Megan Tan 0:02

Donald. [shuffling cards] You have anything special coming up? [laughing]

Donald Paz 0:05

No, I think no...

Megan Tan 0:07

No? New year?

Donald Paz 0:08

It is a new year. So, some new goals I have within my mind.

Megan Tan 0:11

Oh, good! I love goals. [laughing]

Donald Paz 0:12

So hopefully... Yeah. Yeah, so. [conversation continues] [duck under]

Megan Tan 0:13

I'm sitting across from Snooze Squad mixer and master engineer, Donald Paz, asking him to pick a card. [to Donald] All right, so this is for New Year, new goals.

Donald Paz 0:26

New Year, new goals. Yes.

Megan Tan 0:28

Here we go, Donald Paz.

Donald Paz 0:31

I'll pick this one.

Megan Tan 0:32

All right. What does it say? [theme music]

Donald Paz 0:35

Divine timing.

Megan Tan 0:35

Ohhhhh...

Donald Paz 0:38

Everything is timing, and timing is everything. Gladly, I release my concern over timing and let things happen when and as they will.

Megan Tan 0:49

You can have that. That's yours.

Donald Paz 0:51

Oh really?

Megan Tan 0:51

Yeah!

Donald Paz 0:51

Oh awesome!

Megan Tan 0:52

This is for you in this moment.

Donald Paz 0:53

Great! Oh, I'm definitely gonna keep this one.

Megan Tan 0:55

Yeah, good! [conversation fades out]

Megan Tan 0:57

Everything is timing is something my mom used to say to me growing up. When it came to relationships, moving across the country, my career. There's a fine line between not catching a wave and then being in the right place at the right time to be on top of it. But how do you continue to ride that wave, especially if you first caught it 30 years ago? I get to sit down with one of the biggest hip hop legends of our time- and ask. You're listening to Snooze. A show about things people put off, how they conquer them, but most importantly, how they conquer themselves. And I'm Megan Tan. Let's goooo! [music out] [shuffling cards]

Megan Tan 2:06

What a day, what a day, what a day! Today is a special day because our guest is- [Zoom ding] Hi, Brad. Kidding. It's not Brad. Though we do appreciate you, Brad. Thank you so much for everything that you do. Oh, he's still connecting.

Megan Tan 2:25

[singing] Dun dun dun nuh nuh, dun nuh dun dun duh nuh nuh... It's like being at a party by yourself. [laughs]

Megan Tan 2:36

That's just me. Talking to myself, alone, in a Zoom room. It's okay. Yo, I l-, I like showing up to places where there aren't a lot of people on the dance floor yet. Because you got all that space, you know, to do, to do your moves to warm up. [laughing] What we talking about, we're talking about warmups. [laughs] I grew up dancing. And now I basically do it whenever I'm in a Zoom room by myself. I dance while some people...

Big Boi 3:09

[Zoom bell] [singing] And I give you all I have to get- [spoken] What's happening?

Megan Tan 3:16

What's up, Big Boi?

Megan Tan 3:18

That's right! That's Big Boi, from Outkast!!! On Snooze, on my show! That's crazy, right? But it's cool. It's all cool. It's, it's cool. Don't worry. I'm gonna keep it cool. Keep it cool. Keep it [takes a breath] keep it cool.

Big Boi 3:35

Nothing much. How you doing?

Megan Tan 3:36

I'm good. Oh my gosh, what are you singing?

Big Boi 3:39

Uh, was that Karen White? Somebody like that. [laughs]

Megan Tan 3:43

I love it. I was [Big Boi: Yeah] just, I was just singing your song. Hmm hmm hmm hm hm. [Megan continues to sing]

Big Boi 3:52

Yeah!

Megan Tan 3:52

I'm so excited! [original music]

Big Boi 3:54

I'm glad you dig it.

