You Don’t Understand: $uicideboy$
Would you believe me if I said there’s a rap duo that gets millions of listens every month on Spotify that also has multiple gold and platinum singles? Have charted in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 multiple times a year without ever being played on the radio. And, they sell out stadiums year-round?
I know you’ve probably never heard of them. Or you have heard of them and just aren’t aware of the $uicideboy$.
“Why do you cry out over your hurt?
Your pain is incurable.
Because your guilt is great,
because your sins are flagrant,
I have done these things to you.”
Jeremiah 30:15
(CONTENT WARNING, CURSING AND EXPLICIT CONTENT)
BACKGROUND
$uicideboy$ is a duo from Louisiana founded by two cousins Scott Anthony Arceneaux Jr. (Scrim) and Aristos Norman Petrou (Ruby da Cherry). The duo hail from New Orleans Northern Seventh Ward district. Coming together the two founded the studio Grey 59 Records. Taking 59 from the Highway that splits their neighborhood in half, segregating the African Americans from the Whites, and using the color Grey to represent the mix of the cultures between the two different neighborhoods.
As the story goes, the year 2013 rolls around and both of the boys are depressed, addicted to drugs, working dead-end jobs, and in and out of toxic relationships with family and partners. The two cousins link up one night and finally decide to pursue music and do what they love for a living, but there’s a twist, if they don’t succeed by age 30 they’re going to commit suicide together.
After their blood pact was sealed the two began building their record company and rap career out of Scott’s father's house.
The work ethic of the duo is nothing to scoff at, in 2014 they released their first EP titled Kill Yourself Part 1 in July of that year. By the end of 2014, their catalog would be 7 EPs deep with 36 songs. In the year 2015, they released 6 Solo EPs, 5 Collaborative EPs, and 6 Mixtapes resulting in 161 songs. As of 2023, the duo has a whopping 469 songs.
Throughout their iconic career, the two have barely done any press. An interview or so every other year and that’s about it. There’s not much known about them outside of what has been said in songs, dropped randomly in old interviews, and more recently what the amazing interviewer Narduar was able to find about them.
WHY SUICIDEBOYS
Spotify describes Scrim and Ruby as, “The New Orleans-bred duo of cousins translate a fight against demons into a clever, caustic, and corrosively catchy apocalyptic vision of hip-hop pierced with punk intensity and laced with Southern Flows.”
They said it better than I ever could.
Within a genre that glorifies drug abuse, and promotes machismo and sex addiction there’s the Suicideboys. The duo is the antithesis of what mainstream hip hop has become and what is widely accepted by society. The two are able to make music that isn’t “marketable” by most standards and still find great success due to them being entirely independent. No record deals. No CEO. Just two cousins and their friends.
The Suicideboys are not only these massive behemoths within the underground rap scene with a stack of accolades that most accomplished artists dream of and don’t have to reduce themselves in any way. Nobody owns them they can be themselves which is often abrasive, rebellious, and uncouth. This is what makes them who they are.
The production of Scrim combined with the general punk attitude of the group was a revolution back in 2014. Hip Hop has always had its roots in the punk rock scene and the Suicideboys really have brought this back into the zeitgeist. Suicideboys were able to bridge a gap between the old Memphis Phonk of the 90s and the current popular trap genre, sprinkled with the devil-may-care attitude of any underground punk band combining into something unique and hard to replicate. The underground Hip Hop scene hasn’t been the same since.
Besides general the vibe of the group the lyrics and their delivery are something many fans love.
Every project spanning their large discography is like a time capsule and a window into the boys' lives. The first quarter of their career is mostly full of them lashing out at God, family, and themselves and talking about drugs and suicidal ideation as a way to cope.
“Boys that paid the cost
Slowly dying, but I’m flossing
Looking good, ain’t he?
Boy bounced back from the dead
My business still shady
I still tip toe on the ledge
That shit ain’t ever changing”
SONG: Mega Zeph
The middle section of their career is interesting because the boys have become wealthy, they’re able to provide for everyone but the addictions are still there and they don’t understand why they’re still the way they are. Money is supposed to solve everything, they’ve achieved their goals in life but.. emptiness.
“Haunted, haunted, I can’t escape my mind
It’s like I’m doing time, all the time
Exhausted, lost it, just one little line
Have this talk with God all the time”
SONG: 1000 Blunts
In this current era of Suicideboys, we have lyrics from the duo that represent peace, introspection, struggle, and hope. Bringing a light to the darkness but not shying away from the grit. Underneath amazing production and hundreds of songs lays a tapestry created by two men baring it all for themselves and their fans. Almost a decade's worth of speaking on drug abuse, relapsing, abuse, suicide, and relationship problems has resulted in the boys now being four years sober.
Having music that represents the struggle of life and the darkness of society so openly tends to give space to those who find themselves in that same darkness to have a place of community, of being seen and understood finally. These sentiments echo throughout and can be seen in the comments section of any Suicideboys video on YouTube, in Facebook groups, and at live concerts.
The Suicideboys have now realized their position of being the light in the darkness for many folks and actively promote seeking therapy or just opening up to a loved one about your issues.
WHY ARE THEY MY FAVORITE ARTISTS
Ruby and Scrim are both amazing lyricists and rappers. They have an almost supernatural skill of slipping in and out of these ghastly beats, sometimes on songs their voices are distorted so much to a point that you can’t tell who is who. Sometimes they even take this further by using each other's flows interchangeably within a song, making for a beautiful rat nest of lyrics, concepts, and vocals.
Their songs range from fun rippity dippity swagger anthems to depressing ballads. All with the amazing production of Scrim in the background. Each project from the duo sounds different, each one shows the growth of the artists, the people behind the art, and maybe even us as fans.
The spirit of Suicideboys is one I would define as the opposer. In their music and from the bits we know about them as real people we can feel that the soul of the group is coming genuinely from a place of the outcast. The misaligned. The abused. The downtrodden. Their aesthetic represents something that is the opposite of society.
Religion plays a large part in their music. Taking heavily from other rappers in the same cloth but also drawing inspiration from where they’re from. Southern mysticism and religion is something that is ingrained within the duo and growing up in the South myself this is one of the biggest reasons I love them so much. No, they aren’t Christians but there are almost always references to things that only a dejected believer would say about an Almighty power putting them through the wringer.
The Suicideboys are my favorite artists, period. Some songs are ones I listen to daily to give me the energy I need to face the day and other songs make me introspective about my life. I’m not a very materialistic person but Suicideboys are the only musical artists I have ever bought merch from, they mean that much to me.
Of course, I haven’t been through some of the things they have been through but sharing through pain and suffering is one of the most human experiences people can go through, and it’s what makes most art so compelling to me.
You Don’t Understand, explained
With this blog series, I want to highlight things in my life that I love and that I feel are misunderstood. I couldn’t think of anything better for my first project than $uicideboy$. The base layer of what makes them good is enjoyable and easily accessible for most but once you dig under the surface there’s a lot to take in.
I feel like art these days, be it music, TV shows, books, and video games all are great representations of what this series will be. Most people take things at face value and never think twice about what they’re consuming. With this You Don’t Understand series I want to push people to dig deeper and think about what the people who made the thing they’re engaging with actually meant.