Hip hop means a lot of things to a lot of different people. It calls to mind images of its so-called elements: break dancers, djs, mcs, and graffiti artists. Rarely does it bring to mind the Seine, country roads, or a hearty meal. Enter Buck 65.

Buck 65 is the moniker of Richard Terfry. Buck grew up in Mount Uniacke, a small town in the country outside of Halifax, Ontario. His love of hip hop manifested early, listening to rap music in the middle and high school on a Halifax campus community radio station, CKDU. CKDU was only a 33 watt station, which meant that the young Mr. Terfry had to climb a tree in his yard to tune it in. Buck would eventually become a dj on the station, running a late-night hip hop show entitled “The Bassment” (later The Treatment), calling himself DJ Critical. The program helped Terfry cement his status as Halifax’s premier hip-hop head; collaborations, production, and club residencies soon followed, with Terfry performing under the moniker Stinkin’ Rich. In 1993, he released his a set of 5 tracks on the Halifax label No Records. The cassette was titled Chin Music, a reference to his past interest in baseball. A rumor, spread in part by Terfry, is that he had been scouted to play for the Yankees but the talent scout had a heart attack and died before a contract could be signed. Buck still professes a great love of the sport, often including Baseball-themed lyrics in his work.

The release of Chin Music brought Stinkin’ Rich to the attention of members of Halifax alternative rock band Sloan. Sloan signed him to their independent record label Murderecords and released a 7″ single and a full length cassette called Game Tight, again featuring a reference to baseball.

It was after this that Terfry switched to the name Buck 65, a reference to his weight in high school. It should also be noted that Buck 65 is the cost of going to a Yankees game in the early 1940s, and is quoted in the Hepburn/Tracy movie “Woman of the Year”. His first work under the Buck 65 name was a record called Sebutonedef (released in 1996 by Funtrip Records), a collaboration with fellow Halifaxian dj Sixtoo.

Buck’s first full-length album was Language Arts. Fusing his gravelly delivery with beautifully composed lo-fi instrumentation, it trumpeted his (and Halifax’s) entry into the hip-hop circuit. It was at this time that Buck met Cincinnati DJ Mr. Dibbs who inducted him into the 1200 Hobos, a loosely-knit hip-hop collective which included artists like Biz Markie, Peanut Butter Wolf, and Cut Chemist. The follow-up album would cement his place in hip hop. Entitled Vertex, the album seemed to fit the feeling of the time, a mix of tracks with themes and subjects of the strange and unglamorous, often discarding the need to rhyme.

Buck is pretty prolific. Several albums followed, sometimes more than one a year. Standouts (in my opinion) include Square and Talkin’ Honkey Blues. Square is an album of many songs, but only 4 tracks, with themes that touch on rumors, teenage hormones, hoboes, and food. The album is still distinctly hip hop, but represents the first tentative steps Buck would take toward a more experimental mode of music making.

Talkin’ Honkey Blues is that mode. With songs that hearken to loneliness, traveling, his father, and life in paris, the album is Buck’s genesis as an artist no longer shackled by a genre. Some tracks are straight up country, with others skirting the edge of ambient. The album was Buck’s first on a major American label, but was a commercial disaster.

Recently Buck 65 has recorded an EP under the name of Dirk Thornton alongside Irishman DJ Flip, it is schedlued for release late 2006 but a date has not yet been set.