Listening to Baby Gravy 3, I’m reminded of Alex, my closest crony. After 15 years, he still joins me in the pandemonium of comedy skits in our shared apartment. I’m reminded of Jake, a friend from high school with whom I’ve spent time cycling through opinions of Young Thug mixtapes and Game Of Thrones episodes.
The third and latest collaborative effort from bbno$ and Yung Gravy is rich with far-fetched bars and witty wordplay, just like the hilarious moments you share with your closest confidantes. Booming 808s and the rattling percussion of trap drum patterns swarm the mix, like how you and your entourage blew out subwoofers back in the house party days. It reminds you of good times, with good people.
As solo acts, they both already sell out venues like Melbourne’s Forum Theatre and have clocked over five million monthly Spotify listeners. So why continue to share the success when you’re already killing it by yourself? Yung Gravy and bbno$ fill me on Zoom, describing their union as a sanctuary-like sandbox. “I don’t have to think when we’re in the room together, therefore everything is more bonafide,” bbno$ tells me. Yung Gravy follows by relaying the pair’s mission statement: “Have as much fun as possible.”
Yung Gravy And bbno$: From College To Companionship
The fun started back in college in 2016, when they met over Soundcloud DMs. bbno$ was studying Kinesiology and Yung Gravy was majoring in Marketing, but they were both still striving to make their musical dreams a reality. That same year, Yung Gravy achieved some online virality with ‘Mr. Clean’, a braggadocious bop that’s as hard as it is humorous. The prospect of bigging up bbno$ was still present in the back of his mind. “I remember trying to convince him to fully pursue music and take the risk, as opposed to just sticking to the school stuff,” he tells me.
The following year, the first BABY GRAVY project dropped, and the rest is history. They’re a dynamic duo, and their chemistry has spawned inescapable hits like ‘Welcome To Chilis’, a highlight off of 2020’s Baby Gravy 2 that now sits at over 100 million streams. The leap of faith they took from their college dorm rooms continues to pay off.
Yung Gravy and bbno$’s encouragement of each other remains a cornerstone in their partnership to this day. Baby Gravy 3is a friendly rap joust, each whipping the other into a lyrical frenzy. Both combatants are constantly trying to one-up each other with clever, outlandish lines. This results in the catchy chaos of songs like ‘swiper no swiping!’, where bbno$ sets the scene with bars like “Touchdown Zurich, mountain top, eating fondue.” He explains, “When we make songs together, it turns out like a little brotherly competition. Sometimes I out-rap him, sometimes he out-raps me. But in this, we complement each other’s styles, and it prevents us from getting lazy.”
Yung Gravy And bbno$: Oddball Bonding
In a world where people are pretend to be NPCs, and AI-generated Drake songs go viral, the pair’s chemistry is a reminder of the beautiful absurdity that comes with being your own weird self. The duo sometimes grace the stage in all-white suits, or frolic through fields in music videos like ‘Goodness Gracious’. They invite the audience into this world they create together, but they embrace one another’s peculiarities as if no one’s watching.
Because of this authenticity, BABY GRAVY possesses a sense of community that extends beyond them. Yung Gravy’s subreddit is 13.3k members strong, while bbno$’s Discord sits at over 40,000 members. Here, fans discuss music, gaming, and more. bbno$’s eyes gleam when reminiscing on the most recent BABY GRAVY headlining tour, which took place in the US late last year. “We were performing in front of thousands of people, and it’s crazy to think about the fact that I met this dude [Yung Gravy] online, and we’ve created this thing out of our being ourselves,” he says.
Yung Gravy and bbno$’s bond is proof that you actually can mix friendship with business. They parrot each other when saying that “even without the business, we’d still be friends, because we were friends before business in the first place”. bbno$ sees their companionship as a place of solace away from the stresses of the industry. “It’s nice to have someone I can genuinely talk to about the negative aspects of what we do,” he says. “We can vent about the weird things our other friends don’t experience.” Yung Gravy agrees. “I often have trouble trusting people and often require them to prove something to me, but BABY GRAVY is relaxing because it is just two friends hanging out who happen to make dope art at the same time.”
The Glee Behind The Gravy
There’s no denying the workrate of bbno$ and Yung Gravy. Combined, they have a total of 16 solo releases. In 2022, bbno$ performed over 100 shows on a tour that spanned everywhere from his hometown of Vancouver, to countries like Romania. Browsing YouTube, you can spot Yung Gravy everywhere from Comedian Theo Von’s podcast This Past Weekend to the goddamn Kyle & Jackie-O Show. This kind of schedule must take a toll.
Yet, when listening to Baby Gravy 3, it’s hard to imagine a world where these guys feel any sense of pressure. Their vocals are animated throughout the project, with vehement yelps and crowd-raising cadences present on tracks like ‘You Need Jesus’. This energy is akin to the memories we all hold dear with our buddies. When I’m chowing down on a sandwich at Rocco’s Delicatessen with Alex and Jake, I forget about the trials of life that await us outside of these moments.
For Yung Gravy and bbno$, the studio is where they find serenity. Yung Gravy refuses to make music when he’s feeling down, saying “I only hit the studio when I’m in the zone because I like to maintain happiness.”. bbno$, however, cites pressure as a motivator to go hard. “I only rap when I have something to prove, I want to push through every creative block that stands in the way.” The drive they possess comes from different places, but they cross the finish line feeling a sense of peace. Baby Gravy 3 sees the pair combine alacrity and ambition, and the outcome is high-octane.
Yung Gravy and bbno$’s bond extends far beyond rap collaborations. During our conversation, they tell me of plans to delve into Diablo 4 together. Before our call commenced, they were sharing banter and food at an Italian restaurant. They want the music to reflect their companionship, and for it to become contagious. “We want our music to be the soundtrack for the good times, all the highlights in life, like playing games, or losing your virginity (laughs),” Yung Gravy says.
There lies the power of Baby Gravy 3. On the surface, it’s a flashy frenzy of hip-hop, rich with tongue-in-cheek materialism and exaggerated braggadocio. Delve deeper, and you’ll find the source of the sauce to be solidarity. bbno$ and Yung Gravy are bros who like to frolic in fields, wear white suits, and push each other to spit their best bars yet.
When things are stressful, they speak with each other. When it comes to goals, they encourage each other. When this duo hits the booth, it’s their version of mine and Alex’s inside jokes, the common ground of Young Thug fandom I share with Jake, and the worshipping of cold-cut sandwiches that persists when we form as a trio. In the wise words of bbno$, every time BABY GRAVY grace the beat, it’s a testament to friendship.
Henry Owens is a Melbourne-based writer dedicated to good bars and gargantuan breakdowns. You can find him trawling on Twitter and Instagram.
Image Credit: Supplied