ‘brainless’ is the first collaboration between these two on eat ya veggies. This song has a sort of downtempo House music sound and feeling to it. The instrumental is pretty minimalistic, mainly consisting of a beat led by hi-hats, an Underground House-tinted bass line, and lots of weird sound effects. bbno$ takes a rapid-fire approach to his flow again on this one. The fast nature in which he is rapping on this song matches its energy well. ‘u mad!’ has a sound that completely switched it up compared to anything on this record so far. The instrumental for this song almost has a bit of a Crunk Core sound to it that reminds me of artists like 3OH!3. I have not heard this combination of EDM, Trap, and Electronic Emo music on a track in a while. I love how bbno$ switches up his flow so much on this song compared to what he usually does. His delivery is a lot slower and choppier, and it matches up with the instrumental pretty well. ‘2 time zones,’ featuring Night Lovell, brings the funk in a major way. The instrumental for this track highlights let another way that funky guitar riff can be used in an excellent way. ‘2 times zones’ has a Reggae sound and tempo. It reminds me a lot of the Punk Reggae by artists like Sublime and The Dirty Heads. I would never have imagined bbno$ to use an instrumental like this, but he and Night Lovell absolutely kill it on this song. Night Lovell’s voice and overall sound compliments bbno$ so well, and they both ride this beat so smoothly and easily. I would love to hear bbno$ dive into this sound more often, as it fits his flow and vocal style well. Next, we get the song ‘check-up,’ which is the second song on the album produced by Lentra. This track is the most has the most traditionally Trap sound out of all the music on this album up until this point. eat ya veggies has been full of instrumentals one would not necessarily expect to hear rapped on these days; ‘check up’ is the first song from this record with an instrumental that feels “normal” within the Hip Hop landscape in 2021.‘check up’ is a high energy banger. This song just has a college party or college bar feel to it. The flow and vocal style from bbno$ are catchy and easy to follow, and the beat just makes me want to dance and have a good time. I think this song will end up being a sleeper hit from this record at some point in the future because it is so good for it to not pop off.
‘big boss baby,’ which is yet another collaboration with Lentra, is more of a return to what I am used to hearing from bbno$. This track has a weird and fun House beat which is full of strange sound effects. It is fast-paced and light-hearted, and it brings out the best in bbno$ as a rapper. He glides over quick EDM beats so smoothly and easily, and ‘big boss baby’ is an excellent example of that. Following this, we get ‘i remember.’ This song may be my favorite song from eat ya veggies. It is a funky Pop track where bbno$ sings as much as he raps, which is obviously a big switch up for him. I love how funky and fun this instrumental is. It almost has a bit of a Y2K quality to it, and its melody and beat just makes me want to dance. I love bbno$’s approach to his vocals on this song. His delivery makes it feel like more of a Pop song than a Rap song, and honestly, bbno$ excels at it on this song. This is another type of music I would love to hear him try out more in the future. The next song is ‘wussup,’ which features Yung Gravy. This is a collaboration that we have come to see quite a bit over the last few years. ‘wussup’ is the type of song that one would expect from this duo. It is a fast-paced and funky Dance-Rap track that is light-hearted and fun and it just makes me want to party. At the time this song was released as a single, it was my favorite track and I played it on repeat. I still think this is one of the better singles of 2021, and I hope this duo continues to work together frequently in the future because their chemistry is so good. The album closes out with the track ‘tonight we fucking party,’ which features ANH. The outro for this album is a 1 minute and 30 second EDM banger that has a bit of a country and metal tint to it. This song feels random and does not fit in well with the rest of the album, but I feel like that is kind of the point. It kind of feels like a meme in a way. It is a strange way to end the album, but I honestly kind of like it because it is funny.
Since he first popped onto the scene a couple of years ago, bbno$ has had a fast rise to the top of the internet Rap game. He has taken advantage of the meme culture online and taken a tongue-in-cheek approach to his music that is refreshing. One thing I love about him as a musician is that he does not take himself seriously. There are a lot of Hip Hop artists who focus on making music about the darker elements of life, and I think it’s is cool that bbno$ does something different with his music. This record showcased how diverse and eclectic bbno$ can be. It seems like this man can rap or sing on literally any kind of instrumental. No matter what the song sounds like, his flow will always be super smooth and fresh and fun to listen to. eat ya veggies is a super fun and cool record with something on it for everyone, and it makes me excited for what he does next.
EAST SIDE VIBES 