Inside Hannibal Buress’ Pivot From Comedy To Rap

Hannibal Buress has carved a name for himself in comedy over the past two decades. But now he’s foregoing that part of his career for a fresh identity — Eshu Tune, his rap alter-ego. The name pays homage to a “trickster god” in Nigerian mythology.

A rap career has been in the back of Hannibal’s mind but the career pivot wasn’t seriously put into motion until 2020. Earlier that year, he put out a comedy special, “Miami Nights.” While promoting it at home during lockdowns,Hannibal felt a spark missing. That, plus the added alone time from not performing at comedy clubs, finally pushed Hannibal into the studio.

Since then, Hannibal has largely dedicated himself to rap and rap only. His eight-track, self-titled EP dropped earlier this year. Live rap show performances followed that. An agency deal was inked with UTA this summer. And soon, Hannibal will hit the studio to prepare for his debut album, which he plans to drop on his 40th birthday next April.

Hannibal took me through his comedy-to-rap journey over the past two years on the show. Here’s what we covered in our interview:

0:51 Introducing Eshu Tune the rapper
2:24 What led Hannibal to the career pivot
5:25 Goals of debut EP
10:48 Benefits of being independent artist
14:05 Following Too $hort at a Bay Area show
20:30 Getting a performing residency in LA
25:19 Challenging himself with music
27:30 Difference between Hannibal’s comedy and rap fanbase
29:43 Will Hannibal still do comedy?
32:06 Has the changing climate of comedy impacted Hannibal?
34:30 Previous comedians that went into music
38:37 Response from rap community to Hannibal’s career pivot
39:37 Eshu Tune’s next album drop

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