First of, congrats to Big Boi’s for landing at number three on the Billboard Charts. After seven days,
Big Boi's solo debut
Sir Lucious Left Foot The Son of Chico Dusty moved 62,000 units. He landed at number three on the
Billboard Charts.
Interview with Big Boi:
How are things in Georgia?
Enjoying it, enjoying it. Just spreading word on the album, having fun, man. Glad this motherfucker is about to come out.
What was the holdup? You switched labels from Jive to Def Jam this year.
Yeah, that’s the holdup. Bullshit. Ask the bullshit-ass record label I was on.
Why is it always such an eternal wait for albums in the world of hip-hop?
My situation is that Jive Records didn’t believe in my music. [The single] “Shutterbug” has been done for almost three years now. They didn’t think…it was like, ‘I don’t hear any singles.’ These are the same guys who told me to go in and make my own version of Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop,” which, by the way, I love. But how can you tell me to go in and copy somebody else?
For them to doubt you seems rather insane. You’ve sold millions and millions of albums.
Right. Yeah, but I’m just glad to be on Def Jam with L.A. Reid. He knows what’s going on.
What label is OutKast on now, then?
OutKast is still on Jive, which is the funny thing about it. Jive Records was trying to block the songs that me and Dre [André Benjamin, a.k.a. André 3000 of OutKast] recorded for my album. They won’t let me put them on my album. How stupid is that?
You sample opera on your new song “General Patton.” Are you a fan of the opera?
You know, anything is possible. When we put the beat together, it sounded so hard. Like it needed some gladiator music. Being an MC is all about just going for the throat.
That song closes with a skit about a sex maneuver called “the David Blaine.” Which…how to put this gently…is when you’re making love to someone from behind, then have a friend take over and you run to a window and wave at your partner. Are you taking credit for this, or is this something people do?
Yeah, man! You know, man, they do it now!
You’re already working on another solo album. Why so quick?
Because I’m always working. I’m in the zone. I’m waiting on Dre to finish his [solo] record so we can jump into the OutKast album. So I’ll start recording parts of the OutKast record as well as working on my next album, which is gonna be called Daddy Fat Sax: Soul Funk Crusader. Yeah, you got the hot scoop here first, baby!
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below sold more than 10 million copies. Do you feel pressure to live up to that level of success?
Just as long as the people can dig, man, you know what I’m sayin’?…. You don’t gauge success by how much it sells in this day and age, because you might get 3 million downloads, so you’ll never really know the real number.
You raise pit bulls at your kennel, Pitfalls. I get a kick out of the dogs’ names. Crown Royal. Dragonfly Jones. Do you name them?
Me and my brothers. We’ve sold dogs to Jay-Z, Serena Williams, Roy Jones Jr., 50 Cent, Usher, Jermaine Dupree—everybody, man. I’m gone so much now, it’s basically my brothers running it now.
What was it about “Halle Berry” that made you name her Halle Berry?
Because her face was all pretty and her eyes were glowing, you know what I’m saying? You know, she had a really cute face.
Were you familiar with Pitchfork before you were asked to play?
Nah. When they first asked me to play it, they broke it down to me. I was like, Word, that’s dope, just to be out there with all those different genres of music and just different artists, mixing it up with different people.
How do you pull off guest verses live?
On all these songs I have some verses, so it’s still like a full song. There are so many songs that I go through within an hour, like, it’s not enough time to do all the complete records. I’m doing “B.O.B.,” “Ms. Jackson,” “So Fresh, So Clean,” maybe half of the new album.
So you perform OutKast material.
Oh, yeah. Oh, hell yeah…. They’ll throw eggs at me if I don’t!
