His Tongue is His Sword: Buffalo Artist 'Bumble' Set to Create Buzz with Debut Album

Bumble (Image by Willem Rizzuto)

Bumble — a 19-year-old Buffalo-born hip-hop and R&B musician — will release his first album Sunday titled ‘A Niw Rad Movement,’ a musically compelling and lyrically potent LP comprised of songs that examine issues ranging from relationships and community to homelessness.

“I have a craft and I have art. My craft is music and my art is sharing it,” said Bumble. “If I’m not making something that I relate to then I don’t know how other people will look to it as inspiration for their mountain they’re trying to climb.”

A multi-instrumentalist who started on drums and hails from a family that favors music — his father continues to play punk rock and there’s a home studio in the basement — Bumble’s influences include Stevie Wonder.

But leery of being pigeonholed, he said that while there’s a definite “funk” to his overall product he wouldn’t go so far as to categorize his music as “soul.” And, though Bumble comes from a hip-hop background, he noted as well that ‘A Niw Rad Movement’ isn’t rap.

“It’s song,” explained Bumble, who will mark the album’s drop with a release show at Area 54 on Sunday. “I don’t even know the genre you could label it: Electronic. That’s the easy way.”

Whatever the genre, one thing is for certain: ‘A Niw Rad Movement’ — on which Bumbles plays all instruments, including studio synths — is a fluid and powerful wall of sound.

“It’s me playing the instruments. There’s not some dude in Italy making the beats, and I’m in Buffalo. There are sounds I get from birds here, not in Italy. We have different sound landscapes here in Buffalo. I was listening to crickets the other day — they have accents. I know birds do. They have regional accents. They (choose a) mate with their regional accent in their chirp, so they know where their offspring will be.

“I feel implored to go do my craft just by my nature,” he added. “I started to play guitar and learn about music theory when I was 16. I started writing rap when I was 11. So, I had all that time of, like, ‘this is how I vocally interact with a beat’ … and then getting into the musical side of things and actually doing it myself — that enhances the intimacy.”

Bumble’s aim, in fact, is to take concepts that appear larger than life and make them feel intimate. During an interview with 1120 Press, he demonstrated his lyrical prowess, reciting words from his song ‘Re-vol.ution’.

“My tongue is my sword, but someone might stab through my heart, I know where it lies, so I let it speak out the truth

“And what is a sacrifice, without a recorded name? How long do we have to fight? Without payoffs for our pains?

“Without payoff for our land, without payoff for our gains? Without payoff for our work, without payoff for our people

“I demand, I declare, I dare do say a new man be here today, to free all men and women and children, in all ages, for all ages, forever on.”

Bumble said he considers ‘A Niw Rad Movement’ the first step in what he hopes will be a long evolution in stylistic approaches to his craft.

“I look at how Stevie Wonder climbed that mountain, or I look at how D’Angelo climbed that mountain. And Steve Lacy. How Thundercat climbed that mountain,” Bumble said. “They all made things that are absolutely beautiful. It’s like a tsunami over perspectives, or arrangements or feelings or so many things in life; they make it seem like you can fit into your own landscape.”

Following Bumble on streaming platforms HERE, as well as on Instagram HERE. Also, check out his video for the song ‘stand!’ below.