Huggie B.
By
Dub G.
If you’ve ever had a
chance to visit the
Mississippi gulf coast,
you already know that
the casinos are the main
attraction in that area.
Even though the
Mississippi gulf coast
isn’t known for it’s hip -
hop music, the area is
bursting with musical tal-
ent. I had the opportunity
to meet a well known
artist from the coast. He
goes by the name,
Huggie B. After meeting,
talking, and getting a
chance to hear Huggie's
music, I was soon to
realized that I almost missed the chance to hear this great tal
ent. I hope that you will, like I have , take this opportunity to
learn more about the man, the artist, Huggie B. and his "Grown
Man Music".
Np:Whats going on Huggie? HB : Not much.... chillin. Np:Tell us
about Huggie, the artist ? HB: Well, I'm native of Columbia,
Misssippi. I later moved to Bogalusa, Louisiana, where I started my
music career. Then I moved back to Mississippi to continue with my
music. I’m doing what I love to do. Np: How long have you've
been rapping ? HB:Man I've been rapping since the age of 15.
Np:Living in Louisiana and being so close to it, in Mississippi,
did the Louisiana area have any influence on your sound?
HB: Nah, because I spent a lot of time in Los Angeles, California
and other places. And because of my travels, I'm inf luenced by a lot
of different places. Thats what makes up my sound. I wasn't into just
one sound. Np:Speaking of sound, I keep hearing your music
referred to as grown folk music. Elaborate on that ? HB: You
know, I just do a little something that will reach everybody. I want
everybody to pick up the album and f ind something they really like. I
did some old school remakes on the album. I did some crunk stuff.
And I also did some mid-tempo music. Ya know ? Something to ride
to. We tried to put together a good overall album. Because I'm not a
one dimensional kat. I'm very versatile with all types of music. I like
to put a little comedy in some of my music. Mostly, I like to do real
day to day stuff that I'm dealing with, and going through.
NP:I hear that your a producer too ? HB: A monster of one too!
NP:What gives you the drive to produce and write. Because
thats not an easy thing to do, for some ? HB: Well, I started off
in the band. Like, since the 5th grade. I was in the band for about
7yrs. I was always into music. When I got out of school, I traded my
saxophone in for a drum machine. I never learned how to use it,
because it didn't have a book in it. NP: So how d id you learn how
to produce? And also, by knowing how to read musical notes,
was it easier to learn how to produce? HB:For the 1st question, I
purchased a keyboard ( an Xp-80) and stayed in the house with it,
for like six months, with the book and highlighter pen learning how
to use it. Then I started making my own tracks on it. I feel I got bet -
ter with time. Spending hours on top of hours on it practicing. As far
as your 2nd question, yeah, because it helps you know how to keep
things in key, and all the different aspect of time signature.
Because a lot of kats I dealt with in the past, didn't know what 8 bars
or 16 bars was. But, by me being in the band, I know bars and the
note scale, and I know if somethings off key or not. NP: Did you
produce the majority of your album, or d id you call in others?
HB: I produced the my 1st album, Money Talks, which I recorded in
Lousiana at Westwego. I had someone do the arranging for me. Np:
How many albums do you have total? HB: I have a total of 4.
They are: Money Talks, Money 2 Burn, Shinnin and Grindin, and
The Bently Boyz (crew album), and my new album I dropped on the
24th of June. NP: Do have any deals in the works? HB: We're
talking to a couple of majors now. But the deals ain't noting
to jump at. So we're out here steady grinding. Our album will be
available through Selecto-Hits. It will have retail distribution.
Np:How hard is it being Independent? HB: I t’s real hard. But
when u have hot a product, a perfect package, and when people
hear the quality, they will buy it. It's hard, but you can sell.
Np: How do people outside your area perceive your music?
HB:They love it. When we're in other places and when we let other
people hear it, they love it. It's something new to their ears. We
don't really have a problem selling it. Even though a lot of times
they haven't heard of u, they don't want to buy it, but thats the
reason we hit spots like we do. Putting out f lats, posters, and
giveaways. So when we do come back, they recognize and they
buy. NP: Being from Mississippi, do you think David Banner’s
success opened doors for other artist in the state, or did it
not affect anything at all? HB: I don't think it affected anything.
Even though he's from Mississippi, he’s doing his thing, in his own
way. It’s like, we all have to get out here and grind our own way,. We
cant expect, just because one person got lucky with his thing, that
we can wait and jump on his back. We got to do our own thing, and
hope that the same can happen for us. Banner usually can’t speak
for Mississippi. Banner just doing his own thing. There's a whole lot
of kats in Mississippi that are just as tight or tighter than Banner. But,
by him having that grind and that hustle, his music got to the public
first. NP: Do you thinks it’s on the labels or artist these days -
when they blow today and are gone tomorrow ? HB: I think its
on the artists. Because if you don't make music with longevity in
mind, there's no way your gonna last. Like you was saying, grown folk
music. We make something for everybody. We don’t just make
all crunk music. Because all crunk music will play out. We don't just
make all laid back music. Because not everybody wanna be laid
back. But, when you make a combination of all of it, you add on to
your longevity. NP:Whats next for Huggie B? HB: My plan right
now, is to blow this Bently Boys things out of proportion. Because I
got a hot group. Consisting of: me, Ricky B, Mississippi Fatz, and
Spark Plug. We just added him on. That’s vol. one. It dropped on
the 24th of June. Vol. 2 is 3 times hotter. I got Kamikaze on the
first single on that album. NP: Any last comments? HB:Log on the
web(www.bignutrecords.com) or go get this album. Go inside my
mind and the Bently Boys’ minds. We're coming with the real -
ness. We're hungry for this, and we're beast on th streets with this
music. We wanna make sure everybody gets this.
www.bignutrecords.com
