In addition to his standup comedy gigs, Hannibal Buress regularly holds down a recurring role on Broad City, a co-hosting position with Eric Andre, and he is slated to appear in the upcoming Spiderman Homecoming. A recent interview indicates we can probably add certified hip-hop head to Buress’ résumé. As if Buress’ recent podcast with Chance the Rapper wasn’t enough of an indication, an aborted verbal salvo at Kanye West also hints at Buress’ ties to hip-hip.
“I made that diss track in June or May of 2010, and I made it just because I knew what it would do if I released it,” Buress revealed during an interview with Kenneth Arthur for Esquire. “It wasn’t out of true Kanye hatred. I’m glad I didn’t put it out. The song was really mean, but it wasn’t from a genuine mean place. I wasn’t actually mad about him saying, ‘Fuck SNL and the whole cast.’ It was more just like I could take it and run with it since I’m working at SNL. It came from a disingenuous place, so I’m really glad looking back that I didn’t release it.”
Buress has gone on record as writing for Saturday Night Live during the early-to-mid Aughts, which would somewhat coincide with West rhyming, “Fuck SNL and the whole cast/Tell them Yeezy said they can kiss my whole ass” on 2010’s “Power.”
The Esquire interview also found Buress revealing he bested L.A. MC Open Mike Eagle—Buress’ former college resident advisor—in a battle.
“I had some funny stuff, I made it to the second round,” Buress added. “It was first or second round when me and Open Mike Eagle went at it, but I don’t know something lit under me, man. The synapses or whatever in my brain were flowing, they were connecting, and I beat Open Mike Eagle in a rap battle years back.”
Read the full Q&A, which also features Buress’ thoughts on podcasting, President-elect Donald Trump, and fake news at Esquire.
