Tuesday night hip-hop trailblazer Big Boi was in Chicago to play a show sponsored by Crown Royal. Before the gig, he conducted a few interviews in a very nice suite at the James Hotel consisting of what seemed to be half conference rooms, half party pads. While waiting for my turn, I helped myself to some really tasty hors d’oeuvres and watched Big Boi’s entourage play pool.
Whenever Big Boi finished an interview he’d emit a startlingly loud guffaw that sounded like Nelson Muntz’s “haw haw” delivered by someone who was also doing a Paul Bunyan impression. A guy in the entourage rolled his eyes each time. “He’s been doing this all day,” he said, sighing.
After hearing a couple of these “Viking laughs,” as I later learned Big Boi calls them, I had my own one-on-one. Though our conversation was only eight minutes long, it was interesting and fun and managed to cover everything from his massive Kate Bush fandom to his many works in progress to how after almost 20 years in the game he’s still absolutely psyched about making music.
Hit the jump to read the transcript: