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Alex Buchanan was in Grade 3 when a girl in his class brought in a portable stereo and danced to Biz Markie’s Just a Friend for show-and-tell.
It was the first rap song Buchanan had ever heard and it was, he would later recall, “a game changer.”
Buchanan eventually dropped out of high school to write his own rhymes. He moved to Ottawa, developed into a battle rap champion, and launched a successful hip-hop group, Flight Distance, with his friend, Patrick “Patience” Jodoin. They played Bluesfest three times, and their 2011 rap album, Bad Information, is regarded as among the best to emerge from this city.
Alexander “Bender” Buchanan died suddenly in Montreal on Thursday night from an unknown cause, possibly sleep apnea. He was 37.
“He was the type of guy who would wake up and make stuff,” said Jodoin. “He was an obsessive: He would paint for weeks on end, and that’s all he would do. Or he would make beats for weeks on end, and that’s all he would do. Or write lyrics.”
Buchanan’s mother, Dorene Inglis of Kingston, said her son’s death is under investigation by the Montreal coroner’s office. But as of now, it remains a mystery.
“He was someone who had generosity of spirit,” she said. “He was very sensitive and kind.”
Tributes to the Ottawa rapper, painter and visual artist poured in over the weekend as news of his death spread online.
Peter “The Saurus” Morris called Buchanan hilarious and brilliant. “One of the brightest, most creative minds to ever bless our scene, and likely the most humble genius I’ve ever known,” he posted on Twitter.
Toronto rapper Adam Bomb called Buchanan a naturally gifted writer with a big heart. “He was one of those guys who was loved by everybody.”
Alex Buchanan was born in Ottawa on July 19, 1980. His mother was a professional artist, and his father, Dave Buchanan, a public servant with Revenue Canada. The family moved to Port Dalhousie when Alex was a boy. Growing up, he liked to make comic books and draw graffiti, but he found that his words took up more room than the accompanying artwork. With rap music, he discovered a canvas big enough for his expansive river of words.
In early high school, he formed a band called Sunshine Dick Surprise. Alex played guitar. He dropped out to concentrate on his writing, but went back to high school before spending a year at Sheridan College, where he met Christian “Zeebot” Awad.
Awad taught him to how to make beats using a computer program and keyboard. Buchanan immersed himself in the world of hip hop and followed Awad when he moved to Ottawa in the summer of 2002.
He met Jodoin that same summer at a rap show in the now-defunct Glebe bar Bumpers. Both men freestyled after the show. “He and I were just instantly best friends,” said Jodoin. “We immediately started spending all our time together.”
With DJ Calkuta, they formed the group Flight Distance, the name borrowed from a term used in the book, Life of Pi, that describes the distance at which animals flee from approaching predators.
They released their first album, Run For Your Lives, in 2005, selling copies hand-to-hand. It was followed by Bad Information (2011) and High Priests of Low-Life (2014).
Buchanan also pursued a solo career in battle rap, where contestants compete in face-to-face put-down matches during which, as one music writer said, “everything is disrespected, from loved ones, diseases, deformities and childhoods to mannerisms, priorities parenting and relationships.”
Buchanan thrived in the sub culture. He won the 2011 crown as King of Dot and travelled the world to compete in battle rap contests.
Jodoin said Buchanan didn’t always fit into battle rap’s braggadocious culture, but his powerful rhymes made him a formidable opponent. “Part of me thinks it was just that he wrote so much he needed an outlet for that,” he said.
His mother warned Buchanan not to disrespect women in his performances or she’d never speak to him again. “He said to me, ‘Mummy, you’d better not look at this stuff.’ But I followed him,” said Inglis. “He had some great lines.”
In recent years, Buchanan spent more time painting, and moved to Montreal where he worked part-time as a sous-chef at Agrikol, a restaurant owned by Arcade Fire’s Régine Chassagne and Win Butler. He was working on a fourth Flight Distance album and on novel set in Kingston when he died.
“I need to challenge myself and create: These are bodily functions to me,” Buchanan once told an interviewer. “I love finding a sample, flipping it, writing a song to it, and recording all in a night. If I wake up and play it back and still feel it, that’s the most satisfaction I can get as an artist.”
Jodoin said the high point of his collaboration with Buchanan came during the July 2015 edition of Bluesfest when they opened for the hip hop duo, Run the Jewels, as the sun set behind an enormous crowd. “It was a great moment for us,” he said.
Jodoin said he is still in shock at his friend’s death: “I’m going to miss him so much. I’m going to miss him forever. I never thought I’d have a friend who I shared a brain with like that.”
A sample of Buchanan’s lyrics from Flight Distance’s 2014 record, High Priests of Low-Life:
My door is bolted, feeling agoraphobic
Staring out my window while the storm approaches
like a swarm of locusts.
— “Looneys”
I’m not a rapper that hustles, I’m not a hustler that raps
I’m not movin’ a muscle, I’m not filin’ no tax
I’m not tryin’ to be humble, or supply you with facts
I’m not livin’ the struggle, I’m not tryin’ to give back.
— “Anti-Anthem of the Deadbeat”
Crawled out the Cambrian seas
Came from the deep, made a b-line straight for the trees
Replaced the jungle with skyscrapers and streets
Jet stream to the west, highway to the east.
