Suicideboys

Suicideboys (stylized as $uicideboy$) is an American hip hop duo from New Orleans, Louisiana,[7] 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 use disorder and suicidal ideation. They own and operate their own label, G*59 Records, under which all of their music is distributed by Caroline Distribution.[8]

Suicideboys
Ruby da Cherry (left) and Scrim (right)
Background information
Also known as	$B
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States[1]
Genres	Hip hop horrorcore[2] trap metal[3]
Years active	2014–present
Labels	G*59 Caroline[4]
Associated acts	Black Smurf Juicy J Getter Germ Pouya Ramirez Travis Barker
Website	g59records.com
Members	Scrim[5] Ruby da Cherry[5][6]

The duo are considered one of the most popular acts in the underground rap scene, and are also considered to have a cult following.[9] 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.[10] In May 2019, they released their collaborative six-track EP with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker entitled Live Fast, Die Whenever. It also prominently featured Korn guitarist James Shaffer.[11]

Early years and formation

Scrim 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.[12]

Ruby da Cherry was born Aristos Norman Petrou on April 22, 1990 to an American mother and Greek Cypriot father Pavlos Petrou, a former association football head coach at Mount Carmel Academy who arrived in the country after obtaining an athletic scholarship to the University of New Orleans.[13] Raised in Metairie, Louisiana, Petrou's interest in music began when he was seven, playing violin and then drums when he was ten, eventually joining bands in middle school. He worked at his father's restaurant as a waiter, a job he held until 2015.[12] His experience with the punk rock scene continued as he joined the band Vapo-Rats as its drummer; however, disillusioned with the apathy his bandmates showed towards the future of the band, Petrou left in order to pursue a career in hip-hop with Arceneaux.

Arceneaux and Petrou are cousins, and as such shared a close relationship growing up. Realising 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.[14] 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”.[9]

Musical career

The duo's first project together, a three-track EP named Kill Yourself Part I: The $uicide $aga, was released in June 2014 on SoundCloud and Bandcamp, attracting attention for their collaboration with notable underground rapper Bones. In the following months, the duo released a further nine iterations of the Kill Yourself series. After a number of collaboration EPs with fellow underground artist Black Smurf, their first full length project titled Gray/Grey was released on March 3, 2015.

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 October 2018, the tape has gained over 75 million track plays on streaming platform SoundCloud alone. The duo's first foray onto the mainstream musical 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.[15]

On September 7, 2018, their debut studio album I Want to Die in New Orleans was released.[1][16] A statement posted by the duo's official Instagram account stated, "We started recording this album in the beginning of 2017. Initially we wanted to write about our experiences on the road and express how our lives had become slightly more extravagant."[17]

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, satanism and depression. As of June 2020, their most viewed music video on YouTube is for their song Paris, reaching over 110 million views; Paris is additionally the song with the most plays on their Spotify page, with 60 million plays.[18] The duo were featured in Billboard's list titled "Billboard Dance's 15 Artists to Watch in 2017".[19]

In late 2018, a rumor arose that the group had broken up following a series of ominous tweets. However, they soon clarified that the tweets were in relation to "personal issues" facing Arceneaux, and that they had in fact not broken up.[20]

In May 2019, the group put this rumor to rest with the release of their six-track EP Live Fast, Die Whenever in collaboration with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, and prominently featuring Korn guitarist James Shaffer.[11]

Side projects

Along with their work in Suicideboys, Petrou and Arceneaux have both released sporadic solo work as well as worked with other artists individually.

Before Suicideboys, Arceneaux was an aspiring solo hip-hop artist, releasing several mixtapes under the name $crim. These include Narcotics Anonymous, #DrugFlow2 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.[21]

Petrou has released two solo mixtapes under the name Oddy Nuff da Snow Leopard; The Jefe Tape in 2012 and Pluto in 2014. Pluto contained the first collaboration between Arceneaux and Petrou on a commercial project; Arceneaux featured on the song Smoke a Sack.

Controversies

Suicideboys have come under much criticism by mainstream music critics for their often abrasive and offensive image, including their name, lyrical content, and behaviour. Many of their songs contain themes and insinuations of devil worship; however, as Arceneaux states on 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.[22]

Arceneaux is a former opioid addict, claiming in his No Jumper interview that he would lure people to him on Craigslist in order to rob them just to feed his addiction.[22] Having been a regular abuser of heroin, hydrocodone and oxycodone, among others, Arceneaux has reputedly been completely sober from all substances since July 2017.

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 EP Dark Side of the Clouds).[23] 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".[24] 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.

