Posted on 04/06/2009
Talking with Rapper Big Pooh is like catching up with one of your best friends from back home. Despite the fact that he’s made music that has garnered critical acclaim from both fans and the press, toured the world several times over with Little Brother, and collaborated with everyone in hip hop from Lil Wayne and Kanye West to Pete Rock and Talib Kweli, the dude is a down-to-earth guy, and he’s not afraid to tell it like it is.

The latest chapter in the Book of Pooh is Delightful Bars, a project that is hitting stores, both digitally and physically, in four different incarnations. Big Pooh spoke to Okayplayer’s Sean Kantrowitz about his development as a solo artist, the trials and tribulations of Little Brother, message board haters, ass and titties, and why he hasn’t been listening to those beats you keep emailing him…

Okayplayer: Delightful Bars is coming on the heels of the Rapper’s Delight mixtape that you put out last fall, and you’ve still yet to release the official Dirty Pretty Things album. So where does this release fit in your discography?

Rapper Big Pooh: It’s a hybrid between a mixtape and an album. It’s basically a presentation of everything that I’ve been doing, but I don’t want to say that this is my second album. I pulled tracks from different points when I was working on different projects, so it wasn’t a thing where I went in and recorded all of these tracks at the same time. But the presentation isn’t like most mixtapes, either.

OKP: Let’s talk about that presentation. You’re releasing four different versions of Delightful Bars, and each version has a different track listing. Did you have any concern about saturating the market with so much material?

RBP: I can’t take credit for the whole thing. My manager Big Dho and my art designer sat down and came up with a concept that we thought would be dope to try. In all reality, you end up having to put out that much material when you release an album. You need extra material for Europe, and in Japan they damn near want a whole new album. iTunes wants an extra song to get people to buy from them.

You end up doing that anyway, so instead of just doing things the standard way, I wanted a bigger presentation – four album covers and change-ups in track listing so everybody feels like they have their own version. There are six to seven songs that stay the same for every version, but after that, there’s a lot of changes. Just that difference in the way I approached things has allowed me to reach more people than I would if I just did things the standard way.

OKP: You definitely are going to catch peoples’ eyes with the naked women in the album artwork…

RBP: Hopefully I can get a couple people to go out and get all of the versions. (laughs) We had a whole lot of other ideas, but all in all, we wanted it to be somewhat classy so that it wouldn’t necessarily offend the women who buy and support, but would still catch the guys’ attention. Plus, I wanted to do something different. The name ‘Rapper Big Pooh’ lets you know what I do, but if you just glance at one of the album covers, you don’t know what kind of record it is. I went on iTunes and looked at all the top hip-hop albums, and when you compare those to mine, one of them definitely doesn’t belong. It was a good way to stand out.




OKP: Speaking of standing out – compared to when Little Brother first came out, this industry is so saturated now. You guys debuted sort of on the cusp of a time where the notion of an Internet group getting signed was still something of a rarity. But now it seems as though the game is getting more and more full. Everybody raps and everybody produces. Little Brother has definitely solidified itself as a brand, but where do you think you stand as a solo artist? And how do you see Delightful Bars playing a part in the process of establishing your identity?

RBP: As a solo artist, I don’t look at myself as being a beginning brand as much as an underdeveloped one. I haven’t had a chance to develop things like we did with Little Brother, or even like Phonte has been able to do with Foreign Exchange. Since Rapper’s Delight, it’s been a slow development to just get people accustomed to hearing me by myself. I know that I’ve got a lot of work to do, but I’m having fun working on that every day, from the presentation to the music. And I’ve got other things I want to get into besides just doing music as my only outlet.

I’m about to start a sports talk radio show. I know a couple of athletes that are going to get involved. That’s my first love: not music, but sports. I’d also like to eventually get into doing some directing for short films and documentaries. I just want to venture out. I don’t like to put all my eggs in just one basket. I think that everybody who makes music for a living has other things they’d like to do besides just that, and eventually it might come a point in time where you have to do some other things. So basically I’m starting my brand in other areas.

