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BIGG STEELE
(August 2005) | Interview By: Westcoast2K
Westcoast2k chopped it up with Long
Beach rapper Bigg Steele for an exclusive interview. Steele talks about his
mixtape and his new debut album "Size Duz Matter" which came out earlier this
month. Steele lets us into some of his thoughts and recent business moves, as
well as a very interesting idea about building a whole new radio station for
the West Coast.
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Westcoast2k: For people who are not familiar with Bigg Steele, give a little
rundown on who you are and what you represent...
Bigg Steele: Oh fa sho. Bigg Steele, originally from Cleveland, Ohio. I moved
out here to Long Beach when I was 16. And I been here pretty much ever since
except when I went to school to Mexico State to play Ball. I played a couple
seasons in the CFL. I was a roadie for 2 Live Crew after that. I went to the
studio with them dudes and did some stuff with them on the road and got my
feet wet. After that, I bumped into Hi-C one day at the barbershop and was
rappin for him. So then I was rollin with Hi-C and got on Suga Free's last
album, got on Hi-C's last album. And here I am today.
Westcoast2k: So you always hooked yourself up to go a step further?
Bigg Steele: I ain't never really been the type of dude to be in people's
faces rappin. They always found out I was rappin but they never believed it
was me. So it was one of those things, I was always blessed to be at the right
place at the right time.
Westcoast2k: How did you even get to where you at now? Who are some of the
people that you came up with?
Bigg Steele: Oh you know, what I can't forget about is my boy Bobcat, Bobby
Irvin. He's a legendary producer out here. Him, Mr. Mixx, and Hi-C probably
thought me more about this business than anybody else. Because Bob, he showed
me alot of stuff on the production level, Mr. Mixx showed me stuff as far as
the stage presence thing. And Crawf told me more about stuff where people can
relate to. So each person is like a piece to the puzzle. I always was like the
hustler type of dude, and I always had business sense and knew how to market
stuff. So it was all like a puzzle and here it is today.
Westcoast2k: Who would you list as a musical influence?
Bigg Steele: Oh there is alot. I love Scarface, Ice Cube, Kool G. Rap, Big
Daddy Kane, Slick Rick. There's a whole bunch of people. Even the 2 Live Crew.
You would be surprised, this next album is more a reflection to that than
"Size Duz Matter". A lot of people got it twised of what they think Hip Hop
is. A lot of people say Hip Hop is the backpackin shit. But to me all of it is
Hip Hop, even Nelly. Because Hip Hop is a culture, and Rap happens to me part
of the Hip Hop culture. It's different arms and branches, and there's
different divisions of what's Hip Hop. I think people need to really stop that
when they say that. A lot of people be speaking when they don't even know the
history.
You know what, with this first album I wanted to keep shit simple. And that's
my main goal, there's everybody that will tell you 'Man I keep it real'. But
me, I wanna sell fucking records man. Females buy records, females buy
records. People buy shit that they understand, and I can't come up with little
"Save the Whales" campaigns on my first album. I'd rather have the money than
the so called critical acclaim. The next album, I'm droppin that in January
and it's called "Watch This". And it's representing more this side, because
"Size Duz Matter" is my party album.
Westcoast2k: Now you recently dropped "The Bigg Steele Chronicles" mixtape.
You put 2Pac & Biggie on there...what was the concept behind it?
Bigg Steele: Man, before I put my album out "Size Duz Matter", being the party
album, you always got fools that make comments 'Oh this dude only makes these
kinda songs'. I wanted to show motherfuckers, these are two of the greatest
rappers of all time, my object wasn't to go on there and beat nobody cause
they two of the greatest. My whole thing was just to be able to touch them
dudes on the shoulder. Show fools something different than just beats and
rhymes. I don't wanna be just known as the "Bubble Bounce".
Westcoast2k: What was the idea behind dropping the mixtape in the UK only?
Bigg Steele: You know, for obvious reasons. Cause I couldn't get a big spread
over there cause America is so fuckin overcrowded. You got everybody from Joe
Blow to Booboo the Fool droppin mixtapes. Overseas it's more appreciated. You
got everybody that got a little bit of money and some studio time, so they
drop a mixtape. "The Chronicles" was like a album. We took a few beats that
was hot, but for the most part me & Polar Bear went in there and built whole
new tracks. And the thing that surprised me, it even hit the charts in the UK.
But I ain't really making no money of this, it was more of a promotional
thing. But people was even buying the T-Shirts! But I didn't want it to be one
of them things where people get the wrong idea like 'This dude is trying to
make money off 2Pac & Biggie' cause that wasn't even the idea. I got my own
product to make money, this was just a promotional thing.
