Bugsy H. «We’ve been digging up dirt for years. I just love seeing Boston underground shine!»

Yo Bugsy H. we definitely appreciate your availability to answer our questions. If we’re not mistaken, you come from Boston but your origins are Peruvian and Cuban: can you tell us more about your origins and your personal/family story? What area of ​​Boston are you from ?

No doubt thanks for showing love, I grew up in a loving catholic house hold with 2 great parents on the 290th block of Shawmut Ave, the area was mostly Lebanese and Italian. My neighborhood I grew up in is called South-End. A very diverse section of Boston. 

My earliest memories on 275 Shawmut Apartment 3A, were always good, we didn’t have it all living there but we always had a hot meal and clothes on our back, Nintendo, bikes, ect. It was very safe living there. The block was extremely organized so no problems ever ensued there, but other blocks were very dangerous there in the 90’s. I met a lot of celebrities on the block, one time I was walking home from school and I saw Damon Waynes he was shooting the movie Celtic Pride, I ran across the street (to my home) and grabbed my, “Homie the Clown” T-shirt so he could sign it, he was a real cool dude!

When did you approach Hip-Hop culture? What are your earliest memories about approaching this culture?

My first memories was definitely Candyman (1990) he was the first notable/favorite rapper of mine, the marketing was smart with the polka dot pajamas cover playing twister, my father would have never bought it if he knew how explicit it was for a 5 year old but the marketing over powered his thinking process, smart on the label’s part. Bel Biv Devoe also dropped that year as well which was really big for South-End cause Ronnie Devoe was from a few blocks away in Cathedral Projects.

When did you decide to get serious about rap music and what were your first official steps into the Boston underground scene? Do you have any anecdotes about that period?

My first recollection of running into anyone with a name was Twice Thou. Kage and myself was drunk walking down Newbury street drinking a bottle of Rosè. I saw him sitting in a Mercedes-Bens. Maybe the fact that I recognized him while holding that champagne that young impressed him enough to hear what I had, I remembered spitting a written I used a lot at that time. He gave me a business card and drove off, nothing panned out from that but that meant a lot at the time. That next year or 2 I started rapping with an underground rap group called Math Line

We were big in the battle rap culture and Kage and myself brought the element of Horror-Core to the table.

The Boston and Massachussetts’s underground “boom bap rap” scene right now is really going hard and doing well. What’s your connections in the MA hip-hop panorama? What’s your feeling about that?

We’ve been digging up dirt for years. There’s so many names that have contributed to our buzz. South-End has a voice now, it’s good to see Avenue, The Antagonist doing their thing holding this flag high. Shaykh Hanif was from the block too. I knew him and his family from the sandbox era! I just love seeing us shine!!

Who are the artists who have inspired you the most during your career? In which aspects of your style do you think these influences are most recognizable? And how would you define your style?

In terms of the 90’s those are very evident most of the ones at the table inspired me to rap. Once I started rapping I would say artists like Raz, Stephen Route, and later of course Leather Hands (S-18) Carl Sherron a lot of my contemporaries are keeping my fire lit! I would say Stephen Route was most influential as I started he really taught me how to structure songs, create choruses, produce, all that stuff. Leather Hands inspired me most around the Bubble 07/Sabato era, we was was really recording neck to neck on some John & Paul shit. (The Beatles)

Where does your name Bugsy H. come from? Has it always been your rap name?

Nah, honestly I started off as Moon Man which quickly changed to Future, but when I took it seriously it changed for the last time to Bugsy.

Some of the kids in my neighborhood called me Buggy, cause I would Bug out at times, I had a short temper, so the Bugsy thing stuck. I went by Bugsy Hydrogen thought that was too long so I switched to Bugsy Hydro which everyone thought was about the strain. So I said let me drop it to Bugsy H.

What are the albums that you consider most important for your career to date and in your opinion they made you known in the underground scene? One of these is definitely “Swiss Watches Plastic Cups” where you also collaborated with Boston legend Termanology and Lynn Estee Nack. Can you tell us about this album and how these collaborations came about?

