Exposed Vocals Interviews Big $nack

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

 

Big $nack:  I grew up all over the place. I moved from Oklahoma to Colorado, Atlanta, and finally to Pittsburgh where I have spent most of my middle school and high school life. I was always into music, being in choirs or teaching myself guitar and piano. One thing that really fascinated me though was rap. I was introduced to rap music in 4th grade when I lived in Atlanta. I was intrigued how they could tell put words together in such ways and I loved the sound. Since then I was always listening to rappers like Lil Wayne and Kendrick. When I moved to Pittsburgh I was thrilled to be in the same place that Wiz and Mac Miller were from! My good friend B-Rad started rapping in freshman year by himself and he began to inspire me. I wanted to be apart of it desperately, so I began to feature in a few of his songs. After a year or so we had a group of friends who all went to school together and rapped. We decided to form a collective and make music together. This is when Nughanga was formed. Initially it was B-Rad, our graphic designer Teebz, our stylist and DJ Shabby Couch, and myself. Soon after we began having concerts at local art centers or small clubs, and we started putting out music. This is when we met our newest member and sensational rapper DrewW. Now we have a rather large following in our area that is growing every day thanks to our fans!

 

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

 

Big $nack: I actually didn’t come up with the name Big $nack. My friends came up with it at a party and I personally don’t know the reasoning behind it. I just happened to like it and it goes well with rhyme schemes so I decided to keep it.

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

 

Big $nack: I think online music sharing is a fantastic way to promote oneself and currently all of my music is free. Creating music is something I love to do and I don’t mind sharing it with the world for free!

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

Big $nack: Just make as much music as you can and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.

 

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

 

Big $nack: Songwriting inspiration for me as well as the Nughanga members mostly comes from life experiences, or other rappers that we listen to regularly that inspire us. The process is rather simple, whenever I think of a nice rhyme I write it down in my notes. Once I get a decent amount that flow together or that I like, I usually start to look for a beat. Sometimes when I’m feeling it I can write an entire song in about 20 minutes, other times it takes a few days.

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

Big $nack: Nughanga does not have an official website yet however we do have a Twitter page @nughanga that one can find all the personal pages of the group members. We post all of our music on Sound Cloud and some on Datpiff.

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

 

Big $nack: I would probably purchase a professional quality recording studio for my boys and get to work creating more music. Whatever money is left I would put towards promoting, purchasing a nice apartment, and my savings. I would also give some money back to my parents and people who supported me and my group.

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

 

Big $nack: Social media works incredibly well for promoting especially whenever you know the right people. The Twitter page we use @nughanga is our main platform for promoting among our peer group. I also find posting music on Sound Cloud is a good way to spread our music.

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

 

Big $nack: I am currently working on the $nack E.P. that I am releasing for free on Sound Cloud and social media. Sometime soon I will be working on an Album that i hope to release sometime over the summer. My good friend and fellow Nughanga member B-Rad will be releasing his E.P. soon as well. I will be featured on one or two of the songs. We will be having a Nughanga concert at the Butler Art Center on April 23 which should be absolutely crazy! My Sound Cloud is https://soundcloud.com/user-865026227

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

 

Big $nack: Without making music I would probably be working towards some other goal. When I go to college I hope to study Architecture so perhaps I would be working towards that.

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

 

Big $nack: Prioritizing is key when dealing with responsibilities. Obviously with being a student I have to maintain my grades, but I don’t find difficulty with writing and creating music because is something that I love to do. Certain things will always come before music, but at the end of the day I enjoy making music and it is something I know I will always have.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?

 

Big $nack: I see myself and the group producing a large amount of music in the coming months. We are determined to get our names out there, and to do what we love most. Making music!