Big Piph
Interview conducted on March 28, 2023
By Dan Locke
What is your upbringing?
I was raised in the small southern city of Pine Bluff, AR. My parents were imports from NYC and Cleveland who maintained that we see the vastness life has to offer. So I had the rural city life and trips that expanded my mind and possibilities.
How did you discover music?
My parents were always spinning Motown and Stax, so it was there as long as I can remember. My older sister, Kiisha, reminds me all the time how we used to write horrible songs as well. Throw in a heavy church background and being forced in choir and I guess I was well rounded.
How did you start to write music?
Rap came into my life later through 8Ball & MJG. I had no aspirations, but my friends did. So every now and again, I’d write songs with them just for fun.
Describe your music.
I think every artists feels their unique, and I’m no different. I just write about my life and attempt to put it in to music the way it feels best.
Now with that said, I think I have a flow that is rooted more in the east coast with music that has more southern sensibilities. Also, since I play with a band often, live instrumentation comes into play.
What was your first performance like?
Oh, it wasn’t good at all. The first time I tapped intentionally as a performer was at some youth convention where the kids could care less. I believe the mic was attached to a podium so I had to “politician” it. Nah. It wasn’t good.
Royalties never appear like magic. Royalties are only sent to you through work undertaken by a PRO to ensure that their members are getting paid. If you’re not yet signed up to a Performing Right Organization like ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, you may not be receiving all the royalties you deserve.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP ?
Yes. I’m part of ASCAP.
What makes a good songwriter?
All through the song until the end, does the listener feel the way you intended them to. Forget all else, but to me it succeeds, if they have that needed feeling.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
I don’t even know if it had a name. I definitely didn’t record it, but still can remember some lyrics.
What is the process of writing your music?
Nowadays I do more Co-Production. So I tend to link with my long term producer Ferocious and we start by talking about ideas, themes, or feelings. Then we match that to possible instrumentation and beging building. Sometimes I already have a hook worked out and then he builds around that.
After that, I’ll usually take the skeleton and begin to write to it. For my newer music, I establish a flow first on my personal recording setup and then add lyrics later. We then connect, record, and he builds around my lyrics. We then being in anymore else who is needed from vocalists to musicians.
On the flip, when I connect with other producer’s like Apollo, he tend to have his production laid out and I just add lyrics to it. .
Five years ago you called CELEBRATE your final album. Has that changed?
Great research, but yes it changes. At the time I just didn’t feel I wanted to make a larger body of musical work. I always still planned to create music, but just not in album format. However, since then I’ve been inspired to do so again.
What was the suitcase sessions?
I was contacted by a friend of a friend for a new series he was doing. I believe the concept was each song wld include a suitcase. Real simple. I ended up being a part of it..
Tell me about your web series?
It’s a mockumentary series based around aspects of my life. However, it really more so for anyone who is successful in life, but still feels there should be more to it. It’s a humorous series with dramatic beats as I want to get more in to film and TV.
What are you feeling about streaming music?
Times change and the use of technology often forces that hand. I try not to hold on tightly to something I can’t change, so I just rolled with it. However, this doesn’t mean I don’t long for the days of physical sales and opening albums fr my favorite artists to listen. The numbers changed financially, which means I have to adjust too.
The symbol # is known as the number sign, hash, pound sign and a sharp sign in music. The symbol has historically been used for a wide range of purposes Since 2007, widespread usage of the symbol to introduce metadata tags on social media platforms has led to such tags being known as “hashtags”, and from that, the symbol itself is sometimes called a hashtag.
Are people forgetting that the # is a part of music?
Maybe the mass public is, but not musicians. Musicians know and know how to use it. I think that’s most important.
Digital vs. vinyl?
I’ll gor vinyl for sound and memorabilia. Digital for ease of use.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
Real Love by Mary J. I always thi k of the choreography with the knee pads. It always energizes me and makes me wanna mimic the best with my mouth.
Is pay to play still a thing? Now pay to play also means things like a playlist on the internet and opening slots for a major band on tour.
It definitely is. It’s the not so kept secret.
The show Star Trek introduced people to the holodeck: an immersive, realistic 3D holographic projection of a complete environment that you could interact with.
Today holograms are already being used in a variety of way, such as medical systems, education, art, security and defense.
Performers like Tupac, Michael Jackson, Roy Orbison, Frank Zappa, Elvis Presley, Amy Winehouse, Buddy Holly, Ronnie James Dio, Marylin Monroe, and Whitney Houston have done it already. The band ABBA just announced that they will be doing a comeback together after nearly 40 years as holograms on their next tour. With ABBA it was with the help of George Lucas .
If the cost was down to the point you could do it also, would you be willing to do Holographic concerts in our living room?
I like creating experiences. So, if my team and I could think of an experience that best exploits this technology, not just because it exists, then I’d be down.
In the past if a musician stop doing music they find a new career. For example David Lee Roth from Van Halen became a licensed EMT in NY for 6 years, San Spitz (guitarist for Anthrax) became a master watchmaker, Dee Snider (Twister Sister) voice over work for SpongeBob SquarePants.. If you can’t do music what would you like to be doing?
