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Rappers Yung Gravy (Matthew Hauri) and bbno$ (Alexander Gumuchian) are returning to Australian shores later this month to perform their joint release, Baby Gravy 3. Both toured the country separately in 2023 but this set of shows will be their debut as a duo Down Under.
Their latest project under the Baby Gravy alias is the third instalment in their collaborative series, but shows no signs of being the last. Individually, they’ve shown their star power, as the names responsible for hugely viral hits like “edamame” and “Betty (Get Money)”. But beyond the music, they’re proof that things can go right when you go all in with your best friend.
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We caught up with bbno$ and Yung Gravy to chat about the latest release, coming back to Australia as a duo and how they’re feeling about the music industry.
LB: Let’s throw it back to the very beginning. How did you guys become the sensation that is Baby Gravy? Did you lock eyes in the studio and decide “Woah, we should do this”?
bbno$: We locked eyes and just made out immediately.
Yung Gravy: Locked eyes and said, “Yo, it’s that time, baby! [When] I started rapping, I didn’t want to collab with anybody and then I found my king and he was really good and here we are.
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BB: Basically we just doing the Soundcloud grind and kind of what Matt said — it wasn’t really that deep. We FaceTimed and we just became friends. I could just get down with his vibe and that was kind of it. Fast forward seven…F***ing eight years, holy sh*t it’s been eight.
YG: I think we’re like three times the average rappers lifespan, if not, four. I feel like we both keep each other relevant in certain ways and whenever we do our album together, I’m always down bad, thinking I’m not creative anymore. Then we’ll get in [the studio] and I realise that I am.
LB: What makes a Baby Gravy show special?
BB: I think honestly, people in this day and age man, people take sh*t way too f***king serious. I remember going to shows when I was younger, I would just want to have fun. That’s at least what I do on stage and Matt does the same thing. We do a good job of just creating a positive environment for people to just enjoy themselves and that’s it.
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YG: It’s like summer camp. We definitely talk more than most artists and we do weird shit on stage and get the crowd involved and it’s hype.
BB: We definitely yap a bit on stage, there’s no question there.
YG: But I think it’s enough. Our fans like it. We yap just the right amount.
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LB: You’ve both toured here separately before, what things about Australia get you excited to come back?
YG: A lot of things I don’t know. I feel like…per capita, I’m more popular [in Australia] than I am [in America]
BB: I would say the same thing. It’s just the perfect blend of life and I feel like people live life pretty well in Australia, at least. Obviously I’m speaking biasedly because when I go things are lined up for me — it’s such a great time, I like the people. I love Australia.
LB: You both have quite distinct rapping voices in your own projects, but how do you find the balance and create harmony between your voices when working together?
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YG: I guess the beats that I’m naturally attracted to — from the jump that I just know are my kind of beat — most people aren’t. Producers will be like, “I got sent this beat only you will like this”. So there’s those kinds of beats. Alex has the same. Mine are flow/sample beats that are soulful and kind of out of style. Now, he likes pots and pans banging around. Then we find a good medium which is usually a Latin sample.
BB: Weirdly, I don’t know why we landed on Latin, but it just sounds good and works.
YG: What else do we do? “Whip a Tesla” and “Pasadena” sound similar, and we do our little surf rock thing every once in a while. We’ll think of something new for the next jawn.
LB: Your success has been built on so many things, TikTok being one of them. How do you guys think that TikTok has altered the music industry and how do you think that’s changed the trajectory of music moving forward?
YG: I kind of hate it. My label just tells me to make TikToks when they want to promote my music and it’s worked for me in the past so I can’t complain fully. But people don’t listen to full albums. They don’t have the attention span, they just listen to whatever song is popular on their little trends.
BB: I do think that the fundamental ease of mind is pretty nice about it because you can be an incredibly successful independent artist like Tommy Richman’s an independent. He’s having grand success off of TikTok, he’s able to blow up there. Basically it’s democratised the music industry because it used to be so like…what’s the term? Monopolised? So I’m happy that labels are becoming less popular and useful. Same with radio, it’s becoming a tertiary promotional avenue. As an independent artist, I’m happy with it. But do I like showing my real self online 24/7? No.
YG: I’ll try to promote my music on there and it’ll get 15,000 plays. Then I’ll post a video of me reading like a horny book and it’ll get three million. No one wants to see promo stuff on there, they just want funny sh*t.
BB: It’s super interesting because sometimes it’s not even up to you, the song could be objectively amazing. It’s up to a mathematical equation that people have coded into a program. It’s kind of increased the digestive — like how fast you can digest music — because it’s just a new song every day because of this mathematical equation. There’s pros and cons to it, but I still live with my parents so…
YG: I miss Twitter and SoundCloud.
LB: On Baby Gravy 3, you’ve got Rich Brian and Freddie Dredd backing you up in “Nightmare on Peach Street” and “C’est La Vie”. For the next album, which I’m sure is already in the works, who would be your dream feature?
YG: Partiboi69, we should get him.
BB: Bro. Yes! Partiboi69! Dude, he’s crazy.
YG: He really wants to hang out bro, hit him up.
BB: Really? Let’s definitely do it. There was a story that he got robbed in Guatemala, or in South America. He was robbed and struck, stole all of his money, everything. I think it’s public [knowledge].
YG: Let’s get him some bread dude.
BB: We’ve got to give him some bread. He was naked on the street, wasted. Partiboi69, I hope you’re doing okay bro.
YG: His live shows are like the most insane meme-ery of all time.
Catch Yung Gravy and bbno$ as Baby Gravy in Australia and New Zealand from July 17, 2024.
Angeline Barion