Behind The Wall
Bbno$: The Man Who Cracked The Viral Music Code - Behind the Wall (Ep. 15)
Tue, 18 Feb 2025
In this episode of Behind The Wall, I sit down with bbno$—the rapper, songwriter, and internet sensation who has redefined what it means to go viral in music. From making songs for fun in his Vancouver bedroom to racking up billions of streams, bbno$ has mastered the art of blending humor, personality, and insanely catchy music to build a fanbase that stretches across the world.But his journey wasn’t always this clear. After a back injury ended his dreams of becoming a professional swimmer, bbno$ turned to music as a creative outlet. Little did he know, his early experiments on SoundCloud would lead to some of the biggest viral hits of the decade. His song Lalala with Y2K exploded overnight, charting globally and becoming one of the most viral internet-era hits. But what people don’t know is that before Lalala, he was already making waves in China—going viral in a way that no one saw coming.In this conversation, we dive into:🎵 How bbno$ turned memes into music success🎵 The Lalala phenomenon—how it changed everything🎵 His legendary collaborations with other artists 🎵 The reality of staying independent and making it big🎵 The formula behind his addictive, unconventional songwritingAs a content creator, I’ve seen firsthand how bbno$'s music thrives in the internet space—his songs aren’t just hits; they’re moments that people connect with, remix, and turn into trends. He’s proof that in today’s music industry, authenticity, humor, and creativity are just as powerful as major label backing.If you’ve ever wondered what it really takes to make viral music, this episode is a must-watch.Huge thank you to bbno$ for going Behind The Wall with us and sharing your journey! 🚀 Check out his new music out now.
Chapter 1: How did bbno$ transition from sports to music?
100%.
And I think the more real you are and the more honest and open about everything is people can just relate to it on, like, a deeper, deeper level for sure. 100%. I kind of went off on a tangent, but I guess that's what happens when you have the flow state in the gum.
Shout out.
Shout out, flow state.
So I want to like get to the point of La La La. But first, what I found interesting about your story is that compared to a lot of artists and people who are successful in the industry, you started a bit later than where a lot of people like kind of start when it comes to music. How did you find your way to music and how did you decide this is what I want to do for the rest of my life? Yeah.
So I broke my back playing rugby in grade 12. It's all good. It was a good learning experience. And then I was like, okay, shit. Well, now I know so much about the psychological effect of pain. And I'm in chronic pain all the time. Basically, I have trouble sleeping. It's just my life. So when I went away to university, I was studying, which I got my degree in kinesiology.
I was studying kinesiology because I understood the psychological effects of pain. And I was like, if I at least know this, I have one leg up on people who don't get it. Because the one thing I saw across the board was. in clinics and whatnot, they don't really understand that you may actually be in pain. Like looking at me, do I look like I'm in pain?
No.
Exactly. So it's like, I can be like, oh, I understand how that feels. It's like debilitating that you can't do that anymore. Or it's like when you stand up from this chair, my back might tweak and it's like not something I talk about regularly, but it's like, fuck. Or it's like, let's say you're having sex with someone and your back tweaks and you're like...
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Chapter 2: What sparked the viral success of 'Lalala'?
I'm like Latin song, Latin sample, hit me with it, run it again, run it again. And I was just beating the fence. I was beating the dead horse. And it really, it really got to me for sure. Cause I was like, You know, I was trying to one up myself, but you just can't. You just can't have that expectation. And the reason why I made that song and when I made that song, I was just having fun.
Yeah.
And that's it. That was it. I was just like, yeah, I was obviously frustrated. You know, I was like, I need a hit. I need a hit. Obviously, that's kind of the nature of things. But when I got it, I was like, oh, my God, I got a hit. And. I've wanted another one. And I've had several since. You know, obviously not la-la-la territory, but I've had a bunch of really big fucking songs.
And every time I look back, I'm like, what was I feeling in that moment?
Yeah.
And I was just having fun. Like, shirts off with the boys, you know what I'm saying? Like, just saying dumb shit. And... When you get in the headspace when you're not having fun, it comes across. And I think especially Baby No Money is fun. Even when I'm making sad songs, it's fun. I'm just like giggling in the studio with boys. Yo, how sad could we get? Oh, this one's sad. This is a sad lyric.
Making me emotional.
