Music News Blog

Big Pooh: Not necessarily "Bamboozled," but the old minstrel shows for those that don't know, started off with white performers painting their faces black performing outlandish, outrageous, over the top, racist sketches of what they thought black life was. And later on in the early 1900's, blacks got into the act, but in order to perform in the same minstrel shows, they had to paint their faces black as well. So, basically hip-hop is headed the same way now, as far as all you see on TV and all you hear on the radio is people talking about guns, people talking about drugs, people talking about females in a negative way, you know what I'm saying? It's becoming like, people think that's the only way you can get on, that's the only way you can become successful and so the face paint, the top hat and the gloves have been replaced with the guns, drugs and misogyny. We're just trying to show people that goes on in black life, but just as that goes on, people raising their kids goes on, people going to school, people being with their son, or going through things with their mother. There's another side to that and with The Minstrel Show, we just trying to bring balance back to hip-hop.

Ballerstatus.net: That reminds me of a scene out of "Fade to Black" where it was Jay and it looks like there were two younger emcees and Jay was like (to the camera) "Yo, you got rappers scared to be themselves" because one of them (the younger emcees) was like "Yeah, I rap about guns you know, I don't want to..."

Big Pooh: "But that's the only way I can get on." And like I said, that's why rap is becoming the new minstrel show because people think the only way you can get on, the only way you become successful is by those means and what they not realizing is hip-hop is global. We just came back from overseas, hip-hop is global, and they might not see black people first hand. But, the only thing they can get is what they see on TV and what they hear on the radio, so all they think is that we're drug dealers, we're hustlers, we're gangsters, we're pimps -- that's all they think we are because that's all they see. If they saw another side of that, then they would have the whole story. But, they're not getting the whole story, all they see is half of the story. That was just the whole purpose man -- just to bring back the balance.

We was talking to Mos Def one night and it really made me think: the number one export for the U.S. is cultural data, that's the number one export. People look at the U.S., especially hip-hop -- people dress the way they see people dress on TV, they talk the way people talk on TV and that sh-- is crazy. When you leave the country, that sh-- is crazy since that's the only thing they see, it's like you feel like you a gerbil, like a lab rat or something when you're walking down the street because everybody's looking at you like "I wonder who they gon' shoot...how many times they got shot? They selling drugs over here? They gon' treat our women bad?" So, it's like, that balance man, that balance people don't understand how important to have that balance in hip-hop is. That sh-- is crucial, and we're just trying to help bring that balance back.

Ballerstatus.net: Thank you for bringing up the overseas thing because another question I had actually was on Little Brother's first album, on the title track ya'll were like "We got a better chance of blowing up in Switzerland." Ya'll were sort of joking with that, but I was wondering how has the love in Europe been as compared to here?

Big Pooh: I mean, we get love in both places, but what we was talking about in terms of that song ("The Listening") was overseas it's a greater appreciation of music and what I mean by that is, it's not how many videos you got out or how many times they've seen you on TV, it's not about how many times you're heard on the radio. Over there, they're more in tune with how dope is the music, what the music sounds like. Music is the number one important factor for them overseas -- the music. How does the music sound? Not your tremendous marketing campaign surrounding the music, it's the music, and that's just basically what we was touching on.

We get a lot of love over there. For us to not have no video -- sh--, we're shooting our first video now -- for us to not really get no radio play like that unless it's a mixshow or something, it's crazy. We get a lot of love. We fill the shows up; [fans] come out, [fans] support, [fans] know all the words, and [fans] show us love. I can't complain man.

Ballerstatus.net: One more for you if you don't mind...What was your mindset going into the first album, this upcoming album, and I know you had a solo album called Sleepers. It came off to me like you had something to prove with that joint, like you had a little chip, so what was your approach when making your album and then coming back to making this new Little Brother LP?

Big Pooh: Well, it was sort of the same with my album Sleepers and for the Little Brother album. It was just, I did have something to prove. I had something to prove to myself first and foremost, and then I had something to prove to everybody who felt I didn't belong. What a lot of people don't know is I didn't seriously start rapping until 1998, 1999, so I was already light years behind Phonte. Then of course, 9th was the producer, so as he started to blow. He got the Jay-Z track, the Destiny Child track -- he got notoriety. I know he took off, but it's like I became what people felt was the replaceable member of Little Brother, and so I had that chip when I went in to make my album -- proving to myself and to others that I do belong here. I also needed to do that to learn; it was a learning experience.

