Baby Gravy make ratta-tat-tat Rap to Trap beats and stand-up comedy Hip Hop. Rhythm and groove where you can shake it, but you better not break it.
BBNO$ is pronounced Baby No Money. Alex Gumuchian comes from Vancouver, Canada.
He is of exotic lineage. An Armenian father and a Swiss-Danish mother. He resembles Ned Flanders and could easily fit in with the cult alternative Rock band the Okilly Dokillys (seen here in 2020 with a great show at the Whammy Bar).
He was on the pathway to becoming a professional swimmer when a back injury curtailed this. Whilst there is no direct link to becoming a social media enabled music artist, it highlights again the constantly evolving nature of popular music and its method of transport.
You don’t need to be able to play an instrument to create music with digital tools.
He describes himself as Oxymoronic Rap, ignorant but melodic.
I would explain it in street terms as the humble brag. Rely on your wits to lampoon people, avoid physical violence whilst having fun poking the bear.
He attained viral popularity in China
Yung Gravy is Matthew Raymond Hauri, who hails from Rochester, Minnesota.
His lineage is American Swiss, a superficial resemblance to partner BBNO$, if you take the C out of America.
His background is in marketing (where he attained a degree) and with initiating multiple start-up companies.
2017 and he was making and putting out music through SoundCloud. A viral hit was Mr Clean, which samples Mister Sandman as performed by the Chordettes.
He takes inspiration from old Soul and R’n’B sources, citing Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and the Blackbyrds as some favourites.
They have been in a loose partnership since 2017, having success with sell-out tours in recent times.
The Studio has sold out for the Monday show so here I am on a quiet Sunday evening on Karangahape Road, which is deserted except for an enthusiastic young audience packed into the ground floor of the Studio.
The appearance of the duo is preceded by cartoons on the back screen in the style of old-time cinema shorts, like Looney Tunes.
Let’s Conquer SoundCloud flashes up.
Welcome to the Chilis (from Baby Gravy 2) starts the show. Rhythmic word play is a feature of all their songs. They name drop Jeff Bezos and Yoko Ono whilst drawing references to Bubble Gum music.
The style is dance hall toasting from Jamaica. Gravy has a lower baritone voice, and Baby a tenor.
You Need Jesus, off Baby Gravy 3 is hilarious and a clever mash-up of stand-up comedy and Rap.
Three wise hoes/ What would Jesus do?
They sample the classic intro to Chic’s Freak Out and have fun with rapid-fire word play.
The songs come quick, like their time is limited tonight.
The backing music from the digital devices tend to be minimal, sometimes reducing to percussion on sticks.
At other times deep subsonic bass tones rumble through your feet and up your spine.
Do the math/ I’m trash/ Johnny Cash/ Save my money when I die.
How come all the ladies want me, me, me is accompanied by minimalist beats which resemble Newcleus and their classic Jam On It.
Then fireworks are heard but we don’t see any sparkles. More go off and it possibly could be the cracks of a sniper’s rifle.
No one is ducking and I am bemused like several around me. Although the party disco atmosphere is unabated.
Something on the sound system has blown and it is probably the speakers as they continue to sputter and pop.
The guys look like they are extemporising and doing a very good job of keeping their decorum.
Do I give a shit!? is repeated many times. It could be a song, or it could be the situation.
I cannot ignore the historic significance of this day, which is at the level of the Kennedy assassination of 1963, and of Lennon in 1980.
Where a gunshot changes the fabric of the human world for good. We are amidst processing that.
On stage Baby Gravy are doing shooeys. At least, Gravy is.
I cannot believe anyone here is ignorant of this day’s events. But they are all partying like it’s 1999.
Maybe that is appropriate. A fraction of a second and a hit becomes a miss. A metaphor for our digital age of music and art.
Rev. Orange Peel
Photos by Jennifer De Koning
Baby Gravy
Lilbubblegum