BlueBucksClan Is Putting The Music Industry On Notice, In Real Time

BlueBucksClan

BlueBucksClan creates music without borders. Admittedly, the Los Angeles-based duo — consisting of DJ and Jeeezy –rhyme scheme is riddled with braggadocious mentions and plainspoken truths. At the forefront of a new wave of talent bursting out of what’s considered the “Gang Capital of America,” the two former athletes turned emcees move on their own accord. They aren’t easily impressed. With an upbringing that spotlights a passion for football, music didn’t become a priority until later on in life. 

Naturally, DJ and Jeeezy have always been about a dollar. Their success story, as it relates to a career in music, stems from a lack of interest in maintaining the status quo — the conventional means of supplementing income by today’s standards: getting a job. Rather than punching a clock, BBC decided to take a different approach, and the rest is history. “Just pretty much not wanting to have a regular job,” Jeeezy shares. “Figuring out another way that we can make money and do what we do,” he continues. 

“A tight-knit crew that gets money together,” is the abridged version of what BlueBucksClan represents, on the surface. But when you analyze the holistic nature of the Clan’s existence, a commonality is present amongst their hubristic disposition: they love sports. Literally, bass-heavy cuts like “Horace Grant” and  “Lil League (feat. Quavo & Hit-Boy)” embody the essence of their sports-loving frame of mind. Whether they’re offloading witty punchlines or sporty anecdotes, DJ and Jeeezy are real class acts when it comes to penning life on beats. 

With the release of Clan Virus 2, BlueBucksClan is ready to put the industry on notice. While the guys remain transparent in their efforts to promote that rapper lifestyle that’s often glorified in music today, it isn’t some daring attempt to relate to their fanbase: that’s literally how they coming, on and off the net. 

We’re approaching one year since the release of Clan Virus – what’s changed since then? 

Jeeezy: We just been getting better as artists. We’ve been working nonstop over this last year. 

DJ: Our team all together is just so tight, everybody elevating together. Everybody tightening up and getting better as one. That’s really what it is, everybody helping us keep it tight. 

Growing up, football played an important role in your day-to-day lives, transitioning from the pee wee league to the collegiate level. What prompted you to start rapping? 

Jeeezy: Just pretty much not wanting to have a regular job. Figuring out another way that we can make money and do what we do. So it’s like damn we gon’ try to rap, and it ended up working. That’s really what it was. Once football was over, trying to get a job, I ain’t wanna do that shit. We started getting money and we good now. 

DJ: This shit way easier than sports too…and working a job. 

What was BlueBucksClan’s first ever recording session like? Talk to me about the energy that day. 

Jeeezy: I made some weak shit I remember. That shit wasn’t it [laughs].

DJ: My first one, I don’t remember. I didn’t like how I sounded at first, but I just had to get comfortable with it. It was all the homies there, everybody was rapping. We were just having fun. 

One thing the city of Los Angeles is notoriously known for is gang culture, it’s literally referred to as the “Gang Capital of America.” With that in mind, how did you two manage to shy away from succumbing to that pressure of joining a gang or being in the streets? 

Jeeezy: Shit, I don’t know. Just playing sports and like…I always wanted to do my own shit. I never wanted to follow behind other niggas. As a kid, it’s all around you, and you gotta learn about the shit because we live here. I know everything about it, all the streets and everything, but I just never wanted to be a part of that shit, so I just never did it. 

DJ: The same shit with me too. I kinda just always been smart ever since I was young. My whole family, I seen ‘em do the same shit, they all gangbang. For me, that was one thing already, with my family already in it, what I need to gangbang for? If I got a problem I got niggas I can call, but it’s like, I ain’t never wanna be trapped in that. It’s like a target when you move like that. I ain’t never really seen nobody succeed from doing that. Now that we doing music, it’s proven that people haven’t been successful from it, so that’s why I ain’t put no time into it. And then football and all that kept us away from a lot of that. Our coaches, we probably had the same coaches from kids all the way to high school. Really, they did a good job at keeping us all together. I remember it was like 12 of us packed in a truck going to workout almost every day, even in the off season. 

You’ve been consistently releasing content amidst a global pandemic. What’s your secret? 

DJ: Ain’t no secret, we just go to the studio [laughs]. It’s no secret, every day we make 2-3 songs. 

Jeeezy: We just working. We got so much music that we just wanna put it out before it gets old to us and we don’t like the shit no more. Once you hold on to music for so long you just get over it and it may never come out. We gotta put this shit out while it’s still relevant. 

With Clan Virus 2, I couldn’t help but notice there’s almost 3x as many tracks this time around than before. Did you have more to talk about with this project? 

DJ: We felt like the fans been waiting too long. We wanna give ’em enough, and then we gon’ come right back again right after that. 

Jeeezy: We got something else coming soon, right after. 

What was it like working with Hit-Boy? That’s a huge feat considering how he’s now a Grammy-award winning producer. 

Jeeezy: It was crazy. We had met when we went to the studio. He played us a couple beats and the first one he played is what we picked. We gon’ have more coming wit ‘em too. 

Is flex-rap a big part of your rhyme scheme? Your music is very blunt and braggadocious. 

Jeeezy: Once we go in the studio and realize all the shit we did, we just rap about it. That’s just what it is. It be real life shit that we do: go shopping, spend some crazy shit, all types of cars. 

Between the two of you, who’s Mr.bitches? It seems like you both are ladies men, so I just had to ask.

Both: [laugh hysterically] 

DJ: You already know man. Jeeezy got ‘em. 

Jeeezy: I don’t got nothing man, I’m chilling [laughs]. 

What do you feel like is a common misconception about BlueBucksClan? 

DJ: I don’t know, maybe the gangbangin’ part. Some people be thinking that it got something to do with that, but that’s bout it really. 

Jeeezy: Yeah, that’s bout it really. 

Outside of music and sports, what’s a hidden talent that each of you possess? 

Jeeezy: I’m the best nigga in Madden, that’s a hidden talent [laughs].

It’s a bag behind that. I’m surprised that you’re not into streaming. Toosii has been making a killing online lately. 

Jeeezy: We bout to start doing all that. We was just talking to JuJu Smith-Schuster, he do the gaming stuff too. We probably bout to be on his gaming shit, we gon’ put it together real soon. 

Looking back on things, what has been the hardest part about your journey as artists? 

Jeeezy: What you think? [directs question to DJ]

DJ: Shit, I don’t know man. 

Jeeezy: I’d probably say after we drop a tape, we gotta top it. It’s not hard, but it’s some pressure because we know we can’t go backwards. We gotta make some better shit. But it’s cool though because it makes us go harder. 

If you could choose one track off of Clan Virus 2 to best describe this stage of your life, what song would it be and why?

Jeeezy: I’d say “Remember” because we talking about how life used to be versus now. 

DJ: I agree.

About the Author

Derrius Edwards
Derrius is a music industry professional with experience in content strategy and editorial writing, sharing relevant and resonating stories as a conduit for hip-hop culture advancement.

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