Butter Boyz
Dope dudes getting dope ish done
Words: Dylan Muhlenberg | Photographs: Nick Gordon
Not only does butter taste incomparably better than any of its substitutes, it’s
a natural product that has been around for centuries. So why swap it for
something synthetic that's just not as good as the real deal?
The butter boyz are Dumi Mparutsa, Keenan Oliver, Luke Cassar, Mzonke Maloney, Nicolas Van Graan, Siya Biyela, Justin February, Tony Zei, Lubabalo Nkobo and Clint Williams. They didn’t actually choose their name, it found them the night they walked for Cornerstore at SA Menswear Week, when Dumi was seen eating leftover pasta from a Rama tub backstage.
“Yo, are you eating butter?”
“No fam, that’s last night’s lasagne.”
“Butter boys!”
While a lot of crews come together due to a similarity in worldviews or aesthetic, typically a problem arises when the people inside the group grow and find that there’s no longer space for them anymore. Which is why the butter boyz don’t follow rules like wearing pink on Wednesdays – they celebrate their collective individualism instead.
Because the butter boyz know themselves as individuals first, there’s no need for any ego. Simply looking to create great work with the luxury of never having to look outside for help, there’s a skill share and common trust when they to come together to work on their various projects, ranging from music to fashion to publishing. The point is to stick together, do great work and have fun while doing it. And it’s cute how they view everything that they do together as ‘family time’.
The crew says that there’s no need for an Instagram account because they’re not doing this for exposure, nor is there a need for a formalisation of what they’re doing, because they’re not about to become an agency any time soon. It’s more free-flowing, organic and real. Where instead of trying to be some force, some big deal – the butter boyz are simply dope dudes getting dope ish done.