This past Thursday was 420, and while I was still technically dead from Coachella weekend, the Observatory’s lineup was not to be missed. With acts like Lil Uzi Vert, Joey Bada$$, the Flatbush Zombies, and Playboi Carti all hitting the one-day outdoor smoke out in Santa Ana, California, it almost felt like a warm-up for Rolling Loud festival in Miami next month.
The event was packed to the brim with Soundcloud followers waiting to rip each other’s chokers off in the mosh pit, yet still had a positive vibe thanks to security allowing everyone to bring in their normally-banned flower and edibles.
One of the highlights of the entire night was New Orleans duo $uicideBoy$, who ripped apart the main stage to roaring crowds that knew most every word of their trippy, melodic, southern-fried R&B — if R&B stood for raucous and brazen.
The budding stars, 26-year-old Ruby aka Oddy Nuff and 27-year-old $lick, are two of the fastest rising stars in hip-hop, though their style can’t really be contained by such simplistic “genres.”
Though the pair were fresh off the stage and probably exhausted from their high-energy set, we were lucky enough to get a few minutes with them to discuss weed’s high holiday, their international success, and more.
Check out the interview, as well as their new Maxo Kream-assisted single, “Pictures,” below:
Duke: Happy 420, guys. How’d you celebrate today, besides the contact high you’re probably catching around here?
Oddy Nuff: Well, to be honest with you, we were at the airport at f***ing 4:45 in the goddamn morning so…
$lick: I was asleep.
Oddy Nuff: We got high before we went to bed but we didn’t start off smoking weed today.
Duke: What do you guys normally smoke?
Oddy Nuff: Blunts, mostly Backwoods. Smoke weed everyday, don’t touch that fake weed — that s***t sucks.
Duke: You mentioned before the interview you enjoy Indicas mainly, $lick?
$lick: Yeah, I found out the deal from some friends that are super into the whole weed culture. They told me that Indica helps a lot with anxiety and shit. I have severe anxiety and panic disorders, so I can have panic attacks at like any time. So they say Indicas are good strains for that. I always loved smoking, but I f***ing hated my heart coming out of my chest, all that type of stuff.
Duke: Paranoia?
$lick: Yeah, and come to find out, everything I was smoking was Sativa-based.
Duke: Sativas can definitely make your mind race, depending on the strain.
$lick: Yeah, and my mind races enough, you know what I’m saying?
Duke: I feel you, Indicas are my steez as well. What about edibles, you guys use them?
$lick: Be careful, especially if you have anxiety, be careful.
Duke: You get too high off them?
$lick: Yeah, can’t do those, dude.
Duke: What happened?
$lick: Man, I have one experience where I ate edibles, and they were way too strong. I had a panic attack, paced around the house for 20 minutes, and then asked someone to bring me to the hospital. Luckily, he was like, “naw, you’re just panicking.”
Duke: What do you guys listen to while you smoke?
$lick: I don’t know
Oddy Nuff: Honestly, ourselves. It really helps us see if we’re really f***ing with a certain song or not. We always record the song, listen to it, wait a little bit, smoke a bunch of weed, then come back to it hours later. Then we can really decide if we f**k with it or not.
$lick: There’s been instances where we’ve made a song that we weren’t sure about, smoked weed and immediately were like, “damn, this is actually fire.” Then we’d listened to it sober and think it was soft.
Oddy Nuff: For sure. It really helps the judgement.
Duke: Do you make certain music specifically for people who are high?
Oddy Nuff: We make music for all people, where you can listen to it if you’re sober, you can listen to it if you’re smoking, you can listen to it if you’re still struggling with problems, all of that. Each song has a different message, not every track is about one thing.
$lick: Mental illness, any struggle, you’re not the only one going through it. Like yeah, we’re where we’re at, but we have a lot of problems. Ya know? Our fans are our family, you know?
Oddy Nuff: At the end of the day, we’re all human, so why not include everybody?
Duke: Speaking of inviting everyone, you guys just sold out your European and Australian tours. Can you shed some light on how you use analytics to determine where you play shows around the world?
Oddy Nuff: It helps us see which countries outside of the United States f**k with us the most.
Duke: Where are you off to next?
Oddy Nuff: Hawaii, Australia, and then New Zealand.
$lick: Yeah, two shows in Hawaii, Honolulu and…
Oddy Nuff: …Maui.
$lick: Then in Australia, we hit…
Oddy Nuff: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and then we’re doing two shows in Auckland.
Duke: First time there?
$lick & Oddy Nuff: [In unison] Yeah.
$lick: All sold out, too.
Oddy Nuff: Very f***ing exciting, 800,000 caps.
$lick: I’m tripping, dawg.
Duke: The internet, man.
Oddy Nuff: F**k the internet — no I’m just kidding, I love the internet.
Duke: You know what I’m saying, what you’re doing is just not possible even 10-15 years ago.
Oddy Nuff: Oh f**k no, the internet has been the most useful tool that we’ve applied to our careers.
$lick: We had a lot of trial and error before we found that lane.
Oddy Nuff: We both attempted this s**t before the internet was what it was, before it was a helpful tool, and it was definitely way more of a struggle. We didn’t see the success that we see now.
$lick: Talking about handing CDs out at gas stations and colleges.
Oddy Nuff: Colleges, high schools, playing shows in record stores — that s**t’s fun but without the internet, you really cannot spread the word as quickly as you need to.
Duke: Couldn’t agree more. Thanks for taking the time, guys.