Meet BBBORIS | CEO – SmileyFaceStudio / M4BMU$IK

We had the good fortune of connecting with BBBORIS and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi BBBORIS, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I can’t say there was a particular thought process. Every time that I spend a lot of time planning or thinking about something it usually never comes out as expected. This was definitely the case with my business, Smiley Face Studio. All there really was at the beginning (around 2015-16) was a notion that I wanted to create experiences that made people smile in new and genuine ways. That’s all there really was when I initially came up with the idea living in my friends closet at UCLA. For a long time I was just freelancing with that in mind and eventually I started releasing music as bbboris. Eventually my music career grew to the point where I couldn’t keep up with my freelancing as much, and I had to set up an operation to publish my music, manage my team, and collect my royalties. That’s when I realized a lot of the work I was doing for my clients and with other musicians and artists, could be managed in an official capacity. Right away, I knew that all my work was coming from a place of my own taste and strategy and that’s where the value was. I knew I didn’t want to hand that over to a label, design firm, or investor so I finally decided to incorporate in 2021, basically out necessity. That’s when I started Smiley Face Studio and M4BMU$IK as an LLC, with one side focusing on digital experiences and another on recording, publishing, and distribution. So basically, over time my vibe evolved out of the closet of my friends dorm to become a media and technology firm supporting businesses, entrepreneurs and artists defining the next generation of music, art, aesthetics, digital experience, and culture at large – all with the aim of creating new smiles all across the globe.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As an artist and business man what has always set me apart from others has been the vision, the style, and the message. This translates to the team around me as well .We come from a place where we face the reality of our emptiness every day. On a surface level there is nothing special to it but dig a little deeper and you’ll find minds in our collective that are singularly purpose driven. We are not rooted in chasing the tail of our egos, we are rooted in authenticity and expression. We’re all from different backgrounds and circumstances but we share a unique insight on this world that can’t simply be explained in words. It is shown, explored, and developed in our work, so check it out and truly experience for yourselves what makes us different.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There is so much to do in San Diego. 619 shows love to all, so theres always something fun for all types of people. Now in my opinion the best way to get to know a city is to get to know the locals and the best places to do that are Ocean Beach, College Area, La Mesa, and some other cool spots. Of course there’s the basic sightseeing to do downtown and in La Jolla. Maybe some paragliding for the more daring.

I personally love hanging out in the cities Kava lounges and there some great ones. My favorite ones right now are Kratom Kava Bar in La Mesa and Sunset Kava. Sunset Kava is a must in my opinion, you wont find a vibe like that anywhere else and Tysheen, the owner, does an amazing job of creating an intimate and healing space where people really just bloom, open up, and truly become part of a family. It’s impossible to be lonely there, if you’re spending time alone.

In terms of food, there are so many amazing places so it’s really up to taste. Once again, a local would be invaluable to find the hidden gems but off the top of my head theres Raki Raki, Din Tai Fung, Pho Ca Dao, Arrivederci, Daves Hot Chicken, and so so many more.

And of course an amazing person to see is San Diego’s very own Joe Dreamz, most easily found in the Gaslamp District during Padres games, giving his signature street performances. They get wild, just watch his tik toks.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shouting out is so hard because in all honesty there are so many people involved in my success that it’s hard for me to call it mine. It really is “our” success and the list of who we are is extensive. Of course family is key always, but beyond that I have a shout out to my friend Michael, who was there with me at the very inception of the idea of SFS and letting me live in his closet when I needed to get my self together. He’s always been super supportive and somewhat of a guardian angel, therapist, and advisor. My next shout out would be to my partner Jordan @jodiesama, who I met totally unexpectedly on the San Diego trolley and who has just been a huge part of the growth of both SFS and M4BMU$IK since even before incorporation. Then there are so many more shout outs to the team that supports me every day; Sammy (@777Martyr) who’s been invaluable as an artist and the first signee to M4BMU$IK, @othercuts who has been holding things down on the video front all the way from Belarus, and of course Chris O’Bannon (@1chrisobannon), who is both an amazing artist and an incredible person to have as a mentor who really gave me a lot of game when it came to the music space.

Website: smileyface.studio

Instagram: instagram.com/itsbbboris

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/borisbee

Twitter: twitter.com/itsbbboris

Youtube: youtube.com/@bbboris

Image Credits
@phamousben @elle_em_be @jodiesama