Cruel Buddhist
A pioneer of live lofi hip-hop performance, Cruel Buddhist serves peaceful musical meditations with his aesthetic instrumental beats balancing elegance and grit.
'Oatmeal Rich' live at Yongfoo Elite
Pinoeer of Live Lofi
With his latest EP 'Sonder' distributed by 88 Rising, Cruel Buddhist’s unique focus on the live performance of lofi hip-hop has him opening shows for chill beatmaker legends like MNDSGN, Budamunk, and Nightmares on Wax.
Tim Pritchard of ‘Discovery’ Magazine says “Cruel Buddhist’s sound lands somewhere between (Brian) Eno’s ambient tinkles and the experimental, instrumental trip-hop of Flying Lotus, Quantic, and Bonobo.”
Drawing from R&B, 70’s funk, and vaporwave, he uses a loop station to combine synthesizers, samplers, nature sounds, and improvisation to interpret his introspective lofi hip-hop productions in a hypnotizing live performance.
Instead of the DJ style performances common for electronic music, Cruel Buddhist shows are played 100% live using innovative techniques that place him at the cutting edge of modern music performance.
Focused on aesthetic, his HiMA Modern Art Museum feature and Shanghai Fashion Week performances have brought him collaborations with brands like Chanel, Puma, Converse, Rémy Martin, and even as music featured onboard Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific airlines.
Live Show Highlights
Documentary Short
Full Live Set
Sunday afternoon event in Shanghai's quiet garden oasis with coloring books for guests to enjoy during the chill live music.
Discography
Sonder EP
Exploring nature in electronic beats music.
Eating Music / 88 Rising, 2022.
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Lockdown Loops
Musical diary from historic '22 Shanghai Lockdown.
Eating Music, 2022.
9 full projects, 6+ million streams on Spotify, featured on 4k+ playlists including Spotify editorials
Cassette Tape
Two releases on one cassette
A side - 'Sonder' EP
B side - 'Lockdown Loops' beattape
Comes in a clear case to showcase the cover art on each side of the yellow cassette
23 tracks / 3 stickers / 2 tracklist cards / 2 download cards
60 minute run time
Sonder Coloring Book
Shop for Coloring Book
A nine page coloring book of images hand drawn by Cruel Buddhist with a Sonder album digital download included.
"Like my music, I made all the images by hand instead of using digital programing, hoping to encounter the imperfections of human touch and hardware that can give soul to creative works.
