Is revolution music supposed to be this live? The answer is an emphatic yes for Chicago’s BBU. The three-man trio who’s three letter moniker stands for Bin Laden Blowin’ Up use the vehicle of Hip Hop mixed with Chicago house to “make music with the hope in mind that it will inspire people to want to change the world,” at least that’s the mission according to BBU’s Jasson Perez, who like his fellow bandmates, took time to speak with us for a fresh First Look. Finding time isn’t something that comes too easy for the Jasson or fellow members Epic and Illekt. All three members devot themselves to music, as well as a variety of day jobs and community work.
“We have full time jobs and still put our blood sweat and tears into it because we feel making music, and making good art period, is just as important as going to a rally to stop the war or knocking on doors for people to come and vote, or setting up a free HIV clinic,” Perez continued. The group has been making headway using their name to grab people’s attention and their unique flavor of music to keep listeners intrigued. After building their name through performances and word of mouth, BBU is readying their first official release for a winter release. Before the BBU blitz is in full gear, take some time to get to know BBU and their music in this week’s First Look.
RubyHornet: Bin Laden Blowing Up. Now, this name can take on various connotations, whether those being negative or positive. The obvious being Bin Laden and his connection with blowing up the Twin Towers. Can you explain to our readers your whole ideology behind the name and what type of baggage it may come with?
BBU: Just to get this clear, we don’t condone the actions that took place on 9/11. The name Bin Laden Blowin’ Up is not an ideology, just an expression we felt represented the times we living in (war on terror) and how we are affected by the policies made in the past. The name wasn’t supposed to be negative or positive per se, but truthful, Bin Laden Blowin up is simply just a critique of Reagan’s policies. Reagan funded and trained Bin Laden and then that training and militarizing came back to hurt the U.S. with 9/11. In the same way BBU, as in us 3, are a product of Reagan’s policies (Reaganomics) and had the childhoods that involved imprisonment, fathers who were imprisoned, selling drugs, dropping out, gentrification, guns and violence in our neighborhood, due to Reagan’s policies. Many times people ask very similar questions when youth of color commit criminal acts, just as when Bin Laden did 9/11. Which is why? And the why is because of very bad policies that we all have a responsibility to fight and change. And those bad policies create blowback or as Malcolm X said “the chickens coming home to roost” phenomenon. And Bin laden Blowin up just speaks to the fact that we don’t believe the hype that 9/11 happened in a vacuum, or a kid sells drugs to his own people because he is lazy and doesn’t want a real job. It’s due to inhumane policies and we want to change that. Because the bottom line is, Barack Obama is still fighting the ghost’s of Ronald Reagan, whether it’s the Afghanistan war, budget deficits, health care reform or the tea baggers. The only way we can help him win these fights is if we question the premise of foreign and domestic policies and fight to change them locally and globally. We know that we will receive flak from the industry for having such a controversial name. Acceptance on the industries terms was nothing we ever wanted, quite the contrary we plan to do it on our own terms. We know it’s a hard road and we are ready to travel it.
RubyHornet: We all know that Chicago is sometimes considered one of the most compartmentalized cities in the United States… We have certain races and types of people who live on the Southside, and certain types of people on the North. How has this affected or influenced the style and type of music that you guys make?
BBU: Yeah, we recognize that Chicago is extremely compartmentalized, but we don’t stress the divides. Our music has influences from all sides of Chicago. We all come from different scenes here in the Chi; Rich came from the spoken word scene and rocked open mics on the Southside, Mike rose out of the underground Punk and Hip Hop scenes in Humboldt Park, and Jasson worked setting up cultural spaces where youth of color could express themselves artistically whether it was Batey Urbano on the Westside or Black Dynasty on the Northside. So we as BBU embody all those components and that has allowed us to be embraced by a diverse fan base whether it’s rockin with dead prez or with Scotland Yard Gospel Choir.
RubyHornet: I looked at a few other interviews that you guys did and you stressed the fact of being working men who still manage to make music. What can this say about how you guys would like to portray yourselves or a certain type of image you are trying to maintain?
BBU: We work because we have to, we make music because we love to. We’re honest, we’re not pushing an image. We talk about a job, because that’s where we have to go the next morning. We got jobs to benefit the community and to make a living, and now we make music for the same reasons. What it says about us is that we’re some hard working motherf***ers!
RubyHornet: I believe it was “Chi Don’t Dance” where you guy’s said, “BET taught me to hate me… Red black green / Let’s get free… No bitches, no hos / We ride with queens.” It’s pretty obvious that BET usually protrays Black people (and people of color) stereotypically but you guys go as far to say it taught me to hate me. Why do you think that is?
BBU: Have you watched BET? Come on. It’s not even owned by Black folks any more. Did you ever watch BET Uncut and think to yourself, “damn, what’s really going on here?” BET wouldn’t play Little Brother’s song “Lovin’ it” for being “too intelligent”, or De La Soul’s “Shopping Bags” because “they [De La Soul] weren’t relevant to BET viewers.” F**k that. BET is like George Bush; they just don’t care about Black People. There was a time when BET tried, when it had Teen Summit, and had a really good news program (BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley), but they really have cut their programs and in no way (out side of “The Wire” re-runs) do they try to create new or positive representations for Black folks. Come on, the founder and owner of BET Robert Johnson campaigned against Barack Obama and said he was unfit to be President because of his drug use. Robert also helped fund republican candidates and initiatives like privatizing social security. This is the man who built BET!!! So that’s why we wrote those lyrics. The sadder thing is that BET and MTV are both owned by Viacom, which isn’t a good look for artists period, a healthy media is one that has a diversity of owners but that’s a whole different topic.
