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| Big Reeno |
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| Big Reeno and Sean Kingston |
THq: Hi Reeno, can we meet you please? Tell us about your background from Nigeria, and how did the name Big Reeno come about?
Big Reeno: I'm your friendly neighbourhood rapper Big Reeno. I
was born in Lagos and went to Corona Secondary School, Agbara, Ogun State.
Ummm, the name Big Reeno was actually given to me by my older brother. I had a
wack ass rap name when I was younger, so he made me do his chores, and in
return he hooked me up with the name Reeno (laughs). I was a chubby, tall kid
at the time so I threw the word "Big" in front of it.
Big Reeno: Oh yea! Definitely. I've been writing music since I
was 7 years old. My entire family is big on music. My mom had a big music
collection. She enjoyed music from every genre possible. From R&B, to
Country, to Rap, to Classical, to everything in between. So we always had music
playing all over the house. I didn't know if I wanted to go all the way and
make music my career or if I wanted to do it as a hobby, but I always knew it was something I
wanted to do in some capacity. I'm a very strong song writer so I used to
write Hip Hop, R&B and even Pop songs at the time. The more I grew, the
more I started to focus more and more on Hip Hop.
Big Reeno: Well like I said I've been writing music since I was
7 years old but I started taking music serious and trying to make a career off
it in 2008 after myself and my producer went to a music conference in Miami. I
just saw the hustle a lot of up and coming rappers have and met some good
executives from record labels like Def Jam and G-Unit and these guys inspired
the hell out of me and let me know that I really had the talent and the skill
to make it. All I needed to do was really polish my sound and get my hustle on.
So I did (laughs).
My sound is Hip Hop period. Sometimes I'm serious on a
track and spit thought provoking stuff or just spit a bunch of lyrics and
metaphors and shit, and sometimes I'm in the mood to turn up and have a good
time, so sometimes I make records that reflect that mood. You know what I mean?
So you can never put me in a box. As regards what inspires or influences me,
I'm inspired by everything around me. I'm inspired by my experiences, by the
experiences of my friends and family, I'm inspired by good music of other
artists, and most importantly, I'm inspired by my fans. They make me wanna be
better, make better music and be the best version of Reeno I can possibly be.
Big Reeno: I've collaborated and toured with a lot of artists.
From Nelly, to Sean Kingston to Flo Rida to Taio Cruz to Jeremih to Waka Flocka
to Kid Ink, just to name a few. I've been pretty blessed. My music journey has
been great so far. It’s been a roller-coaster ride but I can’t complain.
There's a lot of artists out there that will kill to be in the position I'm in
right now so it'll be a slap in their face to complain. Funny enough, so far,
every disappointment in my career has turned out to be a blessing. It never
seemed like a blessing at first, but months or years later, It always turned
out to be a blessing. So I've learned not to question God's plan. As regards
the high & low points of my career, I can’t really say I've had any low
points really. There have been big opportunities that I've worked on that
didn't materialize and yea it sucks when that happens but I can’t really call
them low points. It's sad but you just gotta keep it moving. But when it comes
to high points, I would say going on tour in Asia with the homies Taio Cruz
& Sean Kingston and performing sold out shows with over 20,000 screaming
fans in attendance, that was definitely a high point. I didn’t even realize I
had that many fans in Asia. So to go there and see them singing my songs and
they can barely speak English, that was definitely a blessing.
Big Reeno: I have been approached by a couple big labels who
made me offers but after discussing with my team and negotiating with the
labels, I have decided to stay independent and keep doing my thing with my own
label Hustle Proof Records. The reason is a lot of record labels will make you
all kinds of promises and tell you everything they know you wanna hear and they
have no intention of following up with any of those promises. Plus they wanna
own everything from your masters to your publishing and everything in between.
This is never good because your masters and publishing is what guarantees an
artist that even 30years after your career is over, you are still gonna be
making money off the music that you put out. That’s why you see a lot of
artists who had huge hits 10-20yrs ago but are broke right now. They most
likely signed the rights to their music to the record label. So the record
label keeps making money off the sweat and talent of the artist while the
artist gets poorer and poorer. Another thing labels love to do is tell you what
kind of music to make. I can’t stand that. As an artist, I wanna be able to
create what’s in my heart without any forces telling me to do something else.
My advice to upcoming artists would be to invest in
themselves, learn the music business and know your worth. A lot of up and
coming rappers wanna make it but don’t wanna make the sacrifices, both
financial and otherwise, that they need to get themselves out there. If you are
not willing to invest in yourself and your dream, why should anybody else?
Big Reeno: Oh yea! I love touring. I love being on stage every
night performing in front of my fans. Best feeling ever! (laughs). I just love
the rush of being on stage, entertaining people. I love looking into the crowd
and seeing people singing along to my music. Most of all, I love being able to
just meet and connect with my fans. Nothing beats having that personal, face-to-face
connection with the fans. Being able to shake their hands, give them hugs, sign
autographs, take pics and all. That right there is why I really love touring.
The money ain't bad either. (laughs).
Big Reeno: Ummm, the Nigerian market is not on my radar as of
yet. Soon though. I have a lot of connects in the Nigerian music industry and I
have a lot of respect for what a lot of artistes there are doing. But I'm a big
believer in doing one thing at a time so that you don't get overwhelmed. My
plan is to first conquer the US market before spreading my wings back to Naija.
It will happen though. All in due time.
Big Reeno: (Laughs) I definitely consider myself a romantic
guy. If I wanted to take a girl on a romantic date, it really depends on if I'm
really trying to go all out or not. I might get a limo to go pick the lady up,
you know? Might even decide to fly her out of town for the night (laughs).
That's real talk though. I don’t wanna give out too much so that y'all niggaz
don't copy my shit (laughs).
Big Reeno: Hell yea I do. Me and my boys be turning up to Naija
music all the time. I love what Davido is doing, I'm diggin what Burna boy is
doing, Tu Face is the godfather, P-Square is talented as hell, Phyno gets me
hype all the time, Don Jazzy stays on point and my guys at Syndicate Records
Lynxx and Blink. I stay up to date with my Naija music.
THq: Please tell us
about work you have put out. What has been your biggest hit? Any albums out
yet, what’s the latest singles out and where can we cop them?
Big Reeno: My biggest hit so far is my track with Sean Kingston
called "Celebrate". It was a top 10 hit in Asia. I dropped a free EP
in 2014 called Watch My Indie Throne. It features Sean Kingston, Dizzy Wright,
former Puff Daddy/Bad Boy Records artist King Los and more. You can check it
out now on Spotify and on my Soundcloud page http://www.soundcloud.com/
Music video: Big Reeno ft. King Los "Home" http://www.youtube.com/
Social Media:
http://www.twitter.com/
http://www.instagram.com/
Snapchat: BigReeno
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