OKP: Each Little Brother album has been pretty statement-driven. The Listening was the debut; ‘we’re here, and this is what we’re about.’ The Minstrel Show was obviously very loaded in its approach and message, and Getback was about the aftermath of all the trials and tribulations you went through signing with and then leaving a major label. It seems like with your solo albums, it’s a little less heavy and it’s more about the vibe. Besides the fact that it’s just your input on solo records, do you approach these kinds of projects differently than Little Brother albums?

RBP: I just go in and vibe, man. That’s how I approach my music. With Little Brother, it’s more of a collaborative effort. I think Getback was the only album we’ve done where there was no real undertone; it was more of how I like to make records. I just want to go in and take it there with a couple joints; I don’t like to over think things, because when you start doing that, that’s when you start running into problems, having to try to explain why you did certain things.

I think that was part of the problem that we had with The Minstrel Show. You can’t explain what you mean to everybody, and not everyone is going to get satire the way you may have intended. For me, I equate making albums to putting a puzzle together. You take all the pieces out of the box, look at the front of the box and know that that’s your destination, and just start putting pieces together. That’s how I like to make music.

OKP: I actually constantly get persecuted by people for saying that I prefer Getback to the other two Little Brother albums. (laughs)

RBP: I meet a lot of people who enjoy that record always say the same thing: “it sounds like you just went in and made music.” Of course, a lot of people love The Listening, and for the diehard LB fan, that will probably always be their favorite album. When it comes to your favorite artists, the first album is usually going to be your favorite because that was your introduction to them. But a lot of people gravitate to Getback because it was more of a free-flowing album. And of course, I like to believe that the growth that myself and Phonte had on that record compared to the first one is like night and day.

OKP: For your fans and a lot of the Okayplayer community, it feels like we’ve all watched Little Brother’s journey unfold right in front of us. As a group, you’ve obviously been through a lot, all in the public eye. Looking back now, what lessons did you learn from it all?

RBP: (long pause) The grass ain’t always greener on the other side. (pause) I already knew this, but it gets emphasized so much more: the music business is just that – a business. Making the music is the easy part.

Goals change. In the case of Little Brother, we were a three-man group and we started out with a lot of the same goals, but throughout time, goals, perspectives, and things in life change. And you’ve got to be prepared for that. We weren’t prepared for that. It kind of happened with no warning, and I think we dealt with it the best way that we could. People definitely gotta realize that if you’re in a group, you might want to talk frequently and discuss goals and ambitions, because one person’s can change and that will dismantle everything you built up. It can bring it all down.

OKP: You’ve got a track produced by 9th Wonder on Delightful Bars. Is that an older track, or was that done recently? And what’s your relationship with 9th today?

RBP: The one he did was actually right before I went on my last tour, so that was after the breakup, a more recent joint. We’ve had a little talk about our situation, and we did that joint, and when we see each other we speak, but it’s not a thing like what it was when we first started. I doubt that it’ll ever get back to that. We’ve still got more things to hash out. Will we collaborate more? I don’t know. I’m a person who likes to not say never, but I don’t know. At this point, I don’t know.




OKP: You also feature a lot of production from names that aren’t the usual suspects for the music you’ve made, including some lesser-known producers. How did you link up with some of them on this project?

RBP: Just through networking and connecting with a lot of people. I spent a little bit of time on the west coast, going out there frequently and kicking it with the homie Bishop Lamont. He introduced me to a lot of people. I meet a lot of people on tour stops, too. I like to always keep my eyes and ears open to other talent, and when I hear somebody doing something I like, the first thing I always do is extend an invitation to work. I always want to make some dope shit.

I met The Co-Op, who did “Roll Call,” on the Getback tour in Seattle. My man Phonix did “Blue,” which is going to be the second single, and I met him through his manager when we were mixing The Minstrel Show at Baseline Studios. I don’t want to keep it to only working with Khrysis, 9th, Illmind…nah, other people got dope shit and I want a piece of that. People like hearing me over different stuff.