Yeah for sure, that album was my second and my baby too! I had only Massachusetts artists on that album.

I was hearing Term’s name a lot and wanted him on that album. He really came through and torched that. As far as Nack, I remember Josh Bliss putting me on to him. He did a few videos with him prior to me and spoke highly of him. I reached out to him shortly after and we recorded those 2 records at the Mini Mansion in Lynn (Mass).

He produced those 2 as well in case people forgot, he showed love it’s good to see him shining and doing his thing!! It’s def a Mass takeover right now!! 

The top 3 most influential I’ve released so far I believe would be Sanctuary, Travis County 2 & Sabato.

You just released an Ep called PREBATO THRREE a prequel to the 3rd chapter of your “Sabato” series definitely one of the most important projects of yours. Can you tell us about its peculiar concept and where does the series name come from? And what can you anticipate to us about the 3rd volume?

Of course, Sabato derives from an Italian sculptor who architected and built what became the Watts Towers. Back in 2014/2015 I released about 17 mixtapes. His work ethic and ability to create freely immediately attracted me to him and it’s what inspired this series!

It also immensely inspired the Mosaic Rap movement. Sabato was the first album I believed in enough to independently press up records up and sell out in the first few months of release. I gained a lot of fans since that album so it’s only right I continue that series. PREBATO THRREEE is a taste of what’s to come, all those tracks will be exclusive and won’t be added to SABATO 3. 

Maestro really took the driver seat on Prebato, I will be starting that Sabato 3 this year for sure, a lot of familiar faces and unfamiliar sounds will be added to the mix! 

Your 2023 “Lobby Doc” album was one of our favorite albums of the year. Can you tell us something more about this album, its concept and realization? How was it born and how was it received?

Thanks for that, I actually adapted that Alias around the Sabato 1 era, for me the Lobby Doctor is the one who gives you news that makes you cry, makes you laugh, makes you angry, he raps into your emotions as much as the person you care for, so I felt it’s only appropriate to name this album that for I felt I was that lobby doctor to myself. It was my first international release and press so I’m very proud of this one! 

Some people say Lobby Doctor is my best, I’ll leave it up to the people. A funny story is a lot of those songs were actually suppose to be on a Mephux album, Maestro respectively intercepted efficiently for the touch down! 

Meastro produced that album and Krates mastered it so even though it’s an Apple Dizzle release it’s still HRIS. I’m also very proud to have curated Mariel. Only someone like me would mix Lungs and Kadeem on a record and make it work! The record with Edo G & Nonchalantly Zay is probably the most talked about on the record.

How do you feel about your career? What goals do you feel you have achieved and what is next on your bucket list?

I’m very happy with what I’ve accomplished thus far, I came out the gate with Project Pat & Keith Murray on records. I’ve worked with many artists I’ve admired over the years, I’ve seen my face in books, magazines, murals, top ten lists, all that good stuff! No race, I’m just going to continue to inspire the world around me!

In terms of Bucket list I have an unreleased record with Mephux and Roc Marci so we can cross that off the list, it will probably never see the light of day, but to say we did that is crazy!

Do you have any links with the Boston graffiti scene and have you had any first-hand experience with it?

You know, as a kid my brother who at the time used to go by DJ 6 his tag name was Bullet. He would tag his name over a bullet it was fire!

Kage and I would tag our names under the Berkley Bridge in South-End. We used to hit the walls that the orange line trains would see coming in and out!

We used to be careful doing it cause the transit cops were sneaky they used to pop up and lock us up for tagging so you had to know the right times to do it.
A funny story though we would always see this tag “Phoner” this dude would be everywhere, we would see his tags in those places you would wonder how he got there. One day Kage and I were smoking a blunt on a rooftop in Chinatown (Manhattan) and there was the tag, “Phoner” it blew my mind!