On Friday, Aug. 22, the Dallas rapper will release I Hope You’re Happy, a country-inspired hip-hop album featuring Darius Rucker, JellyRoll, Bailey Zimmerman, Ella Langley, Luke Combs, Shaboozey, Ink, Tucker Wetmore and Thomas Rhett.
BigX has done interviews with Apple Music, Real 92.3 LA with Big Boy, Complex, Billboard and The New York Times. Drake and Beyoncé have co-signed BigX, helping to promote his album and extend his fanbase to new listeners. He’s been all over our social media feeds, where his best soundbites have been clipped as teasers to watch the full interview.
We spent some time diving into all of them, pulling out the best quotes on what you can anticipate when he shares the album on Friday. Some interesting facts were that he initially intended to make a mixtape, but writing out his feelings about a breakup and the different stages one goes through led to it becoming an album. It was originally called Not Just Country. At first, there were no plans to make a country project after he accidentally slipped that he was making one during a Billboard interview.
But after sharing the names of country artists he was going to collaborate with on songs, interest piqued and the intention was set. And now, I Hope You’re Happy is coming soon.
Here are 10 things we learned about I Hope You’re Happy.
BigXThaPlug Wants to Express Himself as an Artist Through Genre Bending
“I actually went into it with a different mindset. I was going into it just trying to show that I was not just a hip-hop artist. I was trying to show that I was just an overall artist. I could do anything. But in the process of me doing it, I started going through a breakup. And when I first stepped into country [music], I asked a lot of country people, like, 'What does country mean?' And they all told me 'heartbreak and whiskey.'“Overall, I'm just trying to show that I'm an artist. I feel like the way I'm doing it, with me showing my raw emotions and me being in the genres, is going to show I'm an artist, but I'm also trying to bridge the gaps. Because, at the end of the day, this is all music, and I feel like anybody should be able to make anything, especially if they can do it.” - BigXThaPlug on BigBoyTV
BigXThaPlug’s “Texas” Broke Down Barriers for Him
“I dropped a song called ‘Texas’ maybe like three-four years ago, and it just kind of broke down a lot of barriers for me that I didn't even know. Like it made a lot of people love me that I didn't think would love me. I dropped ‘Texas’ and that brought out the Morgan Wallens and the Luke Combs calling me their favorite rapper. So that definitely had to do with the ‘Texas’ song. It it broke down everything for me.“There was Luke Combs was doing interviews saying BigXThaPlug is my favorite rap artist. Morgan Wallen came to one of my shows. I was in Arkansas. Kevin Gates, he came to my show, then told me, ‘Hey, you're my favorite artist.’ But when those guys told me that, I was like, ‘Okay, maybe I'm I'm doing something different here.’” - BigXThaPlug on Complex News
BigXThaPlug Is Expecting a Mixed Reaction to His Country Album
"I'm a drop the country project and a lot of people will love it. But I feel like a lot of people are not going to like it. I'm ready to see the response from everybody because I feel like it is going to be good, but it is also going to be bad. Even though times are different, times are still times. The country people can be like, 'Nah, this is not country music.' And then some fans are quick to leave. So I just dropped 'The Largest,' they might all be here right now. But when I drop this country project, where they gotta sit down and listen, they might leave. It's a risk." - BigXThaPlug on Complex News@bigxthaplug_ HELL AT NIGHT ❤️🩹 OUT NOW
♬ Hell At Night (feat. Ella Langley) - BigXthaPlug & Ella Langley
BigXThaPlug Loves Country Because the Artists Are United
“I feel like country artists are way more united than any other category. I go to Tennessee, you're going to see at least seven country artists in a room together. Whether it's just drinking, whether it's smoking, you go to a concert, you're not going to see that at a rap concert. Everybody's gonna be split up by themselves. Everybody is going to be split up by themselves unless they really just mess with that person. So for me to come over here and see that they were way more united. I’m very family-oriented. So, Ella Langley held my baby. No offense, I’ve yet to have any rapper hold my baby. Shaboozey held my daughter. I don't let people hold my kids.” - BigXThaPlug on Complex News BigXThaPlug Gives Credit to HalfPintFilmz for Helping Him With Exposure