Westcoast2k: How has the response been so far?
Bigg Steele: Shit I guess its good, I sold over 16'000 copies as of now! But
I'm bout to stop it really, cause like I said the whole thing behind it wasn't
to make no money, but to promote myself. Ima let the bootleggers get a hold of
them.
Westcoast2k: You seem to be doing some smart business moves. Is that what's
lacking on the West Coast? Do you think that artists fail to realize that
there is more than just home?
Bigg Steele: You know, alot of people out here got a tunnel vision. They so
busy but they don't understand that Power, The Beat, and whoever else is not
gonna fuck with you until you become an issue somewhere else. It's like, out
here people think they got this hot record and about to get they shit played.
Man you dealing with 2 million other mothafuckers trying to get they shit
played. So why would I stay here with an overcrowded market? And L.A. gotta be
the most play-hatin place in the world man. So why would I stay in this market
and try to bump heads with everybody else. Cause there's a lotta people out
here that got good shit man. You got Crooked I, he's doing his motherfuckin
thing, he the shit to me. You got Sly Boogy doing his thing, you got cats like
Dr. Stank, Dirty Birdy, Diamonique. And these are just underground people
that's tight as fuck! Why would I stay out here and try to bump heads with my
people, when I can go somewhere else, spread myself out, make my money and
just as much as a nigga signed to Interscope, and come back home.
You know I'm going all over the world. Cause if you look at the map,
California is like a little shit stain on some underwear. I'm not saying that
my state is a little shit stain, but I got a lotta goals. I'm trying to get
4'000 fans in each region. If I reach that many around the world I sell
300'000 everytime I come out.
Westcoast2k: Other artists do it the other way around and start blowing up in
their hometown first...
Bigg Steele: Man, you know I got something to say about that. California don't
really got no identity. It's easy for somebody from Houston or Kansas to say
that, cause they own people go support them. I bet you know a thousand
rappers, and does Power 106 got time to play a thousand rappers? They only
play like 30 songs. So how they gonna worry about Bigg Steele, Joe Blow, or
whoever the fuck else that got a hot record? So that's like impossible to blow
up in the second biggest market in the country. You gotta remember, you're not
only competing against your local comrads, you're competing against 50 Cent,
The Game, and all them dudes. You can't really compete, because they not only
got good music, they also got a marketing budget of 2 million dollars. They on
TRL everyday, so I'd be a fool to stay out here. It's kinda like me being out
here, about to go to war with some fools that got uzzys and tanks and shit,
and all I got is a bat and a butcher knife. So why would I even stay out here
and try to go against them. Over there in Europe they play my video on MTV,
they play my shit on Channel U. I got like 20 magazine interviews. The Source
was gonna give me a "Off The Radar", but they switched that shit to
"Independence Day" because somebody else bigger came in or gave them more
money or whatever. I wouldn't give them that, so it's like you're always
constantly competing against somebody. It ain't that I'm scared of
competition, I'm just gonna get my money easier.
Westcoast2k: Is that a reason why there's no artists on TV right now that's
coming from the West, except for Snoop & Game?
Bigg Steele: Well a lot of people don't get the opportunity. I know we got
alotta hustlers in L.A., but they just need to get out of L.A. You know Snoop
done been exposed to different people. They love Snoop over in London, they
love Game over in London. That's because they present themselves over there. I
just got my first cover in Ireland, with my fat ass face on the cover. So it's
just about exposing yourself. See, people forget that rap is all opinion. You
can think of somebody 'Oh this mothafucka tight'. But then the next person,
some female that don't know nothing about Hip Hop might be like 'I don't like
that, I don't know what he's talking about'. It's all about opinion. So it's
like, for a opinion to perpetuate yourself in your favor, you gotta go in
front of as many people as you possibly can.
And I'm not just talking about people at the swapmeets in Lynwood or Compton,
I'm talking about connecting with people all over. You see the beautiful thing
about the internet, you can talk to motherfuckers from all over the world.
People is openly talking to you. People don't buy records, they buy
personalitys. People think 'Oh I gotta have the hottest this and that'. Like
that fool William Hung, they aint buying no records cause he was the greatest
fucking singer. They buying his personality. You know I come from a real
agressive area, this the gang capitol. So people don't really know how to come
at people, we need to be more diplomatic. And I hear a lot of people talk
about unity out here, but you still got people that got their own agendas. As
long as you got people with they own agendas you never gonna have no unity,
cause it's gonna be some fake unity going on.