OKP: A lot of the beats on this one really threw me for a loop. It definitely wasn’t what I would first associate with Rapper Big Pooh.

RBP: Oh man, wait till you hear the North American physical copy of Delightful Bars. There are a couple more shockers on there, too. I don’t want to call it experimenting, but I just try to branch out so people get used to hearing me rock over things that they might not believe I could necessarily do something over. And I have fun doing it.

OKP: You also have extended the invitation to producers to send you beats at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Do you get a lot of beats that way, too?

RBP: The percentages aren’t that good. But I have worked with a few cats off of there. But it’s only been like three producers that I’ve worked with through them emailing me beats, and I’ve had that email address for a year. But you can email beats and it gets checked by more than just me; other cats like Chaundon also check that email, so we all pass it along to one another.

Oh, please, please, please print this: If you email me beats, and they are not MP3s, embedded into the email, I am not listening to it. I’m not going through zshare, I’m not going through all of that. Then I have to go through downloading, and then it’s gonna be on my computer, and I may not like it, and then I got to find it to delete that shit. It’s just too much work. (laughs) It could be some of the most marvelous shit I’ve ever heard in life, but I’ll never hear it if it’s not an MP3. I’m just being honest and real.

OKP: Duly noted. You’ve made songs and talked about how many have viewed you as the weak link of Little Brother. At this point, do you feel like you still have to fight that? Do you still have something to prove?

RBP: I think I’ve always got something to prove because of my competitive nature, but I kind of let that whole thing go because…I think people just misunderstood and made the wrong comparison. They were comparing me and Tay when we don’t approach things the same. He’s more of a clever punch line/witty guy, and I’m more of a straightforward, blunt rapper. It’s like trying to compare Michael Jordan to Shaq. Nigga, Michael Jordan was a shooting guard and Shaq was a center! You can’t compare people in different positions.

Then you’ve got some people out there who just like to hate because they can’t do what you do or they’re not in a position to do what you do. And that shit is actually funny to me now. They can’t even do what you do and they don’t understand what it takes to do what you do, but they’ve got all the suggestions and criticisms in the motherfucking world. And it’s like, nigga, if you worked in a cubicle in a damn IT company, can you imagine me coming in and criticizing you at your job? When I don’t know nothing about your job and I can’t do your job? I think a lot of people end up going hard and they don’t even know the work that it takes to get to my level of success. This is my level; this ain’t Jay-Z’s level, and they don’t even know what it takes to get there. So, you know, I excuse them…

OKP: It’s one of the prices that one pays to be in the public eye…

RBP: They don’t know about that. People can sit behind their magazines or keyboard and say what the fuck they feel and don’t have to worry about people criticizing them, because no one knows them beyond their screen name! But to be in the public eye, with people knowing you or your persona, and having your work out there to be criticized… it takes a strong ass individual to be able to take that criticism and keep going. A lot of motherfuckers would have jumped off the bridge already. It takes a very, very strong person to be publically criticized and keep going. I know 95 percent of the people who do all the ill talking would never understand what that feels like.

Once you realize that, and put everything in its proper context, it’s like, fuck ‘em. Either you rockin’ with me or you ain’t. The funny thing is that a lot of the people that used to diss Little Brother or me on the Internet are the motherfuckers at the shows cheering, rocking the shit line for line! That is some of the craziest shit out. It’s like some stalker shit.

OKP: “I hate you, I hate you, I love you…”

RBP: Yeah. “I hate you, I hate you, I love you…” You know what, I don’t know peoples’ histories. They gonna do what they gonna do, I’m gonna do what I’m gonna do. People may feel like I ain’t did enough to have the success I have had and do what I do. Hey, that’s how you feel. There’s niggas who feel 50 shouldn’t be making millions and millions of dollars. They feel Soulja Boy shouldn’t make as much money as he does. That ain’t stopping either one of them. It is what it is.