“It's two significant points in my career. If we go all the way to the beginning. A lot of people try to take the credit from him, but it was a videographer named HalfPintFilmz. He was the biggest videographer in the South. He was shooting for everybody and he kind of was on a decline and so he started doing little music reviews and that's how I got signed. That's how I got my first distribution deal. He did a music review. I won the music review. He shot me a free video. That video did a million in like two to three weeks. So boom. And after that, he shot every video for me for free. And posted on his YouTube channel that had over a million subscribers. So he was giving me free exposure just cuz he messed with me as a person.”“And then so that was the first one. The second one I'm going to have to give it to my A&R. My A&R, he would call me all the time. Like before he signed me, he was calling me, ‘Hey man, we really want you.’ One day he called me and I was just like, ‘Man, I got to go to a birthday party.’ ‘Cause he was trying to come see me. I got to go to my little cousin's birthday party. I said, ‘Chuck-E-Cheese, if you trying to talk to me, you got to come here.’ ‘Cause at this point, I'm talking to a bunch of other labels. That man hopped on the flight and came to Chuck-E-Cheese. He met all of my family. And from right then, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, he got it.’ ‘Cause nobody else did that. Nobody. Everybody was talking a good game. Everybody could fly me to them. This man came to Chuck-E-Cheese in Dallas, Texas, and ate a slice of pizza.” - BigXThaPlug on Complex News
@applemusic @BigXthaPlug and @Tuck ♬ original sound - Apple Music
BigXThaPlug Explains Why Morgan Wallen Isn’t on the Album
“Morgan Wallen actually didn't make the project. Morgan Wallen was actually supposed to be where Bailey Zimmerman was. So, he was supposed to be on the ‘All the Way song.’ He had some stuff happen at the time. it just wasn't the right time for him or you know so Bailey Zimmerman ended up making the cut for that and it kind of is like a good thing that it did because if I would have did that song with Morgan Wallen it would have still went crazy, might even went crazier than what it did but it wouldn't have went crazy because of me. Morgan Wallen is one of the biggest country artists in the world. So that kind of would have been more on his shoulders than it was mine. So, I kind of feel like with me and Bailey doing it together, it equaled out. We helped each other. We got to see each other rise from that song.” - BigXThaPlug on Billboard NewsBigXThaPlug Explains Why Post Malone Isn't Featured
“Post Malone. I sat in the studio so many times with Post Malone, but I understand because he's on this Big Ass Stadium Tour. I popped out a couple of dates for him, and now he's overseas doing the same tour. So, he just been busy nonstop, but you never know if there's a deluxe coming out with those guys on there. So, can't just hang it up just yet.” - BigXThaPlug on Billboard News@officialjellyroll SURPRISE @BigXthaPlug ♬ Box Me Up (feat. Jelly Roll) - BigXthaPlug & Jelly Roll
BigXThaPlug Says JellyRoll Is the Country Version of Him
“JellyRoll is the country version of me. A lot of people said that before me and him met, and then once we finally met, I was like, ‘Okay I see what they say. I see from all the tattoos to the way he moves to how he talks and how he is with his team. we're the same guys just in different bodies. I actually had him on two songs. I had him on an original song. We were doing a show with Post Malone in Detroit. He pulled me to the side before I went on and was like, ‘Hey, I like the song that we got, but I want to go deeper. We can keep that song, but I want to go deeper. I want to go more soul with you.’ And I was like, ‘Bet, say less.’ And we left. And maybe a couple of days later, we sent him something else. And it was just 10 times harder than what we already had. Instead of just keeping him on both songs, I put him on the better song. And we found somebody else for the other one. But JellyRoll is a great guy. Definitely a version of me.” - BigXThaPlug on Billboard NewsBigXThaPlug Has Worked on This Album for Over a Year
“We've probably been doing this country project for maybe a year and a half. Take Care took six months. I've never, ever spent that long on a project. For one, hip-hop and country music, they're they both have the same base, which is storytelling. It's all in the go back to story. You can tell a good story, you can sell any record.”“But the country lane is still different. They put a lot more into it. And I think that's what made me love it. Like, it's a love-hate relationship. I'm going to be completely [honest], it's a love-hate relationship. I love the fact that they put so much into it, but I hate the fact that the process is so long. They're very slow, detail-oriented.”
“I'm talking about them going all the way [back] just for the cadence. I've watched Post Malone sit in a booth and just trying to find his cadence for 30 minutes. I’m like, ‘It’s cool that y’all start all the way from here.’ But like I said, it’s a love-hate relationship.I love that they care about the story. Like it never changes. It's always going to be a story. It's always going to be a storyline. I love rap music, I love hip-hop. I feel like what's been missing,” - BigXThaPlug on Popcast