Megan Tan 3:55

Yeah, I love it. It's so uh, it's so smooth and funky and yeah, I love it. [music: Big Boi's The Big Sleep is Over] [duck under]

Megan Tan 4:09

Aay, aay, aay, aay. That's from Big Boi's latest solo album, Big Sleepover with Sleepy Brown. And I love that piano sample that they use, and that beat drop and that funky vibe plus dance hall vibes, and I especially love these lyrics. [singing lyrics] Nothing else to prove, we have nothing else to prove. Whatever we do we stand for, whatever we do, run your town. [fade out]

Megan Tan 4:15

Big Boi, welcome to Snooze. [Big Boi: Yes, yes.] Thank you. Yeah, thank you so much for being here. Um, it's truly such an honor to speak to not only a legend in the music industry, but also the world. You know, I've been listening to your music ever since I was a kid. Also, when my big sister was like taking me around to like run errands with her, she would always play Outkast. It's true. Outkast, and Big Boi were a huge part of the soundtrack to my childhood, and my teenage years. And if you're a millennial like me, I mean, wasn't this the theme song to most of your school dances? [music: Hey Ya] [singing] Because she loves me so and this I know for sure.

Megan Tan 5:31

And wasn't this your breakup song? [music: I'm Sorry Mrs. Jackson] [singing along] I am sorry...

Megan Tan 5:44

And wasn't this the song that you played while you were cruising down the highway? [music: Roses] [singing along] Mighty fine... Half the time...

Megan Tan 5:59

It's crazy! I finally get to talk to someone whose music has been playing during some of the most memorable moments in my life. And basically within the background of every single party I went to.

Megan Tan 6:14

[to Big Boi] So I have to ask, if you were to go to a party, and you didn't know anybody, how would you introduce yourself?

Big Boi 6:27

To the party?

Megan Tan 6:28

Yeah!

Big Boi 6:30

Ah shit, get on the dance floor and start going off. [Megan laughs] Start gyrating, thrusting my hips, like frantically. They'll notice me. [Megan laughs] Yeah. Get out there and do the hula hoop. Somebody gonna come out there and dance with you.

Megan Tan 6:43

Gotcha. Love it. So no worries, just dance movement.

Big Boi 6:46

Nope, just go crazy, go crazy. Yup, just go out there and go crazy. [laughs]

Megan Tan 6:51

Yo, I can get into that. No words, just moves. The thing I love about dancing is how each person's movement is unique to each individual. No one has the same style, the same gyrating moves. Each movement is a reflection of who they are.

Megan Tan 7:13

[to Big Boi] You know, you bring so much wisdom just to your music, to your life. And so I'm gonna ask you about about kind of these phrases that are in your life that you've been able to really pull out um, when you've faced a challenge yourself. So that we can really encourage people who come on to the show, but also listeners of the show.

Big Boi 7:37

That's that's smart. They always say it only take three degrees, remove three degrees and your whole life can change. [original music]

Megan Tan 7:43

[writing sounds] Remove three degrees, and your whole life can change. Oh, I love that, I've never heard that before.

Big Boi 7:55

I learned that from a Jamaican.

Megan Tan 7:57

Three degrees. It's like how subtle movements can add up, create a big difference. And just like a great dance, nothing can be forced. Everything has to come naturally.

Big Boi 8:13

I like to say that life is organically created, never genetically modified. And in a sense, that just means just to kind of let it happen. You know what I mean?

Megan Tan 8:25

[writing sounds] Life is organically created, never genetically modified. So I'm curious at those moments, [music out] how do you really put into practice um, the allowing things to naturally unfold organically?

Big Boi 8:49

Um, I mean, sometimes you might have to say the Serenity Prayer, you know? Um, grant me the wisdom to accept things that I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference. And you know, just say a little prayer sometimes, you know, lean on the creator. I do that a lot. Because it's all about what God say. For me.

Megan Tan 9:09

Mmm. Yeah. [Big Boi: Mmm hmm.] So when have you had to use that prayer? You know, most recently?

Big Boi 9:17

Um, the last time it might have been I was about to miss a flight. You know what I mean. Panicking, about to miss the flight. And like okay, cool. If I, if I make it I make it and if I don't make it then hey, when-- I don't know, I think I was actually, I was stuck in the airport in um, Or- Eugene, Oregon. I was trying to come back to Atlanta [original music] and me and my wife had to sit in the airport for like, literally eight, nine hours in the sky club to get back home. And I just had to calm myself down, like because if it's out of your control, it was like, what you gonna do? [music out]

Donald Paz 9:52

[theme music] Snooze will be back after this commercial break. [break]

Donald Paz 10:20

[theme music] Now, back to the show.

