BigXthaPlug Talks Cam Newton & Why He is Nation’s ‘Favourite Rapper’

Billboard Sizzling 100 hits and Coachella units have been by no means a part of BigXtha­Plug’s plans for himself. Rising up in Dallas, the 26-year-old with the deep, bellowing voice had gridiron desires of taking part in within the NFL — or even at his Billboard picture shoot, he throws a soccer round and speaks of his luck within the sport’s phrases.

BigX compares his trade adventure to that of former quarterback Cam Newton, who starred at a junior school prior to turning into a Heisman Trophy winner at Auburn College and, ultimately, an NFL MVP. “I principally simply pulled a Cam Newton,” he states. “As a substitute of going via the entire steps, I simply went loopy at that [junior college] and may just’ve rattling close to went to the league.”

This virtual duvet tale is a part of Billboard’s Style Now bundle, highlighting the artists pushing their musical genres ahead — or even growing their very own new ones.

To rap enthusiasts, BigX’s tale — his trail from drug broker to artist — isn’t overseas. “Pops” — the 6-foot-7 guy with an enormous body identical to BigX’s, who’s along with his son in Los Angeles these days — “had a lure dwelling, and in the course of that spot was once a spherical picket desk and a mic,” BigX recollects of his first time in entrance of a microphone. “[Pops] was once like, ‘Y’all n—s can’t rap. My son were given greater than y’all were given.’ I used to be scoring on ’em, and I assume it was once sounding just right. He was once like, ‘You just right. You wish to have to rap for actual.’ ”

4 years in the past, BigX signed with UnitedMasters, which he nonetheless calls the “highest factor I may just’ve did.” He credit his first supervisor — an uncle who necessarily ran off after BigX paid him $20,000 prematurely — for guiding him towards keeping up his independence with the distributor.

BigX has stood out amongst hip-hop’s melodic-leaning mainstream along with his soulful manufacturing and booming chopped-and-screwed flows that experience drawn comparisons to The Infamous B.I.G. — and the previous 365 days had been in particular a very powerful in his ascent. He earned his first Sizzling 100 access in December 2023 when the groovy “Mmhmm” reached No. 63. In October, he spread out about his insecurities, ache and triumphs on his 2d album, Take Care, which reached No. 8 at the Billboard 200.

“I believe like for the previous decade it’s been numerous mumble rap. Folks now not speaking about not anything,” he says. “I’m speaking about one thing. A large number of the older individuals who love track, that’s what they grew up on — exact substance. Right here’s this younger dude that sound outdated, however he on those young-old beats. I actually blended the whole thing up so everyone may just like it.”

BigX’s in-house manufacturer, Tony Coles, provides, “He has this kind of Martin Luther King Jr. component to him the place it’s [a] preacher nearly and his voice could be very tough, and you were given the badass manufacturing in the back of it.”

Subsequent up, BigX — who Shaboozey tapped for a function on his 2024 album, The place I’ve Been, Isn’t The place I’m Going — will attach along with his Texas roots for a rustic mixtape slated to reach in 2025 and have a star-studded visitor lineup together with Jelly Roll, Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs and Put up Malone. “Put up Malone, Luke Combs, all the ones guys,” BigX says. “They declare I’m their favourite rapper.”

This tale seems within the Jan. 11, 2025, factor of Billboard.