Birth name Elmo Kennedy O'Connor Role Rapper Instruments Vocals Name Elmo O'Connor | Name Elmo O'Connor Years active 2010–present Also known as Bones Labels TeamSESH | |
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Albums TeenWitch, WhiteRapper, SongsThatRemindYouOfHome, UndergroundGods, 1MillionBlunts Similar People Yung Lean, A$AP Rocky, Spooky Black, Gangsta Boo, Lil Ugly Mane | ||
Bones dirt
Elmo Kennedy O'Connor (born January 11, 1994), known professionally as Bones, is an American rapper from Howell, Michigan. He is notable for the frenetic pace at which he releases new music, including over 40 mixtapes and 88 music videos since 2011, and his resistance to signing with a major record label or charging money for his music despite significant popularity and label interest.
Contents
- Bones dirt
- Personal life
- Musical career
- Major label interest
- Musical style
- Albums
- Singles
- Extended plays
- References
Personal life
Elmo Kennedy O'Connor was born in Marin County, California to a mother who designed clothing and a father who was a web designer. His grandfather was actor Robert Culp. His family lived in Muir Beach, California, before moving to New York City. When O'Connor was 11 years old, his family moved to Howell, Michigan. When he was 16, he dropped out of high school and moved to Los Angeles where his brother, Elliott, had already been living. Despite leaving his parents’ home in Howell at 16, O'Conner spoke positively of them, stating, "If I tried to write a book about, 'oh, what would be dream parents?', I couldn't even make anything better than them. All they do is shower me in love. Unconditional love, forever." He described Howell as a 'mundane' place where its residents are "born and they die there".
Musical career
He has collaborated on three tracks with Raider Klan member Eddy Baker, including “High”, “Delinquents”, and “PayPal” off of Bones's albums Saturn (2013), Creep (2013), and Garbage (2014). Bones also performs and collaborates often with former Raider Klan members Xavier Wulf and Chris Travis. Bones is 1 of the 4 members in the collective Seshollowaterboyz, which consists of Him (Bones), Xavier Wulf, Chris Travis, and Eddy Baker.
In 2014, Bones self-released 5 mixtapes through his label TeamSesh, including Garbage, which received coverage and critical acclaim from notable publications including The Fader, Pigeons & Planes, and RESPECT.
Bones headlined a sold out show at the House of Blues in Los Angeles on March 4, 2015. and opened for Shlohmo at The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles on May 7, 2015.
The hook from Bones' song "Dirt" was featured in ASAP Rocky's "Canal St." on the 2015 At. Long. Last. ASAP album.
On September 17, 2015, Bones performed "Canal St." with ASAP Rocky on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show but was cut from the TV broadcast. Videos of the performance were made available online.
Major label interest
Bones and his manager Elliott O’Connor, who is also his brother, have both stated that major labels have shown interest in signing him but he has declined up to this point. According to Max Bell of LA Weekly, "interested labels wanted him to be their 'white rapper,' an artist along the lines of Mac Miller and Machine Gun Kelly. But Bones wasn't interested in being remade.”
Musical style
Bones has been compared to Yung Lean, who is known for his cloud rap style in which the beats are ethereal and rappers are emotional and sincere, rather than "completely macho". However, Bones has been described as "not a cloud rapper", as having his own very personal style, hence why when his music is downloaded, the genre in the files is "Sesh", implying his style is a completely new subgenre of rap. Bones has mixed different styles of rap music to his songs, he has made dark-tone as well as more 'metal' influenced rap music; however he claims that all his songs are just one genre.