When people think of rappers, the most common association is luxury cars, hoes and clothes. For Strange Music rapper Big Scoob, the reality of the industry lacked the glamour that it’s tacit recruitment videos would suggest.
The gravelly voiced rapper became so disenchanted with the industry in fact, that he stepped away from making music to focus on his home life, namely providing for his four daughters. But like any real MC, the booth was the Kansas City native’s therapy couch. And with Strange Music rhymer-in-chief Tech N9ne’s popularity bigger than ever, the former 57th Street Rogue Dog Villain took the opportunity to embrace the catharsis that came from his pen and step back in the booth to record his new album H.O.G. (Hand of God), which dropped over the weekend (Nov. 4).
“Coming back was needed. I have years of thoughts on my mind and I’m going through some shit right now as I’m getting older trying to figure out my purpose in life,” Scoob tells HipHopDX in an exclusive conversation. “With that being said I need to get old thoughts out my brain so I can move forward. Music is like a cleanse. I get to go in the booth and say what I’m thinking say what’s been bothering me, put it to a rhythm and get it out to hundreds of thousands of people that maybe can relate to it with what they’re going through,” he added.
AD LOADING...
Part of that cleanse came in the form of one of H.O.G.’s standout tracks “Here 2day Gone 2morro,” featuring Bakarii. Scoob calls the song one of the most personal on the album not just for the big man himself but also for Bakarii.
“Mr. Whitebear’s [Bakarii] big brother was murdered at an Ice Cube concert on some different neighborhood type shit. We was kids and that was the first time for me growing up that shit was real and he’s on the song with me so when he’s talking I know where he’s drawing his energy from and I know how real the song is to us,” revealed Scoob.
As a whole, H.O.G. is a bookmark in a very personal journey for the imposing rhymer, and one in which he’s still trying to figure out his purpose, not just in Hip Hop but in life.
AD LOADING...
“Hand of God means a lot of things but in this particular case it means there has to be a reason I’m coming back to music, there has to be a reason I’m still alive and not in jail. God has to have his hand in this process,” the “Real Cocky” rapper explained. “I speak at these boys homes for troubled youth. I try to tell them right from wrong. Everybody wants to be a rapper. It used to be everybody wanted to play sports now everybody wants to be a rapper. People are misinformed. I try to tell them it’s a job that doesn’t pay too well.”
Scoob still harbors some of that frustration that led him to take a hiatus from Hip Hip, but with Strange Music solidifying their spot as one of the top independent empires in the world, Scoob is looking to make the most of his God-given gift of gab.
“I’m not too popular in music so I figured maybe if I come back to this music when Tech’s at the height of his career, maybe I can get a little popular and God will make these youngsters listen to me more,” he noted, while also acknowledging that his pride and privacy got in his way at times. “Everybody wondered what’s going on in my life but I’m a private person I handle my own issues. The way I am…my ego…I don’t really ask for help.”
AD LOADING...
Scoob continued, “I’ve always had fame with music. I’ve always been able to do what I wanna do with music, but I’ve never made a great living with music. I have four daughters, I have a wife; I got a mother that I gotta take care of so just muthafuckas knowing my face and wanting to take pictures with me is not enough. I gotta figure out how to connect the dots and make this shit pay me to have a great living from it also,” he lamented, noting that with every challenge there is a great opportunity.
Call It A Comeback: Big Scoob started to prep for his next release via last year’s Strangeulation Vol. 2.
“God must have his hand on me for a reason and I’m trying to figure out what that reason is and that’s why I’m back.”
AD LOADING...
Big Scoob’s Hand of God is currently available on iTunes and Apple Music courtesy of Strange Music.
