The Massachusetts-born Botzy moved to Minnesota after going to college in Arizona, rapping for the first time at 21. He quickly found the limelight as the emcee for the musical blender that was Culture Cry Wolf, a ska, rock and hip-hop fusion group.
While Culture Cry Wolf still has some new material and an upcoming show, the band is through.
“You know when you’re dating someone, and you know it’s not going to work out, but you end up kicking it anyways?” Botzy asked, drawing a parallel to the last year or so of the band.
He’s ready to move on, sick and tired of the type of material he rapped over with Culture Cry Wolf.
“I’ve never rapped over stereotypical beats,” Botzy said.
But he gave himself that chance with his new release “Buck Fotzy.”
Saying “stereotypical” isn’t even meant as trash talk — Botzy wanted hip-hop beats, and that’s what he made happen. On the track “Burger Jones,” Botzy even says, “This is rap for the sake of making rap music.”
It can be cringe-inducing to hear from a white rapper. There’s a good chance the music will seem trite and an even better chance the artist will be ignorant of rap’s origins (see: Macklemore). But Botzy is sincere — he likes rap because he likes to rap because he likes rap ad infinitum.
“Sometimes it’s just styling — I’m not as concerned with what I’m trying to tell people,” Botzy said.
Once you come to terms with his willingness to be clever for the sake of being clever, and there are plenty of examples on the album, “Buck Fotzy” is a catchy and palatable addition to the rap landscape.
The album exposes Botzy as a kid in the candy shop, amped on that musical sugar, unable, or maybe unwilling, to slow down — though he claims after the release of “Buck Fotzy” he will take some time to chill out.
Maybe he’ll just spend more time on his day job. College gave Botzy a solid background in programming.
For one of his contract jobs, Botzy revamped outdated baby monitoring software for a children’s hospital, a gig that freaked him out given there were actual lives in his hands.
Whether through music or adjustments in medical technology, it’s safe to say that Botzy will leave his mark.