Megan Tan 10:23

Big Boi tells me letting things unfold organically doesn't mean letting life happen to you, leaving it to chance. It means creating positivity, putting it into the world. And then letting that positivity come back to you. [to Big Boi] Is there uh, another phrase that you have in your pocket maybe that somebody gave to you when you were growing up at all?

Big Boi 10:55

I guess it's a a salutation. Like, it's like um, if somebody's like, Hey, hi, I'm good. I'm fine. And like, how are you? And I'd be like, I'm super fantastic, phenomenally well, perfectly whole, completely blessed, and highly favored. [Megan laughs, saying "Oh my God!"] Yeah.

Megan Tan 11:10

Yo, I love that.

Big Boi 11:11

Yeah, I'm super fantastic. We try to do, speak it into existence man, and just vibrate higher.

Megan Tan 11:16

[writing sounds] I'm super fantastic, phenomenally well, perfectly whole, completely blessed, and highly favored. I love that one.

Big Boi 11:30

It came from Jamaica. I asked it my myself to uncle Sean, from Jamaica. And he's just like, the most, one of the most positive people. You know, every time you talk to him, like, Hey, how you doing? Super fantastic. You know what I mean? And and I say that to people when I might, I might get in an Uber or a car service, or at the hotel, and they be like, wow, I've never heard that before. That's- Man, you just made me feel good. You know? I know that's a cliche, but I'm I'm I'm I vibrate on such a high plane to where I love to really just emit positive vibrations that uplift. That's what it's all about. [music out]

Megan Tan 12:06

You can hear this intention in the lyrics of the 1996 single ATLiens. [music: ATLiens] [duck under]

Megan Tan 12:25

What I'm hearing you say and correct me if I'm wrong, is like, you walk through the world with this, this energy or this positivity, and then you are able to change your environment. [music out] You know, but you also gotta like, you gotta get to that place. You know? How d- so, so how do you get to that place every day?

Big Boi 12:45

Yes. Yeah. Because I'm just naturally being kind to people, you know? Um, the world is you know, it's a wicked place right now. There's so much dark energy that we just, we need more positivity. And all it just takes is a spark. You know what I mean? So let me be the spark.

Megan Tan 13:03

[writing sounds] Let me be the spark. Mmm... Who taught you about kindness?

Big Boi 13:09

My grandmother. [music: Heart of Gold by The Escorts] Yeah, my grandmother. Um, she was just, you know, like the best person ever.

Megan Tan 13:17

Wooooow. That's so beautiful. Big Boi has been giving joy to the world as a gift for nearly three decades. But that joy and that wisdom, and that positivity was passed down to him from his grandmother. It's an unseen heirloom that started when he was a kid.

Big Boi 13:52

We come from the projects in Savannah. So like, if it was like our neighbors or whatever, and they didn't have food, like she would feed their kids and us, and there was a lot of us, you know what I mean. There might have been like, 10 of us, and then she would still feed a family or four, too, that was less fortunate than we were, even though we didn't have nothing either.

Megan Tan 14:10

The character traits that Big Boi's grandmother taught him followed him from childhood into adulthood.

Big Boi 14:19

And she just taught me to be kind but at the same time, don't take no shit, either. You know what I mean? So um, you treat people how you want to be treated, and and then it comes back tenfold.

Megan Tan 14:32

I can imagine myself sitting across from Big Boi's grandmother. [music out]

Big Boi 14:42

She was a dark, dark skinned woman, darker than me. She was uh, part Cherokee Indian and um straight West Savannah Geechee woman, [Megan: Uhh huh.] um, had very high cheekbones, a smile out of this world, where she used to have one open face gold tooth in the front, since I was a little boy. And that always made me want to get gold teeth.

Megan Tan 14:43

Big Boi's grandmother shared the wealth of her smile, wisdom, and music.

