Exposed Vocals Interviews Chubby JAG
LA born and bred, up and coming rapper, Chubby JAG, is no stranger in the hip hop scene. Chubby built his reputation by battling rappers in the streets of Los Angeles and in New York City at the infamous “Fight Klub” and has since worked with the likes of some of today’s top battle rappers including Murda Mook, Tsu Surf, Disaster and fellow LA native Daylyt. After transitioning from battle rapper to full-time artist Chubby worked with an in house production team, P.W.I.D., crafting and producing tracks that consistently stay ahead of the curve and capture Chubby’s unique delivery and lyrical savviness.
In 2009 Chubby met Philadelphia rapper Cassidy and continued a close affiliation to Cassidy’s Larsiny Family for several years. Cassidy has featured Chubby on various Mix tapes as well as his last studio album. In total the duo has over fifty records together. Chubby continues to set himself apart from most artists with his ability to not only craft hip-hop records, but also commercially appealing R&B sounds as well.
Chubby has worked with some of urban music’s hottest producers and rappers, including Kanye West, DJ Quik, Ricc Rude, 1500 or Nothing, Dame Taylor, THX, Cassidy, J.R. Writer, James Fauntleroy, Erick Sermon, Red Cafe Fred the Godson and Styles P. to name a few.
Be sure to keep an eye out as JAG will be releasing his sixth major mix tape Scattered Thoughts 2 in early 2016.
Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?
Chubby JAG: I saw a few artists/producers that I follow on Twitter retweet some things from Exposed Vocals. The name grabbed my attention and once I looked into it I signed up right away
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Chubby JAG: I was born and raised in LA. I grew up in West Adams which is near USC’s campus. Growing up in the 80s and being a teen in the 90s I got into hip hop from battling. I was battling any and everyone that was down to stand in front of me. LA had a spot called the Pit where all the top battlers went (Daylyt, Disaster, Danny Meyers) and once I felt like I made a name for myself there I wanted to start making real songs. I had bars but had to learn how to take it a step further and create real hip hop music.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Chubby JAG: I used to go by just JAG which stood for Just Another Gangster. After I linked with Cassidy in 2009 I put on some major pounds. I added Chubby because I wanted to be a confident figure for all the big dudes out there. It’s no shame in being big so I wanted to be a powerful voice for the “chubby” dudes everywhere.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Chubby JAG: Man it’s lovely. When I was first coming up rapping we didn’t have cell phones let alone social media so to see how easy it is to share music and interact with your fans I’ve given every song I’ve made away for free so far. I think giving music out like that is a great way to build a loyal fan base and then when you ready to charge for a project they’ll know exactly why.
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?
Chubby JAG: Just grind man. It sounds simple but it’s really about the grind and networking. If you not a networker than get someone on your team to help you. At the end of the day it’s all about who you know and that’s how you get exposure and gigs.
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
Chubby JAG: I think anyone that’s ever blessed the stage has had a slip up. The key is to not react to it. Just keep going hard for the fans and pretend that shit didn’t even happen. Being on that stage is all about confidence and composure no matter what happens. As long as the crowd doesn’t feel like you dont know what you’re doing up there then everything will be gravy.
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
Chubby JAG: I haven’t toured for a few years last time I did was with Cassidy. We did a show on the east coast somewhere and it was a real hostile crowd. Dudes had already been kicked out for fighting before our set. Cass looked at me before we when on stage and said that if anything goes down we gotta handle it like grown men. I told him I was ready for whatever!
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Chubby JAG: I get inspiration from everything man. The environment and growing up in LA it’s so much you see at a young age that it’s always easy to reflect and get inspiration. I like to write near the beach I have a spot right near the beach that I like to go and write at. For the project Im releasing early 2016 I’ve had a pretty similar routine for every song I’ve cooked. Im a real smoker so I always gotta put a couple in the air to really get the creative juices flowing.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Chubby JAG: I do have chubbyjag.com but it’s really just a splash page for new music/projects, but I use Twitter and IG the most. Twitter is still real powerful because its where all of the blogs and major music outlets really push things. It’s also easy to connect with fans and other artists. IG is probably the most popular social media site right now so I always make sure to promote on there as well, but it will usually just be the cover to a song. IG is more about showing your personality and lifestyle than promoting music.
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
Chubby JAG: Aw man nothing to embarrasing but Im a real RnB fan so I definitely got some panty rippers on there ha
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Chubby JAG: I’d put it into my music for real. I’s probably take the homies on a nice vacation overseas but I’d use that money to further my career/pay to work with some of my favorite artists and producers in the game. Would definitely upgrade my gold chains and cop any pair of Js I wanted.
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
Chubby JAG: I have 2 studios that I work out of in LA. I leave all that technical shit up to my engineers man. Maybe one day I’ll learn how to record myself.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Chubby JAG: The most effective way aside from pushing social media is reaching out to as many blogs/sites as possible. There’s so many outlets now to discover new music obviously you have the big ones like DX and HotNewHipHop but there’s thousands and thousands of sites out there that can help spread your music. I was fortunate enough to get some songs on the big outlets and have maintained those relationships, but definitely make friends with the bloggers!
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
Chubby JAG: I would have to say in LA at the Forum with Biggie. Would be about as ideal as it could get.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Chubby JAG: I dropped my last project Before The Flat Top in June and it did really well considering it had been over a year since I put a project out. We didn’t have any videos or major singles from it and it did over 20k downloads and 100k streams. Right now I’m working on Scattered Thoughts 2 which I’ll be releasing in early 2016 for sure. Have some major features on there and we’re just shooting music videos from the project so that we can release everything the right way. I signed to Russel Simmons All Def Digital in late 2015 so they’re helping with all the visuals.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Chubby JAG: I’d be in the streets bangin or selling drugs to keep it real.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Chubby JAG: Man I think that’s where I’m like anyone else. Everyone has a job on top of family and friends to take care of so I just stay organized. Keep my music separate from my personal life as much as I can but really just stay focused on everything I have to get done whether it’s music or not.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Chubby JAG: I would say my music being released the right way. I’ve learned a lot I’ve been rapping for 10 plus years now, but this year I’m doing everything the right way. Scattered Thoughts 2 has grammy nominated artists on it and it’s going to have visuals, PR and we’re going to make sure we reach the masses with this new music. This is by far the best music I’ve ever made.
