• BloodRaw, CTE (Panama City, FL) • Mighty Mike, DME (Panama City, FL)
BIGGA RANKIN: FLORIDA’S A&R Why do you call yourself Florida’s A&R? Because everybody comes to me to do their mixtapes. I’m basically the only person that sends out their music to everybody else. I do email blasts to all the DJs. I think it’s our turn, because Florida’s got so much talent. Even though you’re well known in Florida for breaking music, you’re not really recognized on a national scale yet. Are you trying to keep it underground? I think I’m less underground than I used to be. Being with the Hittmenn DJs and playing everywhere else I’ve gotten a little further, but I think I could be more national just by doing more promotions. Doing this Real Nigga Radio mixtape series took me a long way. Now we get calls from all over the country about it, and since so many people that don’t live in Florida are inquiring about it, I would like to have all my Florida artists on Real Nigga Radio so they can see what we got down here. I call myself the Florida A&R because I push Florida people. My mixtapes are the hottest thing in Florida right now. Everybody wants that Real Nigga Radio shit, and I’m jumping on all the artists that’s hot. Do you consider yourself a mixer, a host, a comedian, an entertainer, or what? I’m everything. I’m a DJ, a promoter, a record breaker, basically everything. I don’t know what to call myself. I do know that we have all this talent here and I don’t see a whole lot of other people trying to help them get out there. Most of these DJs don’t really play good music, they just play what’s on the radio or what’s on 106th & Park. They don’t know how to take a good record and make it hot. Let’s talk about these three hot unsigned Florida artists that appear on the cover with you. Tell me about Papa Duck. He’s a producer, first and foremost, and he’s a rapper too, which gives him a bonus. He produces real good and he raps real good. Papa Duck got a real down South style, that Florida style. I honestly think he can make it to the top if he just stays consistent with what he’s doing. These guys are hungry, they’re out there every day pressing up CDs and trying to do whatever to get out there. What about Swordz? He’s from Duval, Jacksonville. Throughout the years he’s gotten better and better and better. He’s very versatile and he’s got a hellafied performance. His show is very hype. He takes it to another level when he does his shows. Okay, what about Triple J? Triple J is one of the rappers in Florida right now that’s making a lot of noise. He’s another rapper that’s very versatile. He’s got good lyrics. It’s a good thing when you can listen to a rapper and understand every single word they say. Some rappers, you can’t understand them. Now that Young Cash has got signed, I think most of these underground artists feel like they’ve got hope now. A lot of them felt like everybody forgot about Florida. When was the last time you heard about somebody getting signed from Florida? Do you want to give out any contact info? You can call me at 904-591-9362 or email me at BiggaRankin00@aol.com. Any last words? We need all indie artists to go out every Tuesday and buy each other’s stuff. We need to show each other love. That’s really the movement for Florida, all the indie artists throughout Florida. Whenever somebody drops something, go out and pick it up. Show love. We’re not buying each other’s stuff, that’s for sure. We keep complaining that we’re not getting nowhere, but we ain’t buying each other’s stuff. - Words & photo by Julia Beverly 26
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