When we went in to do the Little Brother album, it was almost the same chip. I feel I'ma always have that chip, but not necessarily as big as it was when I made them two albums. People will probably never look at me as the best, so it's gon' always be something that I'm striving for -- to be if not the best, known as one of the best. Whether I make it or not, who knows. But, that's gon' always be there for me; that's gon' always be a part of my drive. I just took all that aggression, put it down on paper and I got better. A lot of people were still judging me in 2004 on sh-- I did in 2001, early 2002. We finished The Listening March of 2002, and it didn't come out until a year later. I was damn light years ahead of what I sounded like on The Listening a year after when we put The Listening out, so that's all people had to judge me on. Hearing that, and then hearing Phonte's new stuff and 9th getting better of course, and they be like "Damn, why is he still there?" Because they wasn't hearing nothing else, so it's just to show everybody. I'm always in the lab, I'm always working. Just because you don't hear it don't mean I aint working, so that was just basically the whole chip thing man. One thing my manager, Big Dho, told me when we were sitting down having a meeting with our other artists -- some of the artists I'm executive producing and other artists he got -- you gotta always rap with a chip, no matter what that chip is, you gotta always rap hungry because the day you start rapping like you got enough to eat is the day somebody gon' slide in and take you out the game. So, I got it in one of the joints we did with Mos Def, "Big Dho told me always rap with a chip, I do you one better, I scribe with a dip -- that's borderline great."

Ballerstatus.net: That's crazy, I actually just thought of another question off the top; when you were talking about bringing the balance back, do you think the game is changing for the better? I know ya'll got the Justus League and it's a whole movement with ya'll, and then you have G.O.O.D music coming from the Kanye camp, you got Mos, so do you think the game is changing for the better? Do you have a positive outlook on it?

Big Pooh: The game is probably the biggest it's ever been. People are feeding their kids and their kids off of this music, so I never felt there was a decline. It's just that we got away from making quality music and we got away from that balance. Back in the day -- well it's not really back in the day for me -- you had Geto Boys, N.W.A., Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, you had all of them. Them ni--as go on tours together, they do whatever, they namedrop each other in each other's songs, so you had all that sh-- -- you had all sides of the spectrum. Nowadays, you hearing one thing, the same thing, over and over and over and over and over, you know what I'm saying? It's like the system got a hold of this sh-- and they made an assembly line.

Ballerstatus.net: Do you think that's been a conscious effort, on some CointelPro type vibes?

Big Pooh: It's funny you say that because we actually be talking about it man. You be thinking some muthaf--kas is CointelPro in the game. It's crazy man, it's a system now, and we're trying to help break that system and go back to the way it was. It'll never be the way it was, but once again, just provide that balance. People need to hear both sides of the spectrum. They need to hear the gangsta sh-- and they need to hear the not gangsta sh--. They need to hear everything. When you hear everything you get a fuller understanding. That's like if you in a courtroom, and all you hear is the prosecution's side. You gotta hear the prosecution and the defense to get the whole story, so you can put that sh-- together and figure out what the truth is. But, when all you getting is the prosecution's side, all you got is their truth. It's the same thing, and we just wanna help bring that sh-- back the best way we can. A lot of people, they be like "Well, if ya'll trying to help bring it back ya'll in the system now," and that's true. But, the best way to change the system is from the inside. You can't break down the doors of the system on the outside ni--a, they got guards out there! (Laughter) But if you got a job on the inside, you can start infiltrating minds and infiltrating machines and that's just what we trying to do.

Ballerstatus.net: And was that behind your decision to make the move to Atlantic?

