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By Nick Blair

After a few years of fluctuating success and failure of solo UK rap artists, UK hip hop fans now have someone to be thankful for – 22-year-old Bigz. The latest in a long line of talented emerging artists, Bigz is quite clearly (no pun intended) going to be big.

Currently six tracks deep into his debut album ‘Street Commentary’, the London-born rapper Bigz has released two mixtapes. The first sold out all of its printed copies. To get round this, the second was a download only mixtape; 3,000 were downloaded in one week, subsequently crashing the server - twice.

His first single, ‘Cor Blimey’, was all over MTV, Channel U and BBC 1Xtra, yet Bigz claims he did not actually intend this success. “It was just a warm up single and it went a lot bigger than it was supposed to,” he says. His follow up single, ‘This Is How We Do’, also made the 1Xtra and Choice FM playlists.

You may think that by his age Bigz has simply rocketed to success overnight. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite: Bigz has been rapping since he was about eight or nine, but it was when he turned 10 things started hotting up for the young emcee. “Even though we weren’t in the industry, rap is a big thing where I’m from,” he tells. “At a certain time, they’ll be 30 or 40 people outside the block and we hear another guy is hot and we tell him to come through and we have rap contests.”

But what makes Bigz any different to all the other great London rappers which we are fortunate to have at our aural disposal? “I know about life’s troubles, and, coming from the streets which I have done, I’ve done certain illegal things to survive - but I’ve actually done them,” he explains.

One of five kids raised by a single mother, Bigz went to school in a different borough, protecting his younger brother whilst trying to provide for his family. Although he has no regrets, Bigz isn’t proud of his felonies and tried as hard as he could to turn legal as soon as possible. “I turned my money legitimate when I found music. I’d made money off the streets and done what I had to do. I didn’t make money and choose to keep on making it badly. I wanted to turn legitimate and become who I am now,” the rapper says.

Bigz debut album, due out in September, is titled ‘Street Commentary’. “’Street Commentary’ is basically me, basically where I’m coming from,” he describes. “I’m telling people my story and where I’m from; what we’ve done and how we’ve got here, and different experiences I’ve had which other people might have gone through – a man from the streets giving his commentary on the violence and the whereabouts he’s come from.”

The remix of Taz’s ‘Cowboy Film’ was the track that really got Bigz’ name out there, and it was after this release that he started to really take rapping seriously as a career. “With that release [‘Cowboy Film’], I came on a par with certain people who were signed or due to be signed at the time, and none of them had worked particularly better than me,” tells Bigz. “I just thought, right, maybe it’s time to take it seriously; I was given a gateway and I just walked through it, and music has always been my love.” He continued, “I was a fan of music before and I’m a fan of music now. So I thought why not? It’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”

Whatever happened, Bigz believed that he would always be in the music industry. “No lie, I think I would be doing regardless because it’s my first love. I don’t think there is anybody in this world that I could spit for, if they owned a record label, and they wouldn’t want to sign me. I still believe that now, and that’s what I believed then. I was emotionally distraught at a certain time because certain things weren’t going well for me.”

Bigz’ debut LP is already in the works, and features big name producers such as Parabeats, Black Smoke, Kaos and Siarysus. “You’ve got a lot to be excited about,” says the big man. “We’re fusing a lot of different genres of music. We got heavy metal influences there, we got R&B influences, you can look forward to some very, very, very good music!”

Mainstream success is something Bigz definitely strives for. “I can’t say it’s not – an idiot would say it’s not,” he comments. “It’s definitely something I would like, and I’ve got the songs to do it.” Upon being asked what he would like to achieve this year, Bigz confidently responds: “It’s not what I would like to achieve, it’s what will be achieved – there will be a highly anticipated album out and Bigz will be a household name.”

Also a business man, Bigz is the co-founder of label Alliance Records, which co-released Sway’s debut ‘This Is My Demo’. Bigz’ on debut will also be released on Alliance. With an album project in the pipeline and “a bunch of press” to do, Bigz is currently a very busy man. “A day in the life of Bigz is hard work,” he says, bringing the interview to a close.
The charismatic, hardworking youngster looks set to explode in 2006, so keep your eyes on Bigz as he takes over the airwaves…

Bigz will be repackaging and re-releasing his two mixtapes as a double pack entitled, ‘The Best Of The Big-Inning: The Story So Far’ this February 27th 2006. You can also catch him in his own slot on BBC Radio One on February 25th in aid of the double package mixtape.

For more information, visit www.bigz.co.uk.