Exclusive In-Depth Interview with Bay Area Rapper Big Rich! [Text/Audio + Music Videos]

West Up. We've been bringing you a steady stream of updates from Bay Area star Big Rich this year, from the announcement of his latest album "Heart of the City" to his music videos getting spins on MTV, collabs with fellow Bay artists like Balance, Kaz Kyzah and others to the eventual release of "Heart of the City, we've kept in touch with Rich and covered his movement. Most recently we put up a free download from Los Angeles group and 3-Story gang reps Pro City called "All or Nothing" that was presented by Rich.

With the promotion and release of "Heart of the City" just one of the many things Rich has had on his schedule for 2009 and beyond, it's safe to say he's been very busy this year. We caught up with Rich for an exclusive, in-depth interview this past Tuesday, September 15th and talked to him about a variety of different topics.

No stranger to the site, Rich spoke candidly with WestCoastRydaz about the time difference between the release of the new album and his solo debut "Block Tested, Hood Approved" in 2006 as well as opened up about his maturity as an artist, Bay Area unity, bridging the gap between Northern and Southern Cali and much much more. In addition to the exclusive interview, we also have a preview commercial plus 2 new music videos that Rich recorded from the new album, all of which can be found below. So check it out and make sure to spread the word!


Big Rich - 2009 WestCoastRydaz.com Interview

WestCoastRydaz: There was a 3-year gap between your first album “Block Tested Hood Approved” and this new one “Heart of the City.” Since the first one was so well received, what made you decide to separate the album releases like that?

Big Rich: Well with the first album I was a lot younger, it was definitely my first solo album and when I went into it I didn’t really know what to expect. I was almost done with it when we signed a deal with Koch. So my whole mental thing with that album was that I didn’t feel like I was gonna get nationwide attention for it, because when I was writing it I was in the hood, we was in a little house studio. But by the time it was finished we had the Koch deal, E-40 came aboard and was presenting it and all these fancy features came into play at the end. We had everyone from Mistah FAB to Clyde Carson to The Federation, E-40, B-Legit, Sheek Louch from The Lox, we ended up getting a big feature list. Then we had E-A-Ski and Rick Rock doing production, it got real glamorized at the end.

When I put out the project it was well received and I was happy with it, we did decent numbers with Koch, MTV, BET. After that it was kinda like trying to see if we was still gonna stay with Koch - they had the option – so we wanted to see if they were gonna pull the trigger or not. But of course when you’re on a label that’s a major or semi-major like we was, they wanted to see something move, something happening. At that time the whole radio situation in the bay area had changed and without radio the major labels don’t really care. I fell back, it took a long time, about two years for [Heart of the City]. I experienced so much, so I was way more seasoned for this album. So if you listen to it the music is a lot more mature, the artistry is a lot better. This time I didn’t have the big publicity behind it but I feel like I put together a way better album. I was ready this time and I knew what to expect, I knew what people wanted to hear. It was great though because I had the chance to put it out solely by myself. I didn’t have no distribution at all, nothing. It was straight out my trunk, I don’t think I’ll do it again I’d say, but it was kinda fun. And I got little to minimum radio coverage on that shit, but I been killing em with the videos though.

[Interview Continued below Music Video]
Big Rich (Feat. Netta B.) - You Know Me


WestCoastRydaz: Okay so you mentioned the maturity process in between albums, do you feel like that progression translated into a musical growth for you as well?

Big Rich: Yeah. I feel like from the confidence level to just knowing what I’m doing, its no question with “Heart of the City” and even with the future projects I got coming, that because of my whole approach to it [now], the music is coming way easier. I was 22 when I started on the first album, mentally and experience-wise in the industry I was real young, but now the maturity level is there as far as subject matter, beat picking, hooks. I have a formula to make my music now and I didn’t have all of that last time. I was walking into it and winging it all the time when I went in the studio. I was so used to being in Fully Loaded, I had Toriano and Bailey. Bailey wrote the hook and I would do my 16 and that was it, now I gotta go and do the whole song myself. And now I hate doing song with features, I hate doing a 16 because I feel like my verse is never done. I need that three 16s and that hook to feel complete, now I’m completely a solo artist. And on “Heart of the City” I was able to execute everything, like if I wanted a club record, deep record, or record for the females I was able to execute it the way I wanted it. So I just feel like I had more control of the pen. It’s definitely like two different people now on the albums; I’m completely different than what I was on the first one.

WestCoastRydaz: Right, so with the new outlook and approach to music comes a slightly different sound. How did you feel once the album was finally out? Were you worried about the reception and what has been the feedback been like?