Big Pooh: Um, part of it. The other part was we felt if we hadn't, we felt we was on the way to reaching our ceiling as far as independents go. We just wanted to be able to touch more people, touch a broader audience, or have the opportunity to touch a broader audience. With Atlantic, we got an opportunity for our music to be heard by millions of people. Now if they decide they don't f--k with us, that's cool; it is what it is. But, we had that opportunity. At the level we was, we didn't have that opportunity, so that was the main goal behind it -- just to provide ourselves with the opportunity to reach millions and millions of people. But, like I said, if we don't, if muthaf--kas feel they don't feel us, then that's cool. We'll go back to doing what we was doing; you know what I'm saying? I'm living good, this is all I do. I get to travel, get paid to travel -- I'm happy. I would love to be a millionaire, but if it never comes, it wasn't meant for me.

Ballerstatus.net: So you mentioned earlier that you have artists you're executive producing now.

Big Pooh: Yeah, I'm executive producing Joe Scudda. He's on the first single "Lovin' It." [He's a] real dope emcee. He came into the crew a while back. He's not part of the Justus League crew, but he family. 9th found him and I just kind of took him under my wing, or he allowed me to take him under my wing and just help guide him through the album making process. I aint no f--kin' Quincy Jones or Dr. Dre type ni--a or nothing like that, but there's just things that I've learned that he hasn't learned yet that I'm able to share with him. I'm able to help him with his songwriting, not necessarily write for him, but help guide him in his songwriting too. We brought him out on the road with us and now he's able to broaden his horizons, so I'm just guiding. I'm not there everyday. I'm not writing his sh--. I'm not doing beats. I'm not that type of executive producer; I'm a guide. I push you, I let you go until you stop pedaling and you fall and I come and push you again until you go because I want him to learn how to do it himself so he can do it himself next time or he can help somebody else do it. That's the whole goal; we teach people to fish over in our crew. We don't catch your fish for you and feed you because you gon' always expect us to catch your fish and feed you. We teach people to fish, so I'm teaching him to fish. I'm not the only one you know, everybody's lending a helping hand. It's just I have the privilege of overseeing the whole thing.

Ballerstatus.net: Now what's next with the league? I know Chaundon was just in here.

Big Pooh: Yeah, Chaundon. He got an album he's finishing up. He's also on the album on a song "We Got Now," so we just trying to get Joe Scudda and Chaundon together and ready to go because they're on the album. This is their chance. This is their look, so we're getting them ready to go. Another cat, he's not in the league but he's family, Darien Brockington. Phonte is executive producing his project and he's on the album like three times and his albums almost finished. I think they gon' go back in and do some more stuff with it, but we're getting him ready to go. Then with the league, The Away Team just released their album.

Ballerstatus.net: Who's in The Away Team again?

Big Pooh: Oh The Away Team is Khrysis (producer) & Sean Boog (emcee). They just released their album, National Anthem. L.E.G.A.C.Y, he just released his album, Project Mayhem. 9th, he finishing up his project, Mr. Dream Merchant Volume 2. Comanche is releasing an album a week after ours drops called Squirrel & The Aces. Edgar Allen Floe just released something called True Links. Uh, I think Median is working on his album...

Ballerstatus.net: Damn ya'll roll kinda deep! That's crazy

Big Pooh: Ay man, we move. Everybody don't move the same; everybody don't move on the same levels, but everybody work man, everybody work. Like I said man, we teach you to fish, we aint gon' feed you. So you can fall in line or you can get out of line. It's whatever, we gon' keep moving.

Ballerstatus.net: I was looking at Khrysis' shirt earlier, I think it said "Dreams of F**king an R&B Chick." (Name an) R&B chick you're trying to bag, real quick, don't even think about it.

Big Pooh: Christina Milian.

Ballerstatus.net: Boom! Might start some beef with Nick Cannon, but I think you can take him though.

Big Pooh: It's whatever. Ay, she come home to you every night playboy, not me (Laughter).

Ballerstatus.net: As far as the new album: one, when do we expect it to hit stores and two, is it all 9th or do we have Khrysis and other League producers on there.

Big Pooh: September 13th is the date. Khrysis did one track, 9th did the rest.

Ballerstatus.net: Like the old days man, that's how you do it.

Big Pooh: Ay, 9th part of the group, know what I'm saying? He's part of the groups so that's his job. Phonte's job is to write raps, 9th's job is to make beats.