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Interview: Big Boi (Pt. 2)
Interview: Big Boi (Pt. 2)
- Genre : More Music
- Type: News
- Author : Super Admin
- Date : Fri, 29 Aug 2008
When you sit down in the studio at the boards, do you come with a whole concept? How does it start with you?
I may have a certain beat, or I'll send it to Andre and see what he can do with it. It might just be a verse. Or I'll say I want to do a song about such and such. Only the best shit survives. That's what we set out to do: put together the best 15 or 16 songs. We just try to do the best songs we have over a two or three year period.
Some other rappers should take notes on that one. I don't need 22 cuts of nonsense and only two or three that are decent.
Yeah, that's exactly what happens. Quantity, not quality. We're all about quality. People have one super duper smash single and the rest of the album is garbage.
When you came in here to do this album, did you have a sound or a particular vision?
The sound is our sound. When people listen to it, then think this sounds like an Outkast album, that's because I'm one part of Outkast. Our music is free flowing. It's not something you can categorize. The only thing it sounds like is Outkast.
You're down in Atlanta and your crew is full of originators. Does the Dungeon Family all work together still?
Yeah, I got the whole crew on the album. From Organized Noize to Cee-Lo. I've got a sound that's crazy, and I just wanted them to come back and wrap that, so I can finish the album. I just wanted to keep that shit going.
I feel like brothers get a little change in their pockets and egos start up, then crews start falling out left, right and center. Dudes knew each other from knee high and all of a sudden they have arguments they can't talk through. How do you all avoid that?
That's why it's called the Dungeon Family. Family don't do that. Family will always be there. Some crews get together just to make the money. When we got together it was for the music. We were trying to achieve the music. It's bigger than that.
You've got a lot of cake right now, but do you think the industry is too focused on money and not on quality like you talked about earlier?
Oh yeah. It's been like that for the longest. That's why you've got to have groups, and artists and collectives of MCs that come together and are doing it for a purpose. You have people who have been doing it for years and haven't made anything off of it, but are doing it for the love of the art form.
You all come together, do your thing and then branch apart. Do you feel like having that freedom to branch out has helped to keep the creative spark alive?
You hit the nail right on the head. I think you're the only person who's thrown out some smart shit like that. When you've been with someone for so long, you can't expect to have the same interests for life. There are some people who want to act, do their own production company or design their own clothes. We can always come back and do an Outkast record. It's just the way that we are doing it.
You brought up everything outside of music you're into. Are there any other avenues you still haven't tackled that you want to try?
Not really. My main focus is the album right now. Now it's all about the music, and this is for real. This is what we do. We get better, and better, and better with time.
Every time you come out with music, it's something new and different. You've got to educate some ears with your music, which can be risky. Where do you find the courage to take those risks?
You just can't be scared. That's always been one of my personal things. You don’t follow the norm. You never do what everybody else does. I could've easily done anything for the club or the radio, but it was my first responsibility as MC to give them something they have to think about. Something that can make their mind tingle. It's really to give back. That's why people stuck with us.
Speaking of giving back, you started the non-profit Big Kidz Foundation. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
It's a non-profit organization I started a few years back. I do things all throughout the
I may have a certain beat, or I'll send it to Andre and see what he can do with it. It might just be a verse. Or I'll say I want to do a song about such and such. Only the best shit survives. That's what we set out to do: put together the best 15 or 16 songs. We just try to do the best songs we have over a two or three year period.
Some other rappers should take notes on that one. I don't need 22 cuts of nonsense and only two or three that are decent.
Yeah, that's exactly what happens. Quantity, not quality. We're all about quality. People have one super duper smash single and the rest of the album is garbage.
When you came in here to do this album, did you have a sound or a particular vision?
The sound is our sound. When people listen to it, then think this sounds like an Outkast album, that's because I'm one part of Outkast. Our music is free flowing. It's not something you can categorize. The only thing it sounds like is Outkast.
You're down in Atlanta and your crew is full of originators. Does the Dungeon Family all work together still?
Yeah, I got the whole crew on the album. From Organized Noize to Cee-Lo. I've got a sound that's crazy, and I just wanted them to come back and wrap that, so I can finish the album. I just wanted to keep that shit going.
I feel like brothers get a little change in their pockets and egos start up, then crews start falling out left, right and center. Dudes knew each other from knee high and all of a sudden they have arguments they can't talk through. How do you all avoid that?
That's why it's called the Dungeon Family. Family don't do that. Family will always be there. Some crews get together just to make the money. When we got together it was for the music. We were trying to achieve the music. It's bigger than that.
You've got a lot of cake right now, but do you think the industry is too focused on money and not on quality like you talked about earlier?
Oh yeah. It's been like that for the longest. That's why you've got to have groups, and artists and collectives of MCs that come together and are doing it for a purpose. You have people who have been doing it for years and haven't made anything off of it, but are doing it for the love of the art form.
You all come together, do your thing and then branch apart. Do you feel like having that freedom to branch out has helped to keep the creative spark alive?
You hit the nail right on the head. I think you're the only person who's thrown out some smart shit like that. When you've been with someone for so long, you can't expect to have the same interests for life. There are some people who want to act, do their own production company or design their own clothes. We can always come back and do an Outkast record. It's just the way that we are doing it.
You brought up everything outside of music you're into. Are there any other avenues you still haven't tackled that you want to try?
Not really. My main focus is the album right now. Now it's all about the music, and this is for real. This is what we do. We get better, and better, and better with time.
Every time you come out with music, it's something new and different. You've got to educate some ears with your music, which can be risky. Where do you find the courage to take those risks?
You just can't be scared. That's always been one of my personal things. You don’t follow the norm. You never do what everybody else does. I could've easily done anything for the club or the radio, but it was my first responsibility as MC to give them something they have to think about. Something that can make their mind tingle. It's really to give back. That's why people stuck with us.
Speaking of giving back, you started the non-profit Big Kidz Foundation. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
It's a non-profit organization I started a few years back. I do things all throughout the
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