Very cool examples. So if I had to do something else? I’d be a write for TV shows and movies, with a backup plan for that designing amusement park rides.
What is your happy place?
I’ll go with places of peace. They tend to be walks in nature or low key environments.
Red Hot Chili Peppers are about to sell their entire song catalog for $140 Million. In the past year a lot of musicians such as Stevie Nicks ($100 Million) , Bob Dylan (over $400 Million), Taylor Swift, Journey, Def Leppard, K.T. Tunstall, John Legend, ZZ Top and Shakira have sold their catalog rights within the last year. Bob Dylan sold his entire catalog for a reported $300 million. Neil Young song 50 percent of his worldwide copyright and income interest in his 1,180 song catalogue to Hipnosis Songs Fund limited . Once you get to the age of about 70. Publishing is far more lucrative then the mechanical royalties paid to artist based on sales, airplay and streams. A good example of this is Michael Jackson brought the rights to the Beatles catalog in 1985. And in the late 80’s the Beatles Revolution appeared in a Nike commercial.
The lump sums being offering by publishing firms are more tax friendly concerning estate planning.
Someone who was totally against selling his rights was David Crosby. He did not want to sell his publishing rights. In addition, it was not an easy thing for him to do. However, by making a deal with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group, it took a big weight off his shoulders. He could pay off his house and cover other bills. Now he does not have to work for a living. It should be noted that David is battling tendinitis in his hands, which hurts his ability to play guitar.
Do you think you would be willing to sale your back catalog if someone like Universal is will to buy everything, such as all the rights to all your songs?
I would be willing to consider it. Much if it would depend on my point of life and doing an intense evaluation of the numbers and long term ramifications of each. But yes. It’s a possibility.
There are many platforms out there that allow artists to get their music heard. Artist Republik, DistroKid, Tunecore & plenty others offer distribution services. These services enable independent artists to put their music on some of the most popular streaming services globally, from Spotify to Apple Music & everything in between. If you’ve been in any part of the music industry in recent years, you probably know someone that has distributed a song.
Spotify reports that in 2021 there are about 8 million artists on the platform. Of those 8 million artists, about 57,000 are raking in a whopping 90% of the total revenue from streams. That means that .71% of the artists on Spotify are making good money. In 2020, there was a total of around $5 billion paid out to artists on the Spotify platform alone.
Therefore it’s reasonable to assume that, by the end of 2021, SPOT will be home to over 90 million tracks. And that in the early part of next year, it will surpass a catalog of 100 million for the first time.
What do you think that could mean to independent artists?
That we continue and increasingly not depend on streaming to be our main revenue stream or the indicator that defined us. We’re seeing several artists in different genres choosing to stay indie and seemingly finding financial success but having a sincere core audience who support with their dollars. We have to not ignore Spotify and the like, but remember we’re having to be entrepreneurs as well.
Over half a billion active users around the world share their favorite music on TikTok either with something like a dance challenge and lip-sync videos or creating a funny skit or candid camera moment.
TikTok has become a great platform for music promotion, sharing songs, and finding new listeners. In which it has become a place for music artists to earn revenue when people use their music. In many cases the daily promotion on TikTok has led to huge boosts on other platforms like Spotify, Facebook and YouTube.
TikTok does this algorithmically generating a feed of content for each user, which you see as the displaying of #. The more a user engages with content, the smarter TikTok gets at guessing what kind of videos the viewer wants to watch.
Because a song can go viral because of this.
Sony Music and Warner Music Group- , The ByteDance-owned video app revealed that it has struck an “expanded” global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group. Now that TikTok is now fully licensed by all three major record companies, will you start using TikTok more?
I’m actually just going to begin using Tik Tok. I was reluctant, but now it makes sense for my musical campaigns.
Breaking news: TikTok is launching TikTok Radio, a full-time SiriusXM music channel going live this summer.The station will be available in vehicles and as a streaming channel on the SiriusXM App, desktop, and all connected devices.
Some of the on TikTok include Cassyette, YukoEXE, Ashinikko, Palaye Royale, Josh Dun (Twenty One Pilots), Yungblud, Morrissey, Ozzy Osbourne, Joan Jett, Gene Simmons, and Mick Jagger.
The station will be part of a new TikTok collaboration with SiriusXM and its subsidiary,Pandora, to jointly promote emerging talent. Do you think this platform could became a force in the future of streaming music?
First off, this is such an informative interview. Thank you.
To answer, I’ll say possibly. We all know the record business is a a machine and a beast. However we know it can be changed greatly by innovation, will, and resources. I think they need the right team in order to make this a success. Just because they have influence on music because of their platform, doesn’t mean this directly translates to them being a streaming powerhouse
Anything you would like to say in closing.
Just thank you for this interview really. I can be found at all things ” Big Piph”, bit more so, great questions that I enjoyed thinking about. Hope you and other folks enjoy the music.