Like I was talking to my homegirl who put that "True Crime" Soundtrack
together with all the West Coast rappers on there. She was gonna get all the
West Coast rappers to do some shit on there, but everybody she talked to was
like 'Nah this dude gonna be there, fuck him, he a bitch'. We need to stop all
that bullshit, stop hating on the next man and get your shit in order. I
cannot hate on Game, cause Game is doing a lot of good things for the West
Coast. Like when somebody asks me a dumb ass question in an interview like
'What do you think of Game saying he's the King of the West Coast?' That man
sold like 5 million records, so he is! As far as this music shit goes. So I
think people need to stop with the negative shit all the time and focus more
on getting their business together.
Westcoast2k: You dropped your album "Size Duz Matter" earlier this month.
Speak on it real quick, what can people expect on there?
Bigg Steele: Oh man this is a party album. I would be lying if I told you I
was on some campaign against terrorism and all this shit man. This is some
shake your ass type of stuff. I got a few songs that is on some different
shit, it ain't all just party stuff, but for the most part.
Westcoast2k: It has kind of a Dirty South vibe to it, as far as beats go. Is
that how you planned it to come out from the start?
Bigg Steele: Well I'ma tell you something that might make niggas mad. I love
the funk shit, but that shit is not hittin' right now. Ain't nobody checkin
for that shit, so why would I come out with that sound? I'm just being real as
a business man. I just think that nobody's fucking with that no more. It's
like they play more Dirty South shit out here.
But it depends on the mood I'm in when I go record. But I see a lot of artists
out here that can't even get their shit played in the clubs cause they don't
really have no shit that can bang in the club. Every record that I had always
got played in all the clubs out here, pretty much. You think about an
alternative, what if you don't have radio? Who's gonna play your shit? Clubs
is the whole way motherfuckers wanna be breaking the records. So you gotta
have some other shit crackin, cause you gotta be able to compete.
Motherfuckers can say what they want about Lil Jon, but he runnin' shit right
now. You gotta have something that you can take to a club DJ where they can
say 'Yeah I can see me mixing it with this or that record'.
Westcoast2k: How come you had Polar Bear produce the entire album? What made
you decide to do the whole thing with him?
Bigg Steele: Man cause it was one of them things where I'm comfortable with
Polar Bear and the vibe is right. Dude listens to me, and that dude is doper
than a motherfucker to me. There was a time where Kanye couldn't really get
his tracks to a whole bunch of people. Then he had that one, so I think one
day Polar Bear gonna have that one. So I'm just sticking with my dude. And
then me and him business partners too, so it just makes sense.
Westcoast2k: Is that the Bigg Steele sound which people can expect in the
future, or is that just a phase in your career?
Bigg Steele: Every album is gonna be always the same but different. Like with
the next album we used some samples, we got a few club songs too. You gotta
keep evolving but staying the same. Like I give them songs like the one called
"Money" with RBX. I give them a taste of what's to come. I ain't gonna say
"Watch This" is gonna be a more hardcore album, but it's gonna be more
well-rounded than "Size Duz Matter" is. I got more producers on there, Polar
Bear did like 15 tracks. I also got tracks from Red Spyda and Fingazz. But
Polar Bear is like my sound, my producer.
Westcoast2k: You already started working the new album. How come so soon?
Bigg Steele: Oh it's finished already! It's coming in January next year. You
know, my name is starting to get real hot in the UK, Ireland, Sweden, and
places like that. So I gotta keep it going, I'm bout to go on tour for 2
months, I got 20 shows lined up. So you tell me when I come back do I wanna
have to actually wait? 2006 is about to come, 2005 is gonna be old to people
so I gotta hit them with some other shit. And then after that I'm get a group
started with my homeboy Big Arch outta Watts, and my homeboy Big Skip, called
"Street Currency". That's the name of my label. So this gonna be on some whole
different shit again. Them street cats and respected over in Watts.
When I'm gonna be in the UK I'll shoot a video over there for my second single
"Da Hood". I did a version with my homeboy from the So Solid Crew out in
London. And right now we're working on a reality show for Channel U in the UK.
So I got all my moves planned already! This is a business, man. If you go up
to Interscope, they got all their moves planned for this year and the next
year. Pretty much anybody that got some good material and tryna get out about
their business, I can help get them where they wanna go.
Westcoast2k: You got this radio show thing going on with Big Syke, what's the
deal with that?