Musical style

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.[25] 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.[26] While the use of Three 6 Mafia has been met with reservations by some of its former members, particularly Gangsta Boo,[27] 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.[28]

A large portion of their music focuses on depression and its symptoms, an angle not often received in mainstream hip hop; Arceneaux elaborated on this in an interview with Mass Appeal, stating, “A lot of people take it as emo, or depressed music, or negative music... it’s really just connecting. It’s therapy, through music".[29]

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.[30]

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Details	Peak chart positions									Sales
		US [31]	AUS [32]	BEL (FL) [33]	CAN [34]	FIN [35]	GER [36]	NLD [37]	NZ [38]	SWI [39]
I Want to Die in New Orleans	Released: September 7, 2018 Label: G*59 Format: Digital download, Streaming CD, Vinyl, Cassette	9	10	44	26	6	89	74	15	87	US: 31,000[10]
Stop Staring at the Shadows	Released: February 14, 2020[40] Label: G*59 Format: Digital download, streaming	30	—	81	53	18 [41]	82	—	22 [42]	75

Compilation albums

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		US Heat [43]	FIN [44]
Songsthatwewontgetsuedforbutattheendofthedayweallgonnadieanyway[45]	Released: September 8, 2016 Label: G*59 Format: Digital download, Streaming	23	21

Charted EPs

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		US R&B/HH [46]	US Ind. [47]	US Heat [43]
Radical $uicide[48]	Released: July 22, 2016 Label: G*59 Format: Digital download	17	20	5

Other EPs

2014

• Kill Your$elf Part I: The $uicide $aga
• Kill Your$elf Part II: The Black $uede $aga
• Kill Your$elf Part III: The Budd Dwyer $aga
• Kill Your$elf Part IV: The Trill Clinton $aga
• Kill Your$elf Part V: The Fuck Bitche$, Get Death $aga
• Kill Your$elf Part VI: The T$unami $aga
• Kill Your$elf Part VII: The Fuck God $aga

2015

• Kill Your$elf Part VIII: The $eppuku $aga
• Kill Your$elf Part IX: The $oul$eek $aga
• Kill Your$elf Part X: The Re$urrection $aga
• Black $uicide (w/ Black Smurf)
• Black $uicide Side B: $uicide Hustle (w/ Black Smurf)
• G.R.E.Y.G.O.D.S. (w/ Ramirez)
• Grey Sheep
• I No Longer Fear the Razor Guarding My Heel
• Black $uicide Side C: The Seventh Seal (w/ Black Smurf)
• $outh $ide $uicide (w/ Pouya)
• I No Longer Fear the Razor Guarding My Heel (II)
• G.R.E.Y.G.O.D.S.I.I. (w/ Ramirez)

2016

• DIRTYNASTY$UICIDE (w/ Germ)
• Grey Sheep II
• I No Longer Fear the Razor Guarding My Heel (III)

2017

• DIRTIERNASTIER$UICIDE (w/ Germ)
• Kill Yourself Part XI: The Kingdom Come Saga
• Kill Yourself Part XII: The Dark Glacier Saga
• Kill Yourself Part XIII: The Atlantis Saga
• Kill Yourself Part XIV: The Vulture Saga
• Kill Yourself Part XV: The Coast of Ashes Saga
• Kill Yourself Part XVI: The Faded Stains Saga
• Kill Yourself Part XVII: The Suburban Sacrifice Saga
• Kill Yourself Part XVIII: The Fall of Idols Saga
• Kill Yourself Part XIX: The Deep End Saga
• Kill Yourself Part XX: The Infinity Saga

2019

• Live Fast, Die Whenever (w/ Travis Barker)

Mixtapes

• Gray/Grey (2015)
• 7th or St. Tammany (2015)
• YUNGDEATHLILLIFE (2015)
• High Tide in the Snake's Nest (2015)
• My Liver Will Handle What My Heart Can't (2015)
• Now the Moon's Rising (2015)
• Dark Side of the Clouds (2016)
• Eternal Grey (2016)

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Certifications	Album
"Kill Yourself (Part III)"	2015	RIAA: Gold[49]	My Liver Will Handle What My Heart Can't
"Paris"		RIAA: Gold[49]	Now The Moon's Rising
"Fuckthepopulation"	2016		Songsthatwewontgetsuedforbutattheendofthedayweallgonnadieanyway
"For the Last Time"	2017		Kill Yourself Part XX: The Infinity Saga
"Fuckallofyou2k18"	2018		Non-album singles
"Either Hated Or Ignored"
"Carrollton"		RIAA: Gold[49]	I Want to Die in New Orleans
"Meet Mr. Niceguy"
"Hung Up on the Come Up"			Non-album singles
"Scrape"
"Nothingleftnothingleft"	2019		Live Fast, Die Whenever
"Aliens Are Ghosts"
"Scope Set"			Stop Staring at the Shadows
"Fuck Your Culture"

Other charted songs

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Album
		US Bub. [50]	NZ Hot [51]
"All Dogs Go to Heaven"	2020	—	26	Stop Staring at the Shadows
"Putrid Pride"		—	32
"That Just Isn't Empirically Possible"		—	34
"...And to Those I Love, Thanks for Sticking Around"		8	35