Big Rich: I was shocked because when it came out, especially independently; it got up to like number 20-something on iTunes. The Jacka (“Tear Gas”) came out 2 weeks before killing the charts, so it was number two in every store behind it. And this is what we always talk about with the Bay Area situation. It’s been 3 months since both our albums came out and aint nothing really came out since ours. I remember that month alone all we was hearing on Twitter, MySpace and the streets was ‘oh okay Rich and Jack bringing some momentum back to the Bay Area.’ So actually his success helped mine because they wanted to come and see what I was talking about and then when it dropped the feedback was ridiculous. You know when its your product you really don’t know [how it’ll be received], you like it personally but I was nervous to see what people were gonna think and it’s been nothing but ‘its great, its classic, its phenomenal’ all those big words like that [laughs]. I’m excited about that and I know now that maybe we didn’t sell 10-15,000 with this one, but now this time around I really got the attention for great music so when I drop my next album with a deal, distribution or whatever route I choose to go, I know they gonna be waitin on the next project.

So this album was almost like a mixtape, but one of the mixtapes that’s gonna change things for me. I put my own money into it, I told SMC [and] every other label that I wanted to just do this, everybody was like ‘no don’t put it out yourself, its stupid you’re wasting your money’ I’m like let me just try, let me do it. I put in all the money to make the muthafucka, no Koch or nobody came in. It wasn’t no E-40 presents this time, so if I fall on my face then it’s on me. But I didn’t want another label to go in there nonchalant and really not get behind the project and let a muthafucka fumble like ‘Block Tested’ because I think [it] could’ve sold a lot more than it did. People were just like ‘okay well it’s out now’ and I’m like fuck that, I got like 3 or 4 more videos coming from this album because I’m putting my own money into it. I’m having more fun on this one, doing what I want to do and it’s cool being your own boss.

WestCoastRydaz: The Bay Area has always been famous for its independent game, so do you feel like being from there helped you with this release and that 'be your own boss' mentality?

[Click here to listen to Big Rich answer this question]

Big Rich: Absolutely, if I was from another region I wouldn’t have known what to do. I would’ve been sitting there knocking on a major dude’s door trying to get them to put it out. The Bay taught me so much, just with us being so self-sufficient. I still meet artists that need people to bring them to the studio and coach them how to make an album. Man, me and Bailey and all them don’t need none of that, we just get in the studio and we work. We know what to do - we’re seasoned - so when the major label deals do come through I feel like we’ll be ahead of the game. The Bay Area teaches you how to be self-sufficient and if I wasn’t in the Bay Area I wouldn’t have been able to put that album out.

WestCoastRydaz: Staying on the Bay Area topic, you’ve mentioned The Jacka, Bailey, Mistah FAB, etc, and for fans on the outside looking in there seems to be a good amount of networking between the core of rising artists. Is that authentic because you’re all from the Bay and is that something you guys purposely portray?

Big Rich: You know the thing about it, and this is some real shit, I talk to Ya Boy everyday, I talk to FAB when I run into him, I talk to Bailey once in a while. We don’t talk as much as I wish or as much as when we were a group, but on the inside we real close [even though] on the outside I don’t think they see enough of us together. But for me to say that, I don’t know what the reason is. I wouldn’t point no fingers or say anything of that nature, but I just be like ‘why don’t we be together more, or why aint we on tour together or making music or projects together?’ It’s like an unspoken thing that we just don’t know why, which is kinda weird, because we talk all the time but it aint hella music being put out. What’s good about that [though] is that there’s no internal beef, so we can turn that [relationship] into some external public shit that can make some big moves for all of us. And like you said, on the outside it does show that we all cool so I feel like that’s a good thing. You got 4 or 5 different dudes on their own journeys trying to get it, so if y’all have a conversation and say ‘okay lets do this’ and we don’t end up doing it then I just look at it like I just gotta keep it moving. I got a lot more to do. Twenty-four hours a day I’m thinking of different ways to try and make it, but we talk everyday, which is a good start.

WestCoastRydaz: Expanding that unity theme outside the Bay, there seems to be a rise in Bay and LA love going back and forth in the past few years. Artists from both regions networking more, being seen together and things like that. Do you think there’s really been a change or do you think that was always there but the Internet just wasn’t there to cover it?