Yeah, make me emotional, you know? So...
yeah it's a very very interesting thing because i was like what am i supposed to do and like you know i was i talked to rich brian about it for a little while i was like what do you do like he's like you just gotta like sit with it yeah you just gotta like marinate and sit with it and you know take your expectations off of what your music can and cannot do you know it's obviously healthy to have a relative expectation so you at least try to make it good to make it bang to make it blow up but
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Chapter 3: What strategies does bbno$ use for marketing his music?
The first person to spin that record in Western Canada. That's crazy. Because... It was sold out everywhere in America and it wasn't being distributed to Canada. So he drove down to Bellingham from Vancouver And he picked it up at this local shop, and then he brought it back up to Vancouver to DJ. And he said, he's like, man, when you play that shit, everyone hit the dance floor immediately.
And he was like, this song means a lot to me. This is how I made my name in the DJ space. He wasn't a huge DJ or anything, but he was like, yeah, everyone fucked with me after that one. That's fire. So when I told him I was sampling it, he's like, that's crazy. That's like such a throwback for me. And I grew up listening to that song, just like being in that household with my dad. It's iconic.
She probably knew it really well.
Yeah, yeah. And I just remember sampling it. I got back to Diamond Pistols house. I was staying there because I couldn't stay at this other place. I was staying in LA and I'm typically pretty nomadic and sat down and I was like, bro, come on, come on. He's like sleeping. And I was like, let's make a song. Let's make a song. Come on. And he's like, dude, shut the fuck up, man. Like, leave me alone.
I was like, no, let's make a song. I got a list of these samples. And I was like, we should sample this. He's like, okay, sure. He threw it on, put a little, like sped it up a little bit and put a, put a beat on it. And then I just freestyled like,
seven bars and i was just like really in the mode i was hitting a vape and shit you know just like and those seven bars i remember listening to the next morning and i was like whoa this sounds really good we should finish the song then we ended up finishing it and spending a bunch of time working on it and then i got like charlie moist critical in the music video and yeah it's just a really fun song it actually performs live terribly i think it's like too weird of a tempo and it like
The hook is too, like, whoa, like, whoa. But it's fun. It's a nice listen. I think it's a great listening song, but performance-wise, it doesn't. There's no bounce. But, yeah, sample that song. I sent it to my publisher, and I was like, how long do you think it'll take to clear this? And Niall supposedly fucked with it really hard. He was like, this is sick. That's awesome. Yeah.
And he pushes it through. I mean, I don't have much publishing on it, but obviously, I mean... We did like a hundred takes of the, ah, freak out. So we like, that's crazy. It sounds so similar, right?
Yes.
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Chapter 4: How does bbno$ connect with his fanbase?
I was like, dude, you're funny as fuck. And he was the first person that could say my name right, like off rip. He's like, oh, baby, no money. And I'm like, you're cool. And he hadn't shown his face yet. And I was like, either you're like a 45-year-old dad or you just have like a really low voice. And he put out Mr. Clean and it was starting to bubble.
Mr. Clean.
Yeah. Very white. So mean. Yeah. After that, we just became good friends. I started, like, FaceTiming him on Facebook because I didn't have an iPhone.
Like Facebook Messenger?
Yeah. Hey, shout out. Yeah, shout out Facebook. Hey, Meta, sponsor. And I remember the first time I met him in Vancouver within, like, 10, 15 minutes. I was like, oh, I would have been friends with this guy in high school. And we just have become really good friends. We're really close. Like, I really think... I really think I'm a positive wrecking force in his life.
And he's a really great sounding board for, like, being in the industry. You know, nobody readied us for this for us. Nobody readied us for this. There you go. And having an actual friend, like, someone that I can be like, dude, like, what do you think about, like, this? How, like, how does this affect you? Like, genuinely. Yeah. It's more than... It's, like, unbelievable. Because, like...
I'm as real as I can get with him. When he comes to me, I'll be like, no, this song sucks. And I feel like sometimes when you get more successful, people have jobs around you. They'll just yes man you. And it's bad. It's not good. So I'm really happy that I can be that for him and vice versa. And he knows the type of person I am. So I don't really party. And he likes partying way more.
And I'd be like, hey, man, what are you doing? He was like, I would have invited you to this, but I know you don't like this shit and I know you'd hate yourself if you're there. But if you want to come, you can come. And I'm like, it's cool that he knows me like that. So both our parents, we're good friends with both our parents. We're like actual friendship. It's great.
You also, it's cool to have someone that you were at nothing. I also like being able to like have success together and then be like, you were there when I was like at nothing and have this really great relationship.
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