$UICIDEBOY$ - 2ND HAND [TOP]

Suicideboys (stylized as $uicideboy$) are an American hip hop duo from New Orleans, Louisiana,[6] founded in 2014 by cousins Ruby da Cherry and Scrim (stylized as $crim). Via the music sharing platform SoundCloud, the duo rose to popularity for their abrasive, self-produced beats, as well as their harsh lyrical content and themes prominently featuring substance abuse and suicidal ideation. They own and operate their own label, G*59 Records, under which all of their music is distributed by Virgin Music Label & Artist Services.[7]

$UICIDEBOY$ - 2ND HAND

The duo is considered one of the most popular acts in the underground rap scene and is also considered to have a cult following.[8] After several years of solely releasing EPs and mixtapes, Suicideboys' debut studio album I Want to Die in New Orleans was released on September 7, 2018. It fared well commercially, becoming their first top-ten album on the US Billboard 200.[9] In May 2019, they released their collaborative six-track EP with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker entitled Live Fast, Die Whenever, which also featured Korn guitarist James Shaffer. They have sold over $2.5 million worldwide.

$crim was born Scott Anthony Arceneaux Jr. on April 11, 1989, in Marrero, Louisiana. Arceneaux originally was inspired by T-Pain and Kanye West to produce music, buying his first laptop which he used to start DJing with money gained from selling drugs. Arceneaux's passion for DJing extended when he started to attend Delgado Community College, where he was hired to DJ parties. He also worked selling used furniture, getting fired for his new hand tattoos after three years.[10]

Arceneaux and Petrou are cousins, and as such shared a close relationship growing up. Realizing that both were interested in taking a musical career seriously, and both dissatisfied with the direction of their lives, the two formed Suicideboys, making a pact that if their musical career didn't work out, they would both commit suicide.[12] Elaborating on this in an interview with Mass Appeal, Arceneaux states that "it was pretty much like cutting the hand, bleeding, and making a pact that there's no plan B, that if this doesn't happen by the time we're 30, I'm blowing my head off".[8]

Suicideboys' underground breakthrough came with the release of 2015 EP $outh $ide $uicide, a collaboration with established South Florida rapper Pouya, which thrust the duo into the underground rap spotlight. As of March 2023, the track has over 160 million plays on the streaming platform Spotify alone. The duo's first foray onto the mainstream music charts came with the release of Radical $uicide in the summer of 2016. The five-track EP, produced by EDM musician Getter, peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Rap charts.[13]

Suicideboys have gained a cult following in the hip-hop scene, in part due to their niche subject matter involving subjects scarcely seen in rap such as suicidal ideation, anti-religion, and depression. As of March 2023, their most viewed music video on YouTube is for their song Paris, with 176 million views.[17] Their most streamed song on Spotify as of March 2023, is ...And to Those I Love, Thanks for Sticking Around with 489 million streams.[18] The duo were featured in Billboard's list titled "Billboard Dance's 15 Artists to Watch in 2017".[19]

Before Suicideboys, Arceneaux was an aspiring solo hip-hop artist, releasing several mixtapes under the name $crim. These include Narcotics Anonymous, #DrugFlow and Patron Saint of Everything Totally Fucked, all of which were released before the group's formation in 2014. Arceneaux has also worked as an in-house producer for Universal/Republic, producing several songs for artists, including one song that was commercially successful.[31] In 2020, Arceneaux released his first solo album since the formation of $uicideboy$. The album, A Man Rose from the Dead, received mixed reviews among fans.

Suicideboys have come under much criticism from mainstream music critics for their often abrasive and offensive image, including their name, lyrical content, and behavior. Many of their songs contain themes and insinuations of devil worship; however, as Arceneaux states in an interview with Adam Grandmaison, their use of satanic imagery is simply a metonym for the negative effects of money, drugs, and other items that have the potential to manipulate people.[10]

In September 2016, Canadian DJ and record producer Deadmau5 accused the duo of copyright infringement following the success of their song Antarctica (off of the 2016 mixtape Dark Side of the Clouds).[32] The song samples parts of Deadmau5's "I Remember", with Kaskade; the DJ lambasted the duo for this, claiming that Suicideboys were "publicizing other people's intellectual property without consent".[33] The song, which had been out since January and subsequently reached millions of plays on both YouTube and SoundCloud, was taken down by Suicideboys on both platforms and no further action was taken. However, in time for their upcoming Grey Day Tour 2021, Antarctica was cleared for streaming after nearly four years of being off streaming services in September 2021.

The music of Suicideboys varies between different subgenres of rap; while some songs have melancholy tones with lyrical content that focuses on subjects such as depression and suicidal ideation (topics not widely exposed in rap music), others are wildly aggressive, with themes of violence and sexual content.[34] Some of their music is based around life growing up in New Orleans; song titles such as Audubon, Tulane, Elysian Fields and St. Bernard reflect streets and neighborhoods that influenced the life of Arceneaux and Petrou.

There is a clear Three 6 Mafia influence in much of their music, with many earlier Suicideboys songs using samples from the group's songs, most notably in Mask & Da Glock.[35] While the use of Three 6 Mafia has been met with reservations by some of its former members, particularly Gangsta Boo,[36] it has been embraced by others; founding member Juicy J has been vocal about his support and mentorship of Suicideboys and enlisted the duo to produce his mixtapes Highly Intoxicated and ShutDaF*kUp, featuring artists such as ASAP Rocky, Cardi B, Wiz Khalifa, and XXXTentacion.[37]

Excluding occasional guest producers and usage of purchased instrumental loops, the entirety of Suicideboys' discography is self-produced, mainly by Arceneaux under his pseudonym Budd Dwyer (an homage to the former politician of the same name). Arceneaux has produced tracks for multiple artists, including Denzel Curry, Dash, and Juicy J; additionally, he states that he once held an in-house deal with Universal/Republic.[39] 041b061a72