Big Rich: The Internet did help, but in 2006 when E-40 and the whole Hyphy movement jumped off FAB emerged, Keak got bigger, my album came out. It was kinda like the Bay always been the little brothers in California, it was the big bro LA and it was kinda like the little brothers finally grew up. We finally were starting to make a little bit of noise and a lot of people were like ‘well LA rappers embraced only because we blew up’ but on some real shit we had to grow up. Snoop is a legend, Kurupt, Mack 10 and everybody else down there was already stars. So it took us to step it up a little bit and now we can go down there and holla at the big brothers. I think it’s new, definitely new, but nothing negative it’s all positive. We finally got our weight up a little bit and now we being recognized by them and even more now they starting to put us on. Snoop did a big thing for FAB on that ‘Life of the Party’ joint, that was a big look for him. Glasses Malone works with all of us a lot, all of them, Jay Rock and everybody down there. I just think that we finally grew up and we’re being smart about it, cutting out the division between Northern and Southern Cali and now it’s going to be bigger. The One West movement thing got going on, even when you bring it back home with us, we got the “Giants and Elephants” (Click here to see tour dates) tour that’s gonna kick off October 1st. From the city that’s me, Guce and San Quinn and from Oakland its Keak, J.Stalin, D-Lo and Kafani. That’s gonna be gigantic for us because there’s never been no Oakland and San Francisco tour and we got about 16 dates for that. So the unity is coming together, we just got to keep it consistent in order for us to break this damn drought we been in.

WestCoastRydaz: Speaking of LA, I know you work with a new group out of there called Pro City that just recently dropped a new project with you and 3 Story Music. How did that come about? (Download Big Rich Presents Pro City "All or Nothing" Here.)

Big Rich: Well my sister goes way back with their big homie. Every time we went to LA their big homie J Hayes used to be our LA connect, we’d stay at his house and he’d take us around LA. One time he just called my sister and was like ‘I got this group, they dope, we just want them to meet Rich. It aint no favors or nothing, we just want them to meet him.’ So they came up here and I took them out to dinner and we listened to some music. I was shocked, like you know how Game brought that whole new swag to Southern Cali? Kinda like with the east coast feel and the LA lifestyle, and that’s exactly what they had. So when I heard it I was like ‘okay this is dope, this’ll be good’ but out the gate I didn’t even approach them about bringing them into the company or trying to work with them on that level. I was just doing music with them and we was sending stuff back and forth, because I didn’t know what they had going on down there, LA is a big city and I thought that maybe they was up under something. But they hit me and let me know they were free agents and ready to work so they came back up here for a few months and recorded a whole bunch of stuff, did a lot of that mixtape up here. They rep 3 story gang in LA and hold that down and we got it up here and soon we can get a big label deal and get they shit off the ground totally. Like I told them and everybody on the label, I can’t promise you that you’re gonna be on today but whatever I’m exposed to you’re going to be exposed to. If we on this tour then you on it with me, if we on TV then you’re on TV with me and when they come hand us that deal then we’ll all be on.

[Interview Continued below Music Video]
Big Rich - Money Dance


WestCoastRydaz: You have a new project dropping with Balance this year – “Good as Money” – that has already been gathering anticipation, tell us more about what we can expect with it.

[Click here to listen to Big Rich answer this question]

Big Rich: Me and Balance, I think we are gonna shock a lot of people with the project, we worked on it a long time, for about a year. It’s a perfect 10, its like 14 songs [on the CD], we did about 40 songs for the project [and] it’s crazy from top to bottom. Single after single, we gonna have a whole bunch of singles for this album. I think its dropping October 20th now, I’m sure the feedback is gonna be great for it. It’s our second one, we did an “Unda Dogg Kings” sort of a mixtape with DJ Rick Lee out here and it got good feedback and was a good look. We’re kinda like the odd couple because a lot of people are like ‘Big Rich and Balance? Where did that come from?’ but that’s another one of those [instances of] all of us actually being friends with each other and it’s not always in the public. Me and Balance been tight for like about 10 years and they didn’t know that until we dropped that project, so this one is gonna be great. I gotta give up to Balance because he took the project and really put his stamp on it. He been handling a lot of business on it and I’m proud of dude, he’s been doing his thing, as a CEO he’s more of an artist. That’ll be out October 20 and it’s crazy.

WestCoastRydaz: Dope. Let’s talk about the Internet, which is obviously a huge reality in music today. How has it affected your career, either positively or negatively?

