"I Couldn't Keep The Act Up Anymore!" BigKlit's Rap Riot
Meet the bold new LA extrovert smashing up the template...
“I was tired of being a woman; constantly being told to, talk like this, act like this,” LA rapper *BigKlit *speaks on overcoming the battles of being a female rapper.
It’s 2020, we’ve just come out of a global lockdown, and fears of a second wave are lingering in thin air; but whilst life feels somewhat extremely mundane, the music industry is thriving and we’re so here for it.
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New artist BigKlit is a female rapper based in LA, thrashing together some of the most authentic, unapologetic lyrics and explosive energy; it’s fair to say at this point, her music is starting to feel somewhat unmatched.
Across the last four months TikTok has become a powerhouse of a platform and has blown artists music sales to new heights. In 2019 BigKlit dropped her single, ‘Liar,’ since then the track has been sampled a lot through TikTok - landing herself on everyone’s radar.
BigKlit’s style is explosive, and is snarling with punk tendencies and trippy beats, think CupcakKe meets Azealia Banks, via Ashnikko. Her sound is surrounded by audacious lyrics and matched with sharp production. Starting on her own, the musician talks to us a bit about the emergence of BigKlit, her latest single, ’What That Mouth Do,’ – iconic? And her struggles with just simply being a woman.
Kickstarting her career with, ‘Liar,’ in 2019, BigKlit is at the starting point of her well anticipated spiral through the industry. “BigKlit is a representation of complete rebellion, going against every insecurity, every systematic teaching that has been taught to us,” she tells us, “I just really like to question things, I don't like I to live in a box so that's what BigKlit pretty much embodies, embracing your body as pure freedom and true confidence and power.”
“Fuck all these colonisers, and industry weirdos; they play favourites on what accounts they want to keep on Instagram and TikTok. I also hate misogynistic men; we can’t forget them, that’s a big thing for me.”
Celebrating her slant femininity, and a massive up yours to gender stereotypes, BigKlit is a force of resilience, female empowerment and so much more, and with a name like that it’s rude not ask…
“Lots of porn,” she replies as she tells the influence behind her name, continuing, “but now since I got a man, I don’t really watch it anymore.”
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Like the majority of us BigKlit spent the last four months pretty restricted, however, has been working pretty vigorously throughout year on her music, including dropping a handful of singles onto the extended version of her 2018 EP 'BIG Klitorius'. She recently dropped her latest single, ‘What That Mouth Do, since adding some of her latest tracks to this album, ‘Klitorius B.I.G,’ encompasses so much of her ethos, sexual freedom, rebellion and her everyday struggle.
She tells us a bit about the process of her latest release. “I made ‘What That Mouth Do,’ way before any of this even happened, and, ‘Liar.’ I made it in a studio when I was poor as fuck, sleeping on a couch and just feeling like I was being oppressed by the system. I felt like complete trash.”
For some artists, their music can be separate from their everyday persona, but for BigKlit this isn’t the case, she explains:
“I like to yell a lot, but that isn’t an act. BigKlit is my everyday life. Everyday is a movie, I yell, I scream, I express myself however I want. I will never, ever silence my voice and that's kind of where the yelling came from. As I was tired of being a woman, constantly being told to, talk like this, act like this, you have to be a certain way and if you're not like that, people would look at you like you’re crazy. People aren’t used to women being dominant.
She expands: “I was one of girls for a long time, in a toxic relationship where it was draining, I never spoke up or used my voice. I was quiet and passive, but I got oppressed to the point where I was like fuck everything, I couldn’t keep the act up anymore.”
BigKlit’s currently on the horizon in the music industry, and that journey is fast moving. Having done some work with Universal Music Group this summer, it’s fair to say we are excited to see what the rest of this year will bring for the artist.
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Words: *Laviea Thomas*
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