RubyHornet: When you hear a New York track you know it’s a New York track. That same thing can be said for an Atlanta artist or an LA artist. Do you think it can be said for Chicago artists? If so, what do you think are some of the sound qualities that accompany it?
BBU: Of course! In the 90’s you had Psycho Drama, Twista, Do or Die, Snypas, Crucial Conflict all who had that double time rap flow, tongue twistin’ sound that paved the way. We’re from the birthplace of House and Juke, from the FootworkKINGZ to Gant and Slugo, and the innovators of House music; Chicago definitely has its own sound and the world hasn’t recognized it quite yet. Speaking of New York though, we just got back from a dope week of CMJ, shout out to our homie’s at MISHKA, they doing it big out there and treating us right.
RubyHornet: Your music combines Chicago Juke, and a conscientious ideology that many people have never seen. What were some of your musical influences in both Juke or dance, and what’s known as conscious music?
BBU: Man, there is way too many to list, but: Afrika Bambata, Goodie Mob, Arcade Fire, Dizee Rascal, Dead Prez, Immortal Technique, Wiley, Dion, Gant Man, Slugo, 2 Pac, Outkast, Fela Kuti, Pharcyde, Saul Williams, Bad Brains, David Bowie, The Clash, Dead Kennedys, Tracy Chapman, The Lonely Island, Joan Baez, Michael Jackson, New Edition, Sam Cooke, Curtis Mayfield, Otis Redding, Young Jeezy, Hector Lavo, Tito Puente, CNN, Slaughterhouse, Saigon, Tribe Called Quest, Black Star, Run DMC, Public Enemy, Brand Nubians, Marvin Gaye and last but not least The Chicago Line up Phillip Morris, Mano, Hollywood Holt, Mic Terror, Arlo aka Trailblazerz MPC, Big Splashes, Bijou and our boy Wes a phenomenal producer.
RubyHornet: You guys said that your music “hits Western Imperialism with a one-two punch and seeks liberation from the systematic oppression that exasperates poverty, unemployment, the crack epidemic, as well as the massive dysfunctional conditions in urban U.S.A.” Do you guys ever run into problems with concepts for material, like you want to get a message across using one or two of those themes that I just listed but it’s just not coming together.
BBU: No, we don’t. Talent just flows through us. Just joking, but really it does, but we’re doing this for the cause and at the end of the day we’re just trying to make music with dope lyrics, dope beats, and dope hooks that everyday people can f**k with.
RubyHornet: I read that all of you guys actually work with community service programs. How did you actually come up with the idea to get involved, and what made you narrow it down to the method you chose, seeing that there’s so many things the community needs?
Jasson: I am a community organizer because I was fortunate enough to be allowed the opportunity. When i got out of jail, the ACLU hired me. At that time no one like TJ Maxx and other spots would hire me because I had a felony. This job location program I was in, Jobs for Youth (shouts out to them), sent me to ACLU to interview. And basically they hired me even though I had a felony because they were an organization that felt that the war on drugs was wack and that folks shouldn’t be catching heavy cases for something that should be legalized. From there I got to see community organizing change people lives and empower them to fight injustice in the community, whether it be because of cops, or corporations or our own government. So, I stuck with it to this day. I feel like a lot of people would do what we do if they were just given the opportunity to have a job that was not just about making a profit. But usually no one tells them it’s out there. No one for sure told me.
Illekt: I’ve just volunteered for a couple different places. I don’t think we really narrow it down. We have a lot of beliefs and any time we could support or help with a cause we believe in, we do.
Epic: I got involved because crack cocaine tore my family apart and many other families like mine. I saw my people turn from pushers to fiends overnight. I had no focus, I just wanted to kill every dope man on the block. My step-father was serving a life sentence at Statesville Correctional center at the time; my mom suggested I go see him, so I did. He encouraged me that it was deeper than just killing the dope man. He said, ‘how many brothers do you know with boats to bring this s**t in the community?’ He suggested that I pick up a few books, one was the Wille Lynch Letter the other was The Isis Papers. He put me in contact with some brothers in the movement and the rest is history. Shout out to my Father Mike Smith still severing time at Dixon correctional center on trumped up charges by the CPD. Oh and f**k the Chicago PD, f**k Jon Burge and f**k the Mayor Daley and his crooked ass administration.
RubyHornet: So when can we expect your guy’s mixtape to drop? Rumor has it that it was supposed to drop this month, but got push back to December.
BBU: You can expect our mixtape in January with some dope album artwork from Ends Wealth Corp. Look for a short digital download this month.
RubyHornet: So this will work as a formal introduction for you guys to our readers. Can each of you tell us one reason why they should continue to follow your music?
Epic: If you thought “Chi Don’t Dance” was a hit then we got a whole album full of them; watch out for the album..
Illekt: We are still a young group in terms of being together as a unit. We still have a lot of room for growth. I feel we will only get better.
Jasson: Wow, that’s hard to do without sounding arrogant let me see, cuz “we da best”, naw but for real cuz we make music with the hope in mind that it will inspire people to want to change the world. We have full time jobs and still put our blood sweat and tears into it because we feel making music and making good art period is just as important as going to a rally to stop the war or knocking on doors for people to come and vote or setting up a free HIV clinic, you know.