Big Rich: I think the Internet kinda gave us a second wind with the physical shit being so out of it, because CDs barely sell and I think now finally people are starting to stop measuring an albums success based on Soundscans. The digital game is just so great, not just the different media outlets that you can use but stuff like Twitter where you can go directly with the fans and promote. I use Twitter so much, I use it for every project I got going on and we got a good following behind there. Digital distribution is great. I’m signed to INgrooves, a division of Universal out here, a digital distribution company, that whole thing has been great because it cuts the costs down. You don’t have to manufacture your CDs anymore and you can put out projects that are completely on the internet and give people that exclusive feel. It’s really taken the record stores spots and pretty soon everything is gonna be all digital. Sometimes I miss [the old way] because I’m a product of the grind like 98-99 when we had no radio or no internet and we just had to pump that shit and make sure people go in the stores and buy it. We had them cassette tape days and I’m a product of that so I miss that shit sometimes but I’m ready to move forward and I’m excited about this because it doesn’t cost a lot and marketing dollars are so important now a days. What you put out, you gotta watch how much you spend because the same amount of money aint coming back like it used to. But digital you can just upload that shit, get you an album cover and boom blast that shit off to the world.

WestCoastRydaz: You mentioned Twitter, so is that really you up on there and do you use it only for fan interaction and publicity or for fun too?

Big Rich: Yeah that’s definitely me and I do it all. I go on there and we be talking about so much stuff. Me, Ya Boy, Mistah FAB, Balance, Lil Uno from The Pack, we did a big old roasting thing where we was capping each other down. It was crazy because all the fans were going crazy, they couldn’t believe that all these rappers, quote unquote, were on there just getting on each other’s head. I use it for entertainment, for networking and for just talking to the fans. Because everybody is paying attention to it right now, you get that instant feedback quicker than sending something out on MySpace, which is dying now and Facebook is more of a personal catching up with your high school friends type thing, but on Twitter I can send out a song and get 5000 downloads in an hour and then get feedback from them 5000 people. It’s like instant gratification there for me. It’s an important tool and I keep it on my sidekick all day and I just walk around and I be tweeting while I do whatever, so it’s a cool thing. This is just another example of how the Internet is so powerful, because everyone is paying attention to their Twitter right now, so you got everybody’s attention. I mean everybody got a MySpace, but how many people really check it everyday? Twitter is just right there for you everyday when they wanna see what’s new.

WestCoastRydaz: Do you try and read as many of the tweets directed as you as possible?

Big Rich: I try and respond to a lot of the tweets, I get em all day, I read all of em for sure and I try to respond to all of them but it be harder on this damn sidekick. But when I get to the laptop I mess with it all the time and it’s cool because they be excited when you respond back, so I definitely try and get at all the people, even though I can’t necessarily get to all of them.

WestCoastRydaz: Okay, that’s what’s up. Before we go, let everyone know where they can cop the new album “Heart of the City” either online or in stores.

Big Rich: Of course it’s on RapBay.com and all them websites, but mostly just hit up iTunes, its all over iTunes. You can buy the videos, the singles, the ringtones, the album. The album is in Rasputins, Dimples out there in Sacramento, it’s in Amoeba down in LA, Amoeba out here, more like the mid-level mom and pops. It’s all over the internet though, Amazon, CDBaby or you can go to BigRichMusic.blogspot.com to download all my mixtapes and stuff for free, “Get Down or Lay Down 1 & 2”, part 3 will be out soon. Me and San Quinn are finalizing our group album called “City Situation” that’ll be out in December. The big thing is the “International Rich” project that’ll be out next year, that’s "Heart of the City" and "Block Tested" wrapped into one and put on steroids. It’s a complete concept album and it’s like a movie from top to bottom. I don’t wanna reveal too much yet but you’ll all know what I’m saying pretty soon when I start leaking some singles off of there, but that’s next year.

WestCoastRydaz: Aside from buying and supporting your music, are you going to be doing any shows for the fans to come out to?

Big Rich: We got the “Giants and Elephants” tour in October and November and then in December we gonna drop the Big Rich and San Quinn project, do a lot of media for that and it’s gonna be a good thing for the city. It’s gonna be kinda like we did for the “SF Anthem” but we’re paying a lot more attention the music and it’s just me and him on the songs, not a big group project. The Balance record will be out on October 20 and we’ll be out on the road from Seattle to Phoenix for the next two months. Everywhere from Seattle, Portland, down to Eureka, the whole Bay Area, Modesto and all that then LA and then San Diego and then Phoenix.

WestCoastRydaz: Thanks for taking the time out to chop it up with us, we appreciate it. Let everyone know where they can find you online.

Big Rich: Twitter.com/FillmoreRich3, Myspace.com/BigRich, BigRichMusic.blogspot.com and send beats to bigrichbeats@gmail.com. Shad Gee’s project “It’s Real Part 2” will be in October. We got a whole gang of people so come get us on the MySpace and Twitter, follow us and get into the 3 story world.

_ _ _
Chuuch.

-BIGWILL