|
  Bigz Interview
interview 0431 added
29.06.06 words: Shorty
technical:
QED
Many people have
heard of Bigz, maybe because
of his song “Cor Blimey” or possibly through Sway’s “Up Your
Speed Remix”. Soon everybody will know of Bigz as he plans to
take the UK by storm in 2006. I gave Bigz a quick call to see
what he has in store for us this year.
The album Street Commentary is releasing soon and on the album I heard you worked with some people like Reggie Yates, what was that like?
 B: It was cool, it was production en it, he is a good friend of mine so it was alright. I heard the hot beat he had done, he had co-produced with someone and it was a hot beat and I said I want it. So I laced it and it came out crazy.
What sort of upbringing did you have?
B: A typical council estate black youth upbringing to be perfectly honest with you, with a Nigerian background so mum was a bit strict to try and keep us away from bad stuff, we rebelled and still went to do bad stuff anyway, you know what I mean, it was the streets, that’s just what we knew, like playing outside, football and all that and then when you got older got into fighting and all that bullshit, making money off the streets and all that rubbish, just a typical one man.
Do you think your upbringing affected your music at all?
B: Course it affected my music, cause the music I make is from that background, its hip hop en it, it comes from my background, my experiences and things that I been through en it. So it has definitely affected my music in a major way.
Where do you draw your inspiration from when writing?
B: I just draw my inspiration from the good things outta life, from other people like my friends and other rappers as well.
The first real track I heard you on was Taz’s Cowboy Film Remix, how did you get on that track and how did it help your career?
B: I was with Sway and we went down to Shepherd’s Bush and I was sitting in the studio amongst people and I’ve always been rapping, an I knew I was talented enough to do it but rapping was nothing I had thought about taking serious and basically I was just sitting there, the beat was on and I was just spitting to myself and Semtex heard me and basically just said to jump on it to be perfectly honest. As for it helping my career it made people aware of who I was and it made people wonder what else I can do, it got my name heard. It created a small buzz and I built on that, you know.
“...Everybody has to expect 10 times better than that from me...”
So what’s the story with you and Sway, how did you two meet?
B: Sway was the cousin of a good friend of mine at school, it three brothers who are part of the Alliance and Dcypha team, so he was friends with them an I met him through a link up through his cousin and then we went to the studio together and then my partner ESQ, who owns Alliance Records basically, must have met him and embarked on a business adventure with him and we just became tighter, we’re boys en it.
You featured on Sway’s track Loose Woose, was this your way of letting people know what you had in store for them in 2006?
 B: I was letting people know what I had in store for them but it was a good way to come into 2006. I wrote that Loose Woose verse in 10 minutes and laid it in 20 and it was done and that’s the mode I’m in now, everybody has to get ready to expect 10 times better than that from me, you know what I mean? Cause that was only a 16.
Cor’ Blimey was huge, how did the success of that song boost your career? And what happened after it? And how did it change your outlook on the scene?
B: The scene is crazy, the scene is bare politics, which I don’t like to get involved in but Cor Blimey propelled me, it put me on a level, it was crazy and then there was politics about it cause it was gonna get released and then certain people messed other people about so we didn’t get to release it and that. Then we backed it with This Is How We Do, but I think we should of given them suttin newer but still, we hadn’t released anything in a while so we released This Is How We Do, which wasn’t a good as Cor Blimey, it didn’t help me as much but it still helped. We all make mistakes in this game en it an I think if we gave them suttin newer, showed them how much I had developed as an artist then we could have gone higher still but it helped just not as much as Cor Blimey, Cor Blimey did a lot for me.
The Download ONLY Mix CD, is this a taster of the album?
B: Its not a taster of the album, it is a taste of the flows and the kinda style and stories, also it has snippets of possible album tracks. We are releasing a series of five download only mix cd’s. The first one came out on March the first so keep checking the website www.bigz.co.uk. They are all hosted by different people, the first one was hosted by the SK Vibe makers, the latest one is hosted by Ace and Invisible and the next one is gonna be Big Ted. Cause I believe you have to create fans, you know what I mean? And the best way to create fans is by giving them stuff for free.
I ask him what I was like working with Ace and Invisible, Bigz says how he enjoys working with them and how they support him and how he is a big fan of theirs. He then goes on to tell me that the name of the album has changed from Street Commentary to A New Beginning (possibly spelt A New BIGinning). He then goes on to mention that there will be another mix CD released in the summer called A New Beginning: The Precall (again the spelling may be wrong). He says that this mix CD released in the summer will be closer to the album. I then went on to ask him…
What other projects are you working on at the moment, what else do you have in the pipeline?
B: Just really those mix tapes, a few features as well and then the album, plus shows and tours, we just came back from Europe, Switzerland and Sweden so you know, we’re very busy at the moment.
How was the gig in Exeter with The Streets and the show in Sweden with Sway?
B: The show in Exeter with The Streets, that was Sway’s gig that wasn’t even my gig, but it was good to go there and watch it and learn some stuff but the gig I done in Switzerland with Sway, we brought the house down and Sweden, we brought the house down, people were crying for encores it was that ridiculous.
“...Whether your Hip Hop or Grime you don’t wanna bring it to me lyrically...”
What do you get up to when your out on the road?
B: When I’m on the road I get up to… just business man, the music thing never stops, there’s always suttin popping up, a quick hustle and if there’s a girl around you know, just the usual man. I try and be normal.
How are things going with Alliance Records?
Bigz passes me to the man in charge of Alliance records, ESQ.
 B: Alliance Records is going all right actually man, we are just waiting to get paid off of This is My Demo, Sway’s Album and then to release Bigz’s album.
ESQ goes on to let me know about the finances of the Record Company and how it is funded by him and Bigz and there is no silent partners fronting money. ESQ passes me back to Bigz who basically backs up what ESQ was saying about the Companies finances.
Do you think that UK Hip Hop and Grime will ever be as successful as American Rap?
B: I think it has the potential to but the UK seems to produce a lot of bullshit as well and when people from other countries hear this they think that is the standard around the country but it has to one day it will be as big as American Rap, UK Hip Hop will be and if Grime has the right people representing them like Kano and Dizzee Rascal then that will be as well.
What are your thoughts on the so called Hip Hop vs. Grime debate?
B: Hip Hop vs. Grime… me I don’t really give a shit about all that en it, I don’t pay attention to that, whether your Hip Hop or Grime you don’t wanna bring it to me lyrically, ya get me.
Bigz goes on to explain how it doesn’t matter if it is Hip Hop or Grime, if it is a hit then it is a hit.
B: It’s like comparing Rock and Roll to Country and Western… WHY? No one
said there has to be one form of music or one form of music is
better than another, when something is a hit it is a hit, leave
it at that.
“...A typical council estate black youth…”
Time for some quick fire questions.
London or New York?
B: I cant say cause people wouldn’t like my answer.
Sway or Pyrelli?
 B: At the moment Sway, Pyrelli’s my boy but Sway has done more en it.
Your song Cor Blimey or Sway’s Up Your Speed?
B: Cor Blimey.
Ace or Invisible?
B: Invisible.
Hip Hop or Grime?
B: Both.
Blonde or Brunette?
B: Blonde.
A couple more normal questions now, what should we expect from Bigz in 2006?
B: The hotness, the hottest shit.
Anything you wanna say as a final piece?
B: Big Up My Alliance Family, ESQ and Sway. Ummmm… Just watch out for Alliance man, We do this. Big Up everyone supporting us.
So there it is, a little bit of his background, what he is doing now, what he plans to do in the future and his opinion on some of the things going on in the scene today.
-
Shorty
Related Links:
|
