Joonbug spent some quality time with Brooklyn based rap duo (or dudet) Grieves and Budo to rap about being a part of the Rhymesayers label, their new tour with Atmosphere, the upcoming album due to release in the Spring and traveling to the rings of Saturn. The usual.
Q: Are there going to be a lot of new songs coming out for the new tour with Atmosphere?
G: I think we are probably going to play a couple new songs on this [Atmosphere] tour. On the tour that we are going to be doing in the winter, we are going to be supporting the new record a lot more. On this one we are trying to get one last push on the 88 Keys [and Counting] record that we just released.
Q: What should fans expect from this new album compared to the old albums?
G: It is by far the most melodic thing that we have ever made, almost like a morbid pretty sound that we do. And we kind of nailed it down a bit more on this one. My songs as far as the rapping, cause 88 Keys was kind of like a weird poem, this one is a little bit more direct in the style of writing. The record is going to be called “Together Apart”. I came up with the idea kind of like when at a concert there are all these people in the room with similar interests. Even though these people don’t know each other; they still share a common bond.
B: I think, not to undermine anything from the records that we have made independently or individually before this, but with Rhymesayers behind it this is kind of Grieves' introduction to the world. Not in like a revolutionary, flashy, glitzy kind of way, but just in a really super honest and straight forward human kind of way. To me the spirit of the record is just like a first handshake.
B: I’m waiting for that moment.
G: [Heavy Sarcasm] When I was doing cocaine off a stripper with everyone from Metallica in a spaceship heading out to the rings of Saturn, I figured I just made it.
Q: That must have been a good night.
G: That was actually this afternoon.
B: Or the entire month of February.
G: I don’t know, I thought the European tour for me was. Like hey, I crossed the ocean with my talents. That was kind of a big deal to me, and seeing people that can’t really understand me and respond to the emotion and power in the music... It’s cool; I’ll be honest.
Q: Grieves, does Budo ever give beats to other artists that you want?
G: [Heavy Sarcasm] Hell no, have you seen how buff I am? I will rock his world. I’ll karate kick his face… No, he can do whatever he wants. Budo and I make the music that we make. But Budo makes like 20 beats a day, and I write like a song a month. As far as keeping things from me, no, and if he did, I have a knife. I’ll tattoo that sucka.
B: Sharp shit. To add on to that a little bit, this is really what I do, working with him [Grieves]. We spend so much time working together. I mean I’ll try and sit down and work on things for other people, and it will end up sounding like Grieves’ beats. That is just the mode that I kind of live in most of the time.
G: I think that the music that I get from Budo is the music that I’ve always wanted.
Q: So you don’t know when your next show in New York will be?
G: No, there are no plans. We get back [from the Atmosphere tour] in October, and we don’t really know what is going to go on from there. But our agent is here in New York, and he is a swell dude with a very well groomed set of hair, and we really like seeing him. So we are going to make sure we play as many shows in New York as we can because he is just a handsome gentleman.
B: Actually, in all seriousness, I have been shocked by how well received and how much fun it has been to play in New York. I mean the Knitting Factory shows and the Bowery Ballroom with People Under the Stairs. There is kind of this stigma that New York is a terrifying and frightening place to play, and our experience has been super welcoming. We’re thrilled to play here.
Q: What are the goals of the duo? Do you call it a duo?
G: It’s a dudet. That’s what we like to call it. I don’t know just to keep continuing to make music and have fun. See the world, and always be challenging ourselves.
B: I kind of naturally go in some pretty weird directions in my music. So I am super grateful for this. Honestly, if somebody had walked up to us tomorrow and said you could headline Madison Square Garden, we would probably say no because I think it would be out of keeping with the way we have done things. To do things in slow manageable steps so that we can kind of understand at each point.
G: Oh my little weird awkward, ya I don’t know, it’s just like a body spasm… I weigh 138.4 lbs fully clothed.
Q: And any message for your attractive female fans?
G: Holla! You now know my weight, but shorty don’t criticize. Holler at a boss for my digits, I’ll break you off some of my algebra.
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