— “Cyborgs on the Moon”
查看原文...
It was the first rap song Buchanan had ever heard and it was, he would later recall, “a game changer.”
Buchanan eventually dropped out of high school to write his own rhymes. He moved to Ottawa, developed into a battle rap champion, and launched a successful hip-hop group, Flight Distance, with his friend, Patrick “Patience” Jodoin. They played Bluesfest three times, and their 2011 rap album, Bad Information, is regarded as among the best to emerge from this city.
Alexander “Bender” Buchanan died suddenly in Montreal on Thursday night from an unknown cause, possibly sleep apnea. He was 37.
“He was the type of guy who would wake up and make stuff,” said Jodoin. “He was an obsessive: He would paint for weeks on end, and that’s all he would do. Or he would make beats for weeks on end, and that’s all he would do. Or write lyrics.”
Buchanan’s mother, Dorene Inglis of Kingston, said her son’s death is under investigation by the Montreal coroner’s office. But as of now, it remains a mystery.
“He was someone who had generosity of spirit,” she said. “He was very sensitive and kind.”
Tributes to the Ottawa rapper, painter and visual artist poured in over the weekend as news of his death spread online.
Peter “The Saurus” Morris called Buchanan hilarious and brilliant. “One of the brightest, most creative minds to ever bless our scene, and likely the most humble genius I’ve ever known,” he posted on Twitter.
Toronto rapper Adam Bomb called Buchanan a naturally gifted writer with a big heart. “He was one of those guys who was loved by everybody.”
Alex Buchanan was born in Ottawa on July 19, 1980. His mother was a professional artist, and his father, Dave Buchanan, a public servant with Revenue Canada. The family moved to Port Dalhousie when Alex was a boy. Growing up, he liked to make comic books and draw graffiti, but he found that his words took up more room than the accompanying artwork. With rap music, he discovered a canvas big enough for his expansive river of words.
In early high school, he formed a band called Sunshine Dick Surprise. Alex played guitar. He dropped out to concentrate on his writing, but went back to high school before spending a year at Sheridan College, where he met Christian “Zeebot” Awad.
Awad taught him to how to make beats using a computer program and keyboard. Buchanan immersed himself in the world of hip hop and followed Awad when he moved to Ottawa in the summer of 2002.
He met Jodoin that same summer at a rap show in the now-defunct Glebe bar Bumpers. Both men freestyled after the show. “He and I were just instantly best friends,” said Jodoin. “We immediately started spending all our time together.”
With DJ Calkuta, they formed the group Flight Distance, the name borrowed from a term used in the book, Life of Pi, that describes the distance at which animals flee from approaching predators.
They released their first album, Run For Your Lives, in 2005, selling copies hand-to-hand. It was followed by Bad Information (2011) and High Priests of Low-Life (2014).
Buchanan also pursued a solo career in battle rap, where contestants compete in face-to-face put-down matches during which, as one music writer said, “everything is disrespected, from loved ones, diseases, deformities and childhoods to mannerisms, priorities parenting and relationships.”
Buchanan thrived in the sub culture. He won the 2011 crown as King of Dot and travelled the world to compete in battle rap contests.
Jodoin said Buchanan didn’t always fit into battle rap’s braggadocious culture, but his powerful rhymes made him a formidable opponent. “Part of me thinks it was just that he wrote so much he needed an outlet for that,” he said.
His mother warned Buchanan not to disrespect women in his performances or she’d never speak to him again. “He said to me, ‘Mummy, you’d better not look at this stuff.’ But I followed him,” said Inglis. “He had some great lines.”
In recent years, Buchanan spent more time painting, and moved to Montreal where he worked part-time as a sous-chef at Agrikol, a restaurant owned by Arcade Fire’s Régine Chassagne and Win Butler. He was working on a fourth Flight Distance album and on novel set in Kingston when he died.
“I need to challenge myself and create: These are bodily functions to me,” Buchanan once told an interviewer. “I love finding a sample, flipping it, writing a song to it, and recording all in a night. If I wake up and play it back and still feel it, that’s the most satisfaction I can get as an artist.”
Jodoin said the high point of his collaboration with Buchanan came during the July 2015 edition of Bluesfest when they opened for the hip hop duo, Run the Jewels, as the sun set behind an enormous crowd. “It was a great moment for us,” he said.
Jodoin said he is still in shock at his friend’s death: “I’m going to miss him so much. I’m going to miss him forever. I never thought I’d have a friend who I shared a brain with like that.”
A sample of Buchanan’s lyrics from Flight Distance’s 2014 record, High Priests of Low-Life:
My door is bolted, feeling agoraphobic
Staring out my window while the storm approaches
like a swarm of locusts.
— “Looneys”
I’m not a rapper that hustles, I’m not a hustler that raps
I’m not movin’ a muscle, I’m not filin’ no tax
I’m not tryin’ to be humble, or supply you with facts
I’m not livin’ the struggle, I’m not tryin’ to give back.
— “Anti-Anthem of the Deadbeat”
Crawled out the Cambrian seas
Came from the deep, made a b-line straight for the trees
Replaced the jungle with skyscrapers and streets
Jet stream to the west, highway to the east.
— “Cyborgs on the Moon”
查看原文...