Guest appearances

List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Other performer(s)	Album
"Soul"	2014	Chetta	Diary of a Felon
"Cult II"		Queen Michael	N/A
"$uicideWave"		XtheDolphin
"Hotline"	2015	IZREAL
"G Double O D"		Swag Toof	FOE
"Dark Cry$tal"		Noah23	Peacock Angel
"666House"		Mike Good	N/A
"The Invocation"		Wavy Jone$	Beyond the Black Rainbow
"Psychedelic $uicide"		Trez	N/A
"Hatred"		Smug Mang	Lil Gwoupo
"Seppuku"		Ghostemane, JGrxxn	For the Aspiring Occultist
"Polluted Paradise"		Chetta	Polluted Paradise
"Avant Garde"		JGrxxn, Rozz Dyliams	LILBOXCHEVYMANE
"Avant Garde II"		JGrxxn, Ramirez	Ra
"Make Your Own Way"		Supa Sortahuman	HATE HATE
"Dipped In Gold"		B.C. tha Hybrid	N/A
"Sarcophagus II"		Ramirez	Meet Me Where the River Turns Grey
"Guillotine"	2016	CP97	N/A
"Check"		EndyEnds
"Fuck Y'all Hoes"		Germ	Bad Shit
"Chamber"		Mikey the Magician	Manifest
"But Wait, There's More"		Pouya	Underground Underdog
"Fat Hoes"		Pouya, SDotBraddy, Germ
"Agora"		Yung Dori, Crackhead Jynn	SUSPECT
"2 Hot 4 U"		Fat Nick	When the Lean Runs Out
"TTYL" (Remix)		Fat Nick, Pouya, Sir Michael Rocks, Robb Banks
"I Can't Fold"		Wifisfuneral	Black Heart Revenge
"2 High"		Getter	Wat the Frick
"Depraved $uicide"		Yung Dori	N/A
"666 Below"	2017	Kold-Blooded	FaceKloud 1.0
"Rukus"		Germ	Bad Shit (Bootleg)
"Suicide Bay"		Mitchell Bay	N/A
"Grey Gods"		Ramirez	The Grey Gorilla
"As the Bridges Burn"		Craig Xen	N/A
"Freaky"		Juicy J, A$AP Rocky	Highly Intoxicated
"Joan of Arc"	2018	Night Lovell	Goodnight Lovell
"Cutthroat Smile"		Bexey	N/A
"Awkward Car Drive"	2019	Germ	Germ Has a Deathwish

Alter egos

Both Ruby and Scrim have many different alter egos that they rap under. Their alter egos can have different flows, styles of rapping, and/or lyrical meaning.

All known Suicideboys alter egos[52]

Alter Egos of Aristos Petrou	Alter Egos of Scott Arceneaux Jr.
Ruby Da Cherry	$crim
SLAMDUNKASAUR (Used only as a producer)	Budd Dwyer* (Used only as a producer)
Yung Plauge	$lick $loth
7th Ward Lord	Yung $carecrow
7th Ward Dragon	Lil Cut Throat
7th Ward Charizard	Lil Remains
James $pleen	Anthony Mars
Yung Mutt	Yung Heath Ledger
Norman Atomic	$uicide Christ
Oddy Nuff da Snow Leopard	Pontius Pilate
Spooky da Scary	Lil Half Cut
Lil Uzi the Anti-Christ	Yung Christ
Yung $lumber	$witchblade $crim
Lord of Loneliness	Tony With The Tommy
Yung $now	Tony wit Da Tommy
Romeo da Black Rose	Trap House $crim
Ruby Soho	OG Giraffe Neck
Shawty Burn-A-Church	Lil Murder
Lil No Flash	Yung Death
The $uicidal $hepherd	Lil Life
Papa Pine	Yung Hank Moody
OG Lion Mane	Hearse Boy
Lil Oozing	Lil Choppa
Choking Boy	Lil Famine
Prince Mononoke the Frozen Shogun	Northside Shawty
$nowmane	Big Grieve
Yung Maraschino	Yung Lowdown
Lil Infected	Lil 2/3rds
Lil Waaaaaa	Who Boy Boy
Yung Ooze	Soulja Rag Murder
Raindrop Walka	Lil Cig
Prince of Tides	Yung October
DuckBoy	Banny da Pint Drinker
George Washington's AR-15	El Wetto
Southside Shawty	Black Window
40 Blunts	OG Corpse
@SuicideLEOPARD (Instagram and Twitter handle)	Yung Mane
	Lil' Dark
	@yungxrist (Instagram Handle)
	@SuicideChrist (Twitter Handle)

*Named after the Politician R. Budd Dwyer, who committed suicide on live TV.

