He’s been around since Channel AKA was called Channel U, Bigz is the UK’s answer to Rick Ross and one of the most respected rappers in the game. Nicknamed ‘Flygerian’ because of his Nigerian heritage, Mr. Bigz Flygerian speaks to Dorsa Nam about his new management, the reaction from his new mixtape ‘Quantam Leap’ and how having a road in Nigeria named after himself would be the icing on his cake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZER4z7Ldx4#ws
Hello Bigz! You’ve been rapping for a while now. How old were you when you started?
I started rapping when I was about eight or nine through the influences of my older brothers and cousins. My older cousins were always bringing hip-hop music into the house when I was young and one of the first CDs I had was a RUN DMC album called 'Raising Hell' ever since then I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
Which other artists influenced you back then to become a rapper?
When I was younger the people influencing were obviously RUN DMC, NWA, Public Enemy and when I got a bit older I got into Big Daddy Kane, Biggie Smalls, 2Pac and LL Cool J, I think he's one of the greatest of all time in all honestly. The list goes on to Jay Z, Fat Joe, Big Pun, Eminem, it's never ending.
You’ve always been able to make tunes as opposed to just freestyles, what influences your writing?
It's just general experiences in life, I'm a guy who lives life on experiences, you know what I mean? I've had a lot of good ones and a lot of bad one, I just think there's a lot of people that live life and have similar experiences but rarely speak about, so when you hear someone talking about it it's like 'raaaah I can mad relate to that'. I like to listen to good music, as production wise and people like to have fun as well and I like making people feel good!
Who is your dream collaboration?
My dream collaboration�
You’re highly affiliated to SAS members Mega and Mayhem, are there more projects with them in the pipeline?
Yeah, they're family, they're like my older brothers, you understand? We all came up together so we will always continue to collaborate and work with each other.
You just got Crown management, you're in pretty good hands as they look after some really cool acts, how do you feel about your career now that you’re with them?
Hard work pays off. I love my management. I love Crown. Um, I'm a wild boy innit [laughs], structure isn't usually the best thing but they've come in, given me structure and shown me certain key elements that wasn't there before. It just feels good that people believe in me and we've grown in steps very quickly, do you understand? It's a fantastic situation to be, yeah, I love my management man, Crown are the best.
Do you feel like back when you released mixtapes Star Man and Flight of the Navigator you were lyrically way before your time, as in the UK just weren’t ready for you?
I think even before those two mixtapes. I was shooting videos, like for 'Cor Blimey' whilst still independent, visually I was ahead of my time, maybe not lyrically, but obviously going back to the drawing board I just put myself in there and said 'I wanna be the best'. So when I came out with 'Flight of the Navigator' I do think I was before my time, but the whole point was that it was a building block, and even with 'Star Man' I thought when it comes to the right time people will understand it. Everything was for a reason, it was meant to be like that.
What's the direction you're heading to now musically, pop-rap or rap rap?
I make good music man. If it's pop-rap, it makes people feel good and I like it, it will go. Same with rap-rap. My aim is to get hotter, some people get hot then stop, I want to be the best innit, I really want to be the best. Music is the one thing I've stayed dedicated to in my life, as humans we always give up but I didn't give up on my music. I want to be hot, I wanna make the best music I can possibly can.
Your new mixtape Quantum Leap dropped on Tuesday as well as the 'I Just Want The Paper Remix', what's the reaction from the fans?
It went H.A.M. (H.A.M means 'hard as a motherf***ker). There’s power in numbers, people don't understand that. I've gone through this music game not making money out of it, just doing it for the love of it, but for me to take money out my pocket and shoot a big video like that is a big deal for people to see something like that happen. I’m an independent artist but having signed artists like G Frsh and Chipmunk on it, I think they couldn't believe it. I promised it and I delivered it.
It's like that with the mixtape also, like I get respect from my peers. I get signed artists, well known artists or just artists I generally feel on the mixtape. I see myself as a perfectionist even though it never comes out perfect, cos you can't get it all. I just try and push the bar out all the time, I try setting a benchmark because I don't want to be just an artist that drops and goes. When I drop something I want people to know, 'yes, Bigz just dropped something and it's good and it's happened again.' The tweets I've been getting are like 'God bless you, you always deliver', these almost bring tears to my eyes, it means that people are definitely paying attention and that's what I want.
Twitter went nuts! When will you be able to sit back and say “yeah I’ve made it big?” Some would say headlining Glastonbury, some would say when they’ve had a number one, when do you think you will be able to say that?
When they name a street after me in my motherland. [Laughs] When they name a street after me in Nigeria that means something's been done. If they do it for to Jay Z, they can do it for me.
You have supported N Dubz on tour this year, and you've been invited back to support them again this July, what was it like?
It was crazy. Obviously. I mean I've done big shows, I've done big arenas with Sway but the energy in an N Dubz show is ridiculous. The fans love it, they’re open-minded and heart warming. Wherever you take Bigz on a show, it could be a desert island, I'm gonna rock it. It was fantastic experience, shout out to N Dubz giving me the opportunity, I'm still buzzin', I'm looking forward to the last three dates.
Who’s concert did you last go to?
Um, N Dubz was the last concert I watched cos I've been working a lot lately. The last show I went to was an ILUVLIVE performance with G Frsh & SAS. I'm a fan of good music.
If you could remix any song out now, what one would you choose?
Ed Sheeran's 'A-TEAM' but then again I'd love to talk some smack on Tinchy Stryder and Dappy's 'Spaceship'. I got some smack to talk on that.
Lastly, the ultimate question. Would you rather win one Grammy in your whole career or multiple MOBOS?
I'd rather win hearts, I mean awards are a piece of metal, as long I win the hearts of my supporters then I'm cool man. But Grammy is a lot though innit? Michael Jackson won a grammy. Nah, but I'm not really picky man, whatever comes along. If people are happy and actually love my music then I'll be happy with that.
The new mixtape Quantum Leap from Bigz can be downloaded now on http://bigzquantumleap.bandcamp.com/album/quantum-leap And check out the 'I Just Want The Paper Remix' video at the top of this interview!
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