Bigg Steele: Man you know what, me and Syke is both so busy now. We're trying
to get that up and running. We only recorded like 2 episodes, and we ain't
even put them out yet. So we tryna wait till we can both really have time to
really devote to it. Cause there's a thing where I don't like doing stuff half
ass. So we wanna make it come out right cause it ain't gonna be no one time
thing. That's why we really gotta have our stuff together. You know sometimes
you hear or see some shit and think that shit is dope, but you never see it
again? So we trying to have it proper.
Westcoast2k: You were signed to Bungalo for a while. How did you end up
leaving that label?
Bigg Steele: Yeah well, the Laneway camp is like my family. I'm real close
with Black Tone, we got a real cool relationship. But my next album is gonna
be coming out on 456/Universal. It's gonna be a situation where we gonna have
456 for distribution in the Unites States to get a bigger spread. 456 is with
Universal, and they can get the record in every store in the country. Right
now I'm getting emails from people in Florida, Ohio and different places, say
they can't find the record. Even though the distributor is not bad, they just
ain't got the power Universal got to ship all over the country. Cause they
still shipping my record, with Universal the shit would have been done on that
Tuesday when it came out.
Westcoast2k: You had a role in the "Malibu's Most Wanted" movie. How was that
experience?
Bigg Steele: Oh man, that was real cool. That's what I really wanna start
focusing on, more the acting stuff. A lot of people don't know I've done like
20 commercials prior to that. It was my first role ever to play a rapper.
Cause to get that part we had to battle and shit. And I got the call that
night, so it was cool to do that shit with my boys Hi-C and Young Dre. And we
did that shit for the soundtrack, I got to meet Young Maylay. And Jamie
Kennedy is a cool dude. So it was just a overall good experience, and good
publicity too.
Westcoast2k: So was there a possibility for you to be a actor first, and
rapper second?
Bigg Steele: Oh hell yeah, cause the music industry is probably the most
corrupt business in the world. To where people are just allowed to get away
with all kind of faul shit. With this acting you get your money when you're
supposed to get it, it comes quick and they don't let you wait 3 to 6 months
for a check. So it's just a higher level of professionalism. You don't hear
about fools that go to the Oscars trying to shoot people! It's only with this
rap music man! Like I said, I'm trying to build my company and I love music,
but I'm trying to spread my wings.
Westcoast2k: We're pretty much through with the questions, is there anything
else you wanna say?
Bigg Steele: Yeah, you know what man, I think what we need to do man, as far
as all the West Coast artists that got a little bit of money and try to get it
cracking, let's get everybody together and start a fucking radio station. And
I'm not talking about no internet radio, I'm talking about a real radio
station. Anybody that's serious get at me, you see me in these streets. Cause
these motherfuckers out here is not for us, they job is to make as much money
as they possibly can. Let's stop kissing they ass and get our own shit, start
our own distribution.
It's like, if a motherfucker came in and halfway knew what they were doing
programming wise, they would knock Power, The Beat, and KDAY out the box.
Cause them motherfuckers play the same 30 songs being played all fuckin day.
You think people really checking for that shit? Cause I'm still a fan of the
music dogg, there's certain motherfuckers that I wanna hear on the radio. I
like Suga Free, I like The Relativez, how come I can't hear them on the radio?
So all the fools out there buying cars and buying all this dumb shit, let's
put our money together and buy a radio station. I got my part, but
motherfuckers out here is too selfish and too stingy. All the people that do
graphics, let's start our own magazine. See all the press right now is coming
out the East Coast. We out here in Hollywood, but we ain't even got no video
channel man! Think about it, them Ying Yang Twinz is all over our radio
station. They do what they wanna do, so we need to buy our own shit. And I'm
telling you, people would support this shit. So all these rappers buying these
cars and rims and shit, put stock in a radio station. I don't care if you just
got $5, everybody put stock in there and let's get our own shit crackin!
People always talk about how they tryna do this or do that. Let's do some real
shit.
Think about it, you could have a dope ass station! Get somebody like E-40 as a
morning personality, then have somebody like Crooked I in the afternoon, and
get someone like Glasses Malone doing the traffic jam! Tell me that wouldn't
be off the hook! Get Big Wy in the night time man! We gotta support our own
shit. I don't hear people play Keak Da Sneak on the radio down here! So let's
start this shit, we start with our own money and then ask these different
companys 'Look, can you donate $10.000 for our radio station, we wanna
purchase stock in this'. We gotta really start thinking about our shit as a
business, instead of just being some fool running around at the mall. This is
a business, so let's boss up on these bitches!
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