Big Boi 15:14

She's the one who actually turned me on to music, you know, [Megan: Oh wow.] like she would listen to Bob Marley, Buffalo Soldier, or any other Bob Marley record or Aretha Franklin records and stuff on the weekend. She used to send us to the the record store to go buy vinyl, like every Friday, [Megan: Wow.] and then she would play whatever that was. If it was uh Patti LaBelle, On My Own, or if it was a Isaac Brother record, she would run it into the ground until next week, until she sent us back to the store to get something else. So that's how my musical tastes just kind of expanded because she listened to everything, you know. [Megan: Wow.]

Big Boi 15:46

And so even to this day, like I like to say, you know, my top three artists of all time is uh, Bob Marley [music: Roots, Rock, Reggae by Bob Marley] [music out]

Big Boi 16:00

Number two is Kate Bush [Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush] [music out]

Big Boi 16:13

And number three is NWA. [Fuck Tha Police by NWA: Fuck the police comin' straight from the underground...] [music out]

Big Boi 16:21

I think that her main thing was just just, if you want something, you got to go get it. Um, hard work definitely pays off. If you can visualize it, and you you pray on it, and you work hard enough, you can get to where you you need to be. Because we came from nothing, you know what I mean? But we had our family and I still like, I'm a very family orientated person. And you know, your family's like your first line of defense in the world. You know what I mean? So we just all stick together. And to this day we do.

Megan Tan 16:53

Day after day, our families not only protect us, keep us warm, but we share pieces of ourselves with them that we don't share with anyone else. We may have the same nose, laugh, dance moves. Sometimes we even inherit their behavior. [theme music] You know, reading about how you approach music and that you go into the studio almost every single day. I feel like you have a lot of discipline like instilled in you. Did that also come from your grandma?

Big Boi 17:27

Yes, yes, yes, yes, absolutely. It was, you know, she'd wake up playing, cleaning the house playing music, at the loudest levels ever. You know what I'm saying? Like um, back then we didn't have a dryer. We had a washer but not a dryer. So I don't know if you know what a clothesline is. We used to have to hang the clothes on the clothesline and go outside and get them and fold them up and all that type of stuff. So that was kind of plantation work. But we learned um, responsibility and discipline like early on.

Megan Tan 17:56

And she delegated to you guys.

Big Boi 17:58

Oh, absolutely. Me, my cousins, my brother, my sister, everybody had something to do. [Megan: Wow.] Like my grandma, she had like all types of plants, like on a porch. So we just had to water the plants, and then she had a whole bunch of bronze, like brass statues. So she'd get the brass cleaning, and we had to clean all her brass statues, and then so on and so on, you know.

Megan Tan 18:18

Yo, I like Big Boi's grandmother, because discipline is a big part of getting better at anything. I still remember my first ballet class, when I was learning how to stand on the balls of my feet without falling over. The teacher was like relevÈ, squeeze your thighs, relevÈ, squeeze your abs, relevÈ, don't forget to smile, over and over and over again. But it paid off. Because every time I did it, I was building towards something bigger. A rehearsal, a performance, making my mother and the audience proud. Big Boi's grandmother passed on more than just discipline and music. She passed on wisdom, that, according to engineer Donald Paz, is also a kind of beautiful generational wealth.

Donald Paz 19:20

Yeah, that is generational wealth.

Megan Tan 19:22

Now that Big Boi has three kids of his own, I wonder what kind of lessons he's leaving with them. What kind of generational wealth of wisdom is he passing on? [music out]

Big Boi 19:28

I just tell them to go get it. I said, if you want it, you got to go get it. Same thing my grandma told me. Go get it. I pray on it, and and and and focus on what you want, laser beam focus and and go get it. Go get it.

Megan Tan 19:52

[writing sounds] Go get it.

Big Boi 19:57

Because it's like, I did have to work for stuff. You know, like, my kids are true that, you know. They grew up in a privileged household, but I used to, you know, send them down to the country with their cousins, to the hood in the summertime, just so they they knew how we lived before we came up, you know. And I just don't, you know, even though they don't want for anything, I make them work for everything that they got, you know. And that work ethic and even to this day, like, say, um if anybody, I come across somebody, like, it might be like uh, greeters at the airport, who take my son to the airport, or different things, anybody who comes across them, like, they always come up to me and my wife and like, Dude, he such a well mannered young man. Either one of them. You know what I mean. He is such a kind person. Everybody like- and I, and that's a good thing to hear [Megan: Mmm.] that they was like, you y'all did something right. He is so memorable, and so kind. And I mean, that makes me feel good. He ain't just out here acting a damn donkey. [Megan laughs]

Megan Tan 20:56

You know, I have a niece, and she's going through, like, she's in middle school, definitely going through some teenage years. And I look at my sister, and I'm like, I have so much appreciation for you, who is taking on this role. [laughing]

Big Boi 21:10

That's right, right, right. Yeah, yeah.