OKP: So what’s up with Dirty Pretty Things? And what’s next for Little Brother?

RBP: It’s coming. I’m trying to put that out with Barak Records (home of Slum Village). Me and Young RJ are working hard on that. We put it on pause for a minute so I could get Delightful Bars out, and so that they could wrap the Slum Village album. It’ll hopefully be out this winter. We had a good amount of music done, but I think we’re going to go back in and do a couple more tracks.

As for Little Brother, hopefully this fall we’ll be putting out an EP called Leftback. It’ll have songs that didn’t make Getback, a couple of new joints, and a couple of remixes; a nice little mixture of each, and a live DVD to go with it. That will satisfy the Little Brother itch till we really get back to work on the next album.

OKP: Any touring plans?

RBP: I’m trying to work something out in the fall for when school comes back in. Unless it’s a huge arena tour, I really don’t see the point of doing a summer tour because school’s out and people are scattered everywhere. I am going to do one-offs, some things overseas, some festivals. I’ve got a couple of options that I don’t want to say till I get it in ink.

OKP: Finally, since this is for Okayplayer, I have to ask – you used to post on the message boards all the time and then you disappeared. What the hell happened, man?

RBP: I actually didn’t post all the time. If you ever looked at my post count, it ain’t that high. I still go on every once in a while, but I’m more of a lurker now. Number one, I didn’t want to post involving anything with myself and LB because when you start to do that, you start to get into one-on-ones with motherfuckers on the Internet, and there ain’t shit gangster about that. (laughs) Nobody wins, especially the artist: you come out looking like a fool.

Also, if I start commenting on other peoples’ shit, I get criticized, like I’m not a consumer and a fan of music as well, and I can’t say that shit was wack. “WHO THE FUCK IS YOU TO BE CRITICIZING!?!” Instead of turning into that guy, I turned into the ‘ain’t saying nothing’ guy.

OKP: But word on the tweets is that you do like to get your Twitter on…

RBP: Oh, I get my twit on! With Twitter, it’s just random shit. Yesterday I was talking about how I don’t want to see dudes with avatars showing their chests naked and shit. And I also got feedback from the women, like, “what about women showing their ass and titties?” And I’m like, “well, first of all, there’s gonna be a double standard. I’m a man, I don’t mind seeing ass and titties.” There’s more women who would prefer to see that. There’s more women who will look at ass and titties than straight men who will look at another man’s naked chest. It’s just nature. Women are more feminine, they’re almost bisexual by nature. Not saying they’ll take it to the next level of trying to sleep with them…

OKP: It’s more of an appreciation that they can extend. I mean, more women will say that the female body is like a work of art, and extend a compliment, as opposed to men feeling that way about other men…

RBP: They can appreciate a woman’s body before a straight man will sit in, like you said: “yo, your abs, son…the way that six-pack is cut…ay, man…”

OKP: “You look phenomenal, B…”

RBP: “You look phenomenal, B!” (laughs) I don’t see that happening no time soon. It’s like women are almost pseudo-bi by nature, and straight men are homophobic by nature. It’s crazy. So yeah, I get into shit like that on Twitter. No music discussions. A little bit of shameless advertising, and sports talk. That’s how my time there is spent.

OKP: Any final words?

RBP: Resevoir Dogs, which is myself, Chaundon, Joe Scudda, and Jozeemo have a mixtape by DJ Warrior coming soon. And I appreciate everybody that’s supported Little Brother and Rapper Big Pooh. Check out Delightful Bars, coming real soon.



- Sean Kantrowitz

Check out OKP’s news blog to hear “Rear View Mirror” produced by 9th Wonder off of Delightful Bars.

To check out the full album by Rapper Big Pooh, Delightful Bars, just click here.

Watch the video for “The Comeback” produced by Khrysis below.