“We do so much together already,” BigXThaPlug says during a Zoom press junket for Godzilla x Kong. “Other than me, he was the best option.” He turns to Ro$ama, laughing and smiling.
BigXThaPlug, whom we named as Best Rapper of 2023, has Ro$ama to thank for motivating him to stick with rapping. In previous interviews, BigXThaPlug shared his connection to Ro$ama, who was already years deep into his own rap career. Ro$ama encouraged BigX to keep going, which gave BigX hope after watching Ro$ama stay true to his own rap dreams.
When BigX and Ro$ama finally linked up to make music, their chemistry shone through on several collabs, including “‘02 Lakers,” “Who Run It,” and “Enemies.”
Released March 18 via YouTube, “Beast Mode” adds to a growing resume of their Shaq and Kobe dynamic.
Produced by Aimonmyneck, Tony Coles, Deshaun Williams, Thatboydaymon and Callmeshotto, “Beast Mode” imagines Godzilla and King Kong throwing down monster bars for an epic tag team. The Dallas rappers are fans of the MonsterVerse franchise and used that inspiration to write, and not freestyle, their verses.
“Write everything,” they say in unison.
“I feel like that separates us from a lot of people in this industry,” BigX says. “Because everybody feels like freestyling is the wave, but [we] write everything, revise everything. [We] make it to where it is perfected. That way you get stuff like ‘Beast Mode.’”
In hip-hop, going beast mode means a mental state where you attack beats to overpower your opponents. But instead of pitting Godzilla and King Kong against each other, the pair decided to unite the monsters to battle their unnamed foe.
“We tried to put them together,” Ro$ama says.
“Everything we were saying was a projection of both of them in general,” BigX adds. “I’m definitely King Kong, though!”
The duo has a healthy sense of competitiveness over their verses, but they say it wasn't a factor on “Beast Mode," likely because Godzilla and King Kong are begrudgingly teaming up this time around. “Beast Mode” is an example of the complementary way the titans can work together sonically. The song sees BigX kicking it off first, with Ro$ama coming in second. Both took about one to two hours at most to write their verses.
“He really helped me out on my part because I listened to what he said and I just fed off of that,” Ro$ama says of his collaborator.
BigX smashes the beat with lines such as, “I’m a villain, somehow I’m still saving the streets” while Ro$ama follows up with clever bars: “Tighten up the mic, gave ‘em a monster verse.”
“Godzilla — if you really think about it — he’s fucking the streets up,” Big X says. "He’s crushing cars. I know 1,000 people die any time Godzilla moves, but when it comes to other monsters, he’s technically saving the world anytime he is killing these monsters and taking them out of the game."
As he breaks down his hook (“I’m a King like Kong, the streets my home/Call me Godzilla, I roam alone”), he wants to place an asterisk now on claiming himself the King Kong of rap.
“In that situation, I’m kind of not King Kong because I don’t roam alone,” BigX says. "I got my team, I got my people. But in all the movies, King Kong is all alone, looking for his family."
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the fifth film in the MonsterVerse franchise and marks the 10th anniversary of the original film. BigXThaPlug and Ro$ama are officially part of film history with the release of “Beast Mode.” They heard the song playing nonstop while on the red carpet during the March 25 premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.
“It’s definitely a blessing,” BigX says of the moment. “‘Cause I have kids, so my kids can go back and just know that ‘Oh, my father was a part of this.’ Just that, it is legendary.”
“I feel like when I have kids, they can go back and see that,” Ro$ama adds.
BigXThaPlug is constantly making moves, whether touring, performing at festivals across the U.S. or releasing new music. In 2024, he plans to drop a 600 ENT label compilation called Meet the 6ixers, with his own tracks and those from his signees Ro$ama and Yung Hood. Also coming is another solo album.
Two Monsters of Dallas Hip-Hop
“You got songs with all of us individually. You got songs with us all together. You got songs with just Ro and Hood. You got songs with me and Ro, and songs with just me and Hood. You get a mix of everything,” BigX says.Ro$ama says he has a project ready to go at any time.
“I got a whole bunch of songs. Whenever they’re ready for a tape from me, I’m ready. I’m locked and loaded,” he says.
BigXThaPlug and Ro$ama are still writing their success stories as Dallas’ next rap stars. They stay tapped into who is coming up next, mentioning a few names worth paying attention to.
“There’s a lot of heat in Dallas now. I feel like music-wise, it has been the best Dallas has been in a while,” BigX says. "You got 4Batz. You got Zillionaire Doe. You got Montana 700. There’s a lot of people, a lot of motion in the city right now,"
4Batz and Zillionaire Doe were among the names in our “North Texas' Realist: 24 New Rappers to Watch in 2024” list. Could there be a BigX and 4Batz collab in the cards?
“I actually had 4Batz in the studio with me before Kanye reached out, Drake, any of that,” BigX says of the rapper, who's now in demand among big-timers. “He can vouch for that. But I definitely want to get something in with him.”
As our time wraps up, he wants to spread the message to fans who go watch Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire: be prepared for a lot of action. With over 100,000 YouTube plays already on “Beast Mode,” the hype track is a good sign for BigX’s future work with Warner Bros. Pictures.
BigX is staying ready for the next call. “I’m trying to get in one of the movies,” he says.