Megan Tan 21:11

Yeah, but talk about like, things happening organically, right? It's like, you can only do so much, you know, and then people have to become themselves as they get older. Right? So.

Big Boi 21:22

So my daughter um, actually graduated from um, Auburn University, and she's a child psychologist. She works with autistic kids. And--

Megan Tan 21:31

That's what you wanted to be. Right?

Big Boi 21:32

So you see what I'm saying. Like that, that's from them hearing these stories and knowing stuff. My my daughter did that. And just, you know, for her to tell me about her job and like, how she makes progress with the kids. And she was like, when they, you know, cross certain milestones, to see the joy in her face when she's explaining to me how she's developing these kids, it's like, that's a fulfilling life.

Megan Tan 21:54

The fact that Big Boi who has led a very full and fulfilling life, calls his daughter's life fulfilling, really makes me think that despite all of his Grammys, and accolades, [original music] Big Boi has always been more about impacting people with music, and not the recognition that comes with it.

Megan Tan 22:23

Wow.

Big Boi 22:24

Yeah.

Megan Tan 22:25

Man. Big Boi, that's so beautiful.

Big Boi 22:27

It's real life, man.

Megan Tan 22:28

Yeah, wow. [laughs]

Big Boi 22:31

I'd say that we're blessed and highly favored. [Megan laughs]

Megan Tan 22:33

Love it, I love it, I love it. [music out]

Donald Paz 22:41

[theme music] The blessed and highly favored Snooze will be back after this commercial break. [break]

Donald Paz 22:48

Now, back to the show.

Megan Tan 22:49

So we have some people who come on to the show who are coming onto Snooze who are um, doing music. You know, like they've been putting off putting out a song on SoundCloud, you know, for the first time. And so I'm curious how you would encourage them to keep going.

Big Boi 23:05

My main thing to the new artists is to do the opposite of what's hot. You know what I'm sayin'? [Megan: Mmm.] Do the opposite of what everybody else is doing. Like, make your own path. And and and when you do that, the originators and the true creatives are going to prevail because you you're in a whole 'nother lane that nobody else is even in. You know what I'm sayin'? [Megan: Mmm.] You'll get noticed faster that way, too.

Megan Tan 23:35

You know, you've done so much with your music, you've won so many Grammys and awards and and, you know, after again, like three decades, basically of being in this industry, you're coming out with a new album with Sleepy Brown. Uh, how do you continue to encourage yourself to reinvent yourself in your craft?

Big Boi 24:01

That's that's that's the challenge. That's the challenge. The, that's the- I, I- it's really- You don't compete against others, like, you compete against yourself. And you push yourself to um evolve, it's all about evolution. So I mean, I keep m- my uh, my phone on shuffle. I got maybe 20,000 songs in there, and so many different playlists and I just you know, all day long it it's music. I, I listen to music every day. I mean music to me is like uh sunlight t- to plants. Like if I don't hear music for like a day or so, I find myself like kind of feeling like down a little bit. Some days you might get a writer's block or something, like if you get to a point like where I kind of like to warm it up a little bit. I just, you know, put it on shuffle. I might listen to the first five to ten records that come on just to kind of get a vibe. It might be Guns and Roses, might be Sade. It might be The temptations. It could be Tribe Called Quest or anything. You know what I mean? Just to kind of stir it up a little bit [Megan: Mmm.] and then dive into what I'm doing.

Megan Tan 25:03

Yeah, so you just keep the momentum. [Big Boi: Yes.] Incredible.

Megan Tan 25:07

I can tell that Big Boi's love for music is what gets him up every morning. Gives him motivation. He's kind of like an invincible music making machine. But is there something that he's been ignoring?

Megan Tan 25:24

So I wanted to ask you if there's something that you're snoozing, something that you're putting off?

