Big KRIT Talks New Album, Being Boo’ed In NY, His One Vice, Religion & Trayvon Martin

Mississippi rapper Big K.R.I.T is gaining widespread popularity, swiftly. Prior to his Silver Spring Show at the Fillmore, we chatted with him about what life is like now that he’s gained more popularity. Thus far, he has released several mixtapes and his song “Country Sh*t” has become a huge hit. Now he’s working on his debut album, “Live from the Underground,” which is scheduled for release on June 5th. Besides stressing that his style is an “Every Day Style” and reminding us to check out his college campus tour with J.Cole, Big Krit also gave us some details on his album, who influences him, how it feels to be gaining popularity, the Trayvon Martin case, how he deals with criticism, and more. Peep some excerpts.

On if he feels like he has to make his music more mainstream, now that he’s grown in popularity:

“I don’t think so. I think that as long as I make music that reflects who I am as an individual… I try to take advantage of being able to get live instrumentation to make my music sound bigger, but I don’t necessarily have to try to make a mainstream project or a mainstream song. Just being myself, over time people will hear the music, and enough people will be aware of the music that it will be considered mainstream anyway. ‘Country Shit’ was a record that I was told was regional, but it grew so much that now it’s a mainstream song. That record was out 2 years before masses heard it. So I think as long as I be myself, I’ll be fine.”

On his album:

“My album is coming out June 5th. B.B King is featured on my album. Big Show, my partner from Mississippi is on the album. ‘Money on the Floor’ featuring 8Ball, MJG, and 2Chainz; Anthony Hamilton is on the project; Bun B; UGK. So I’m excited about it… I still want to do a few more records. It’s finished, but I’m the type of person that wants to keep working.”

On how other Southern rappers influence him:

“David Banner is like my big brother, just because he’s one of the people from where I’m from who was able to prove himself on a production level, and on a rapping level, and understood publishing, and paper work, and being in control of his project. Also T.I, Ludacris, Bun B… being able to talk to all these OGs that put me up on game, and are willing to let me know about stuff they went through so I won’t go through it. All that is important.”

On how he’d define his music:

“Southern, gritty, honest. Honesty is extremely important. Definitely timeless is what I’m going for. Sample bass, but with a swing of it’s own, 808s, definitely organic sounding, traditional sounding for Southern Hip Hop.”

On the biggest change he’s had to make, since becoming more popular:

“I like to let people know that I’m human. We go through a lot, especially after shows, and I don’t mind interacting with the people. I want them to know that I’m there for them and I appreciate the support but every so often I don’t have enough time. So my biggest adjustment is not being able to talk to everybody, and take pictures with everybody. I have to be on the move, praying that they understand that I gotta go. But sometimes they don’t, and I have to deal with their reaction to that.”

On the Trayvon Martin case:

“It should never become one of those situations that’s just like ‘oh, that happens all the time’. That should always be a surprising situation. You would like to think that it’s 2012 and people will understand that a hoodie doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a criminal; your skin doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a criminal. It’s sad that that kind of situation is still happening right now. You never want to use violence against violence, but you have to own up to what you do. [Trayvon] wasn’t doing anything to anybody; you can’t just, immediately, think that somebody’s up to no good. I read about a woman who’s gonna do some time for whooping her child, but we don’t even know if [Zimmerman] is gonna do some time for gunning somebody down in the street. I’m glad that people are speaking out about this, this type of stuff happens all the time. In the South, yes it hapens, but it happens all over the world. People have to really start praying.”

On the role religion plays in his life:

“I’m an extremely spiritual person, my grandmother is extremely spiritual. I carry that in my music, in my life. I [use it to] deal with my vices… I drink a lot and I go to strip clubs and things of that nature. I stopped smoking, because getting high is not for me. But I enjoy alcohol.”

On how he deals with criticism:

“I’ve been booed before. I told them I appreciate the opportunity to be in front of them. I was in New York, I’m from Mississippi, rapping my Country Shit. But even though people were booing, I was like, ‘Man, this is exciting, I don’t care, thank you for this opportunity.’ And we turned the crowd around.”

On what he wants his legacy to be:

“That I made timeless music, that I stayed true to myself, and I made music that people could relate to.”

Follow him at @BigKRIT

Audio

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Performance Footage, Beats & Ballads:

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