Big Grams
Oct 1, 2015
Big Boi and Phantogram released their debut self-titled "Big Grams" EP on September 25 via Epic Records. After sharing the collection's first track "Fell In The Sun," they've followed it up with the official single, "Lights On." The Phantogram duo dominate the production and the vocals as Josh Carter crafts a brooding and spacey instrumental for Sarah Barthel's voice to gently float over.
"It's a new project. It's not Phantogram; it's not Big Boi. It's a whole new idea," Barthel explained about the collaboration. "We wanted to have a time where we could not stress about the 'Phantogram sound' or collaborating on a hip-hop record. We wanted to experiment and have fun with it. The main focus of wanting to do this project was to do things that we wouldn't normally do anywhere else. This was a good platform for that because it's less judgmental to think about it in that way."
In December 2010, Big Boi, one half of famed hip hop duo OutKast, accidentally discovered the electronic duo, Phantogram, consisting of Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel, when hearing their single "Mouthful Of Diamonds" in a pop-up ad. Big Boi shared the song on his website as the "Jam of the Week". Barthel saw the post and contacted Big Boi, which led to future collaborations. Big Boi's 2012 studio album "Vicious Lies And Dangerous Rumors," included three tracks featuring Phantogram: "Objectum Sexuality", "CPU" and "Lines."