Big Boi 25:30

Um, I'm snoozing on, I have a, a soup maker that I wanted for Father's Day a few years ago. It's still in the box and--

Megan Tan 25:41

What does that even look like? What's that mean?

Big Boi 25:43

It's a machine that my wife bought me. It's a soup maker and it's a sausage maker where you can make your own sausage. So you um, just create your own, your own meals. You know what I mean? And um, I've been you know, kind of experimenting with my air fryer and so I've kind of perfected all, any kind of seafood dish. In the air fryer was honey glazed shrimp, garlic, lemon, herb, lots of tails. Uh, [Megan: Love it.] Some of everything, you know what I mean. So my next, my next thing I, I got to get to making my soup and my sausage.

Megan Tan 26:12

Love it. Thank you Big Boi for making this happen. We appreciate you guys so much [Big Boi: Thank you.] and uh, have a beautiful day. You know a beautiful life if I don't see you. [laughs]

Big Boi 26:23

Yes. And God bless.

Megan Tan 26:24

Okay, you too. Bye.

Megan Tan 26:29

As I leave our Zoom room, I am thinking about that soup and sausage. But I also am thinking about [piano plays] this song. [Big Boi sings: If it's alright...] [duck under] I'm not hearing the lyrics, the way I heard them before. I'm hearing them with a different set of ears. Underneath the words and the beats, I can hear Big Boi's optimism. [writing sounds] I'm super fantastic, phenomenally well, perfectly whole, completely blessed, and highly favored. His grandmother. [writing sounds] Go get it. And his hustle. And I can also hear his dance moves.

Megan Tan 27:26

[music from The Big Sleepover with Sleepy Brown plays] Aaaaaayyyyy!

Megan Tan 27:37

[music: Big Boi's Garden Party] Aaaaaaaayyyyyy! Do some car dancing, do some car dancing... What? Brrah! Brrah! Aaayyy!

Megan Tan 28:11

Check out Big Boi's latest album, Big Sleepover. And when you listen to it, give us a shout-out on Instagram or on Twitter @snoozepodcast. [music fades out]

Donald Paz 28:28

[theme music] This episode of Snooze was produced by Marina PeÒa and Kyle Chang. Kyle also wrote this episode. Erick Galindo edited and fact-checked this episode. It was recorded and engineered by me, Donald Paz, and mixed and mastered by Scott Kelly. Jessica Pilot is our talent producer. Erick Galindo is our showrunner. Megan Tan is our host. Antonia Cereijido and Leo G are the executive producers. Our theme song is by Wayan Dopeman.

Erick Galindo 29:04

Andrew Eapen wrote and composed the original music for this show.

Megan Tan 29:07

The original artwork for Snooze was created by Seonna Hong.

Erick Galindo 29:11

Additional production on this episode by Emma Alabaster.

Donald Paz 29:14

Make sure you hit follow, like, and subscribe to Snooze wherever you get your podcasts. You can follow Megan on Twitter or Instagram @meganleetan and the show @snoozepodcast. Our website on LAist.com is designed by Andy Cheatwood and the digital and marketing team, who also create our branding. Snooze is a production of LAist Studios.

Erick Galindo 29:37

Thanks to the team over there, including Taylor Coffman, Sabir Brara, Kristen Hayford, Kristen Muller, Andy Orozco, Michael Cosentino and Leo G. Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live. This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Donald Paz 30:03

If you like Snooze, rate and review us on Apple podcasts. Trust me, it really helps us out. And we would love to hear what you think. And if you love Snooze, consider becoming a sustaining member by going to LAist.com/memberships. Support the place that supports this work that supports people like me. And now, I'm Donald Paz. [Donald makes trumpet sounds] Thanks for listening. [music out]

Megan Tan 30:34

[original music] On the next episode of Snooze...

Austin 30:40

It's almost the attitude that I have of like, well, if I get my piano stool out and sit in front of my keyboard and start writing a song, it's like who are you trying to be? You're not that guy anymore. Like, you went through shit. You're shit.

Megan Tan 30:52

A long lost musician looks for the courage to finish that one project that got away. I'm Megan Tan and thanks for listening. [music out]

Transcribed by https://otter.ai