Buddy

Compton rapper and vocalist Buddy first surfaced in the early 2010s, distinguished by an approachable yet unconventional style. After Teyana Taylor, he became one of the few teenage signees to the Neptunes’ Star Trak Entertainment; like that eventual G.O.O.D. Music artist, however, his most assured work emerged years afterward under a different imprint. Once on RCA he reached Billboard’s Heatseekers chart with Harlan & Alondra in 2018, then issued the higher-visibility mixtape Janktape, Vol. 1 in 2020 and the album Superghetto in 2022—both part of an expansive catalog that also encompasses additional mixtapes, several EPs, and numerous solo and guest tracks. His circle of associates is correspondingly wide, with Snoop Dogg, Nipsey Hussle, and Kendrick Lamar representing only a fraction of the Los Angeles County artists alongside whom he has recorded.

The nickname Buddy was given to Simmie Sims III by his sister during childhood and remained with him as he began composing music seriously in middle school. In his mid-teens, through his manager, he attracted the attention of Pharrell Williams, who placed him on the Star Trak roster and later on the I Am Other label. Williams-helmed recordings such as the energetic “Awesome Awesome” and the introspective “Staircases,” which featured Kendrick Lamar, surfaced in 2011 and 2012 and preceded the February 2014 arrival of the mixtape Idle Time. Alongside primary producer Williams, Cardo and Boi-1da supplied beats, while Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus appeared as guests.

Standalone tracks continued through the following years and led to the 2017 independent EPs Ocean & Montana, produced by Kaytranada, and Magnolia, produced by Mike & Keys. Buddy subsequently signed with RCA and, in July 2018, released his first proper studio album, Harlan & Alondra. Named for the intersection nearest his childhood residence, the project included appearances by Snoop Dogg, Ty Dolla $ign, and Khalid and debuted at number 22 on the Heatseekers chart; a deluxe edition followed in 2019. By decade’s end his featured credits encompassed Nipsey Hussle’s “Status Symbol,” two songs from BJ the Chicago Kid’s Grammy-nominated In My Mind, DJ Quik and Problem’s “This Is Your Moment,” and Terrace Martin’s “Trail Mix,” as well as several tracks on Dreamville’s Revenge of the Dreamers III, among them the Hot 100-charting “Costa Rica.”

Buddy maintained a rapid release schedule into 2020. In April, RCA put out Janktape, Vol. 1, an EP-length mixtape made with Kent Jamz. He and Raedio supplied “Bad Decisions” to the fourth-season soundtrack of Insecure, after which the singles “Black 2” and “Faces,” the latter with Lucky Daye, were issued. His second studio album, Superghetto, appeared in March 2022; in addition to “Black 2,” it featured the single “Glitch” with Tinashe and guest contributions from Blxst, T-Pain, Ari Lennox, and Gwen Bunn.