Information/Write-up
Richard Terfry grew up in the rural community of Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia, discovering hip-hop in the mid-1980s through scratchy late-night radio signals and the distant broadcasts of Halifax campus station CKDU. With no scene around him and no mentors to copy, he taught himself to rap, DJ, and produce on whatever gear he could cobble together, recording early homemade tracks on Portastudio and quietly circulating them on college radio. By the early 1990s he began performing and releasing music under the name Stinkin’ Rich, a tongue-in-cheek moniker that contrasted sharply with the rugged, outsider environment he came from.
His breakthrough came with the lo-fi cassette Chin Music, recorded in the early ’90s and issued on the tiny Halifax label No Records. Raw, funny, and unusually literate, the tape made its way to Sloan and their indie imprint Murderecords, who immediately recognized the emerging voice behind it. The label issued two of his most important early releases — the full-length Game Tight and the rare red-vinyl 7" Stolen Bass — which quickly became collector staples and captured Terfry at his most stripped-down: turntables, four-track grit, left-field humour, and a delivery unlike anything else happening in Canadian rap at the time. Around this period he also began hosting hip-hop programming on CKDU and collaborating with members of the developing Halifax scene, helping to carve out a space for experimental rap on the East Coast.
By the mid-1990s he retired the Stinkin’ Rich name and shifted into the persona that would follow him for decades: Buck 65. His first major outing under the new alias, the sprawling double-cassette Weirdo Magnet (1996), signaled a dramatic expansion in style — embracing jazz textures, collage aesthetics, and the eccentric storytelling that would define his songwriting. He simultaneously formed the Sebutones with fellow Haligonian Sixtoo, releasing a series of underground records that earned international attention and positioned Halifax as an unexpected hub for abstract hip-hop.
Through the late 1990s and early 2000s, Buck 65 recorded prolifically across independent labels, building a catalogue that mixed hip-hop with folk, blues, spoken word, and experimental production. Releases like Language Arts, Vertex, Man Overboard, and Square introduced him to wider audiences and solidified his reputation as one of the most inventive and idiosyncratic voices in Canadian music. By the time he signed with Warner Music in 2002, he had already spent more than a decade creating, self-releasing, and touring his way to a national and international following — all of it rooted in those first basement tapes and the fiercely DIY spirit of the Stinkin’ Rich era.
-Robert Williston
Buck 65: producer, graf advocate, the boss
d.j. critical: turntable operations
Stinkin' Rich: wordsmith
Uncle Climax: bush pilot
Achilles: b-boy, patient
Jesus Murphy: host
Johnny Rockwell: male model
Has Slam: spirit
Acknowledgements
TC, Terry Pulliam, Windwood Sound, Lawrence Curry, Six Too, Gordski, Renegade Synapsis, Marc Costanzo, Laura Borealis, Ley Line Clothing Co., M88Kenzie, J.O.Smooth, Little T., Nathan C., Plains of Fascination, the Sebutones, Mark-o Detroit, Fritz Da Khat and Divine Styler Magazine, Tom and N.W.S.A. Magazine, Vice Magazine, Live Poets, Skinhorse, B-Luv, Mr. Wiggles, DJ Swamp, Mel Hall, Six Finger Satellite, John Galliano, the Rascalz, Master Bakers, Dave Paul and the Bomb, and Omegatron.
Recording Notes
• “Boogie'n Frenzy” features M88Kenzie
• “Shout It Out” features J.O.Smooth
• “Beatles Break” recorded live at the Birdland Cabaret, Nov. 17, 1995
• Certain songs recorded in 1992
• Some written in 1989
• Recorded variously on 4-track, ADAT, and 2-inch tape
Listeners are encouraged to check out The Treatment Program on CKDU-FM (Halifax), Mondays 3–5 p.m., hosted by Jesus Murphy.
Previous Stinkin' Rich releases available: Chin Music EP (No Records); Stolen Bass 7" and Game Tight cassette (murderecords).
Support independent hip hop and keep the four elements alive.
Note: On cassette 2, “State of the Art” actually plays at the beginning of Side B.
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