BUCK*: AG CLUB's Baby Boy Releases Debut Solo Project

Baby Boy, a member of the Bay Area hip-hop collective AG CLUB, has released his debut solo project, BUCK*, out now on Epic Records. The eight-track release moves through soulful, shifting soundscapes and personal reflection, arriving alongside a music video for the song AVOIDANCE that Baby Boy co-directed with longtime AG CLUB collaborator Manny Madrigal.

BUCK* is a vibrant, handcrafted mix of R&B, rap, pop, and rock that pairs Baby Boy with a core set of close-knit collaborators and multi-instrumentalists. Working primarily with producers Mikey Mu, jerod, and AG CLUB stalwart Saint Patrick, Baby Boy sounds like he's leading a band from within a bedroom studio, with occasional pop-ins from fellow sonic travelers like Dilip (Skrillex, JackBoys), berg (SAILORR, ian), Hamish (Smino, Miguel), Isaac Rose, and others.

The previously unheard 'SUM1ELSE.mp3' is an immediate standout, painting a vivid picture of a couple at a crossroads over a track that moves between wistful dreamscapes and a bouncing chorus that plays like a brokenhearted B-side from a lost Y2K pop&B album. Baby Boy is unabashedly vulnerable, expressing his devotion as a counterpoint to his partner's wandering eye: 'I think I'm tongue tied, I'm just thinking 'bout you tonight, alright?' he begins. 'Your hands tied around me, you used to ride beside me / Now you're here thinking 'bout someone else.'

Baby Boy shared a note to accompany his new project:

'BUCK* is love wrapped up in the reality of my life. No pretending. No games. These songs are the sonic embodiment of all the love and all the loss I've experienced. I've been making music since 2017, and this is the first time I've actually explored doing this on my own. I know these songs sound different from our older records, but I love them. And if you love them, then I love you. If you don't, I still love you.

'There have been so many moments in my life where, if I had just been open and honest about the way I felt, a lot of people — including myself — would've been spared a lot of pain. My antlers grew too big. I spent so much time defending myself that I forgot how to let people in. This album is me shaking them off. Starting fresh. If you want to know me — Jah, or Baby Boy — just know I'm in there.'

The 'AVOIDANCE' music video — directed by Baby Boy and longtime AG CLUB collaborator Manny Madrigal — brings those themes to life. The guitar-driven song finds the artist freely releasing the kinds of feelings he struggles to share with others in real life. The visual plays on this, initially depicting Baby Boy as the only live wire in a house full of listless family members. After a pivotal moment, their roles switch, and he's dazed while others smile and dance. While much is open to interpretation, their individual moments of expression all take place in isolation.

That song captures something integral to BUCK*. Like 'ST CHARLES,' the album writ large is both deeply introspective and warmly welcoming, and beatifically explores the dualities of making one's way through the world while always maintaining momentum — and also a stubborn optimism reflected in the sound, which is highly dynamic but beautifully cohesive.

Baby Boy's new project follows AG CLUB's summer 2025 single '

,' which found them raising a toast to the good life over a breezy track that also featured in the 'New Balance 1000 for JD Sports' campaign. Before that came the group's beloved 2024 mixtape BRODIE WORLD, a whimsical and electric body of work praised by Stereogum for its 'day-glo, reckless, youthful charm' and dubbed a 'tremendous experiment in having fun' by Alternative Press.

Since emerging in 2019, AG CLUB has steadily developed one of hip-hop's most unpredictable and expansive catalogs, earning acclaim from Billboard, NYLON, HYPEBEAST, UPROXX, and more while appearing at festivals like Coachella, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, Camp Flog Gnaw, Austin City Limits, and the X Games. Through it all, Baby Boy has helped give shape to a distinct world — one built on experimentation, cultural fluency, and brazen emotional honesty.

Tracklist

1. '01NTR0/CHLOE'

2. 'AVOIDANCE'

3. 'ST CHARLES' (ft. RITTYBO & Mikey Mu)

4. 'SUM1ELSE.mp3'

5. 'BUCK (interlude)'

6. 'RUMBLE'

7. 'BONES'

8. 'CAMERON'

BUCK* was produced primarily with Mikey Mu, jerod and AG CLUB collaborator Saint Patrick, with additional contributions from Dilip, berg, Hamish and Isaac Rose. Lead single ST CHARLES was released ahead of the full project and has already drawn attention from outlets including Pigeons & Planes and Okayplayer.

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