References

1. "SUICIDEBOYS HAVE A NEW ALBUM AND TOUR ON THE WAY". XXL. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
2. "6 Horrorcore Rappers For Metalheads".
3. JEWELL, JIAH. "$UICIDEBOY$ GET DARK IN "I WANT TO DIE IN NEW ORLEANS"". The Nevada Sagebrush. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
4. https://www.carolineinternational.com/2018/09/06/uicideboy-want-die-new-orleans/
5. "$uicideBoy$ to play Deluxe at Old National Centre". LemonWire. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
6. "New Orleans Rap Duo $UICIDEBOY$ are Putting Numbers on the Board". Pigeons and Planes. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
7. "The Break Presents: Suicideboys - XXL". April 7, 2017.
8. "G*59 RECORD$". www.g59records.com.
9. "Who are $UICIDEBOY$ and how do they sell out shows around the world – including Auckland?". May 9, 2017.
10. Caulfield, Keith (September 16, 2018). "Paul McCartney Earns First No. 1 Album in Over 36 Years on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Egypt Station'". Billboard. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
11. Editor, The (May 28, 2019). "$UICIDEBOY$ // Team Up With Travis Barker And Korn Guitarist 'Munky' On New EP". Hysteria Magazine. Retrieved July 24, 2019.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
12. No Jumper (December 4, 2015), No Jumper - The Suicide Boys Interview, retrieved September 9, 2018
13. https://wgno.com/news/from-greece-to-mount-carmel-how-pavlos-petrou-built-a-winning-soccer-program/
14. Yeung, Neil. "$uicideboy$ Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
15. "$uicideboy$ Chart History". Billboard.
16. "$uicideBoy$ Share Release Date For "I Want To Die In New Orleans"". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
17. "$UICIDEBOY$ Debut New "Carrollton" Single & Reveal 'I Want To Die in New Orleans' Release Date". Hypebeast. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
18. G*59 Records (December 22, 2015). "$UICIDEBOY$ - PARIS" – via YouTube.
19. Medved, Matt; Bein, Kat. "Billboard Dance's 15 Artists to Watch in 2017". Billboard. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
20. http://hiphopdx.com, HipHopDX -. "$uicideBoy$ Spark Break-Up Rumors Following Ominous Tweets". HipHopDX. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
21. "Suicideboys Say They Influenced SoundCloud Rap—And They're Coming for Their Credit". Complex. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
22. "No Jumper - The Suicide Boys Interview". December 4, 2015.
23. "deadmau5 Clashes With 'Shadow Rap' Group $uicideboys$ Over Copyright Infringement". September 8, 2016.
24. "Goat lord on Twitter".
25. "Underground hip-hop duo $uicideboy$ deserves your attention".
26. "We're In Another Three 6 Mafia Moment, And That Is A Beautiful Thing". September 27, 2017.
27. https://www.complex.com/music/2017/12/gangsta-boo-accuses-artists-of-stealing
28. II, C. Vernon Coleman. "Juicy J Drops 'ShutDaF*kUp' Mixtape With Suicideboys and More - XXL". XXL Mag.
29. "Open Space: $uicideBoy$". April 21, 2017.
30. https://www.complex.com/music/2018/09/suicideboys-say-they-influenced-soundcloud-rap-coming-for-their-credit
31. "Suicideboys Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
32. "Discography $uicideboy$". australian-charts.com. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
33. "Discografie $uicideboy$". Ultratop. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
34. "Suicideboys Chart History: Canadian Albums". Billboard. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
35. "Suomen virallinen lista - Albumit 37/2018". ifpi.fi. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
36. "Diskografie $uicideboy$". offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
37. "Discografie $uicideboy$". MegaCharts. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
38. "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. September 17, 2018. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
39. "Discographie $uicideboy$". hitparade.ch. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
40. Duckboy [@suicideLEOPARD] (December 19, 2019). "the next chapter: STOP STARING AT THE SHADOWS 02/14/20" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
41. https://www.ifpi.fi/lista/albumit/2020/8/
42. "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. February 24, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
43. "Suicideboys Chart History: Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
44. "finnishcharts.com – Finnish charts portal". Finnish Charts. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
45. "Songsthatwewontgetsuedforbutattheendofthedayweallgonnadieanyway – $uicideboy$ / Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
46. "Suicideboys Chart History: R&B/Hip Hop Albums". Billboard. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
47. "Suicideboys Chart History: Independent Albums". Billboard. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
48. "Radical $Uicide EP – $uicideboy$". AllMusic. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
49. "Gold & Platinum Search "$UICIDEBOY$"". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
50. "Suicideboys Chart History: Bubbling Under Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
51. "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. February 24, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
52. "$UICIDEBOY$ – All Known $UICIDEBOY$ Alter-Egos and Personas". Genius. Retrieved April 16, 2020.