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10 Questions with ... Big Boy
December 9, 2014
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
I started radio in Los Angeles on Power 106 doing overnights, moved through all the time slots to mornings, started national daily syndication in 2007.
1. What excites you when the mic goes on every morning?
Knowing that people are listening to you. You know what I'm saying? That possibly someone is smiling and you're having a good time. I always tell people that when I'm in the Neighborhood and if I can make Krystal or Louie laugh or somebody in the Neighborhood laugh, then I know that somebody outside is laughing.
So just really being able to come on every day live and crack that mic, you know, people say "oh I enjoy you, you got me through such and such", but it's also therapeutic and funny and everything else to us also, you know.
2. What was probably the highlight of your last meeting with Jimmy Steal about the show?
I'm not a ratings guy, but when you see your ratings, and they tell you, the ratings in the morning or the book or the station overall, it means a lot in our world, but it doesn't mean a lot to me.
Of course you always want your show to be successful, but I'm not really a numbers guy. But when we're winning, I love it, so...that was my last great sit down with the Sensei....
3. Looking back to getting your start in radio, what surprised you about being on the air?
People knowing who you are. You know what I'm saying, and not like in a bad way, but it's crazy because even up until this day, I still turn on the microphone and I have these moments where I'll say "Man, people are listening to us." You know, and God willing, I'll never get used that, but just that feeling of first coming on or somebody saying "oh yeah, I listen to you" and they know your name, or they know what you do, or they check for you, that was always...not strange to me, but that was always amazing and I still get amazed by it right now.
4. What would you like to do more of in The Neighborhood?
I don't know, because we have an extremely large yard to play in. With PPM, your talk segments are a little bit different, I would like to talk more, but the formula that we have now, it shows that it works, you know, I think the yard that we have is a big yard to play in, and we get a lot of freedom here at Power....well, with the Neighborhood, so there's not too much that I wish that I could do that we're not doing
5. Any radio regrets?
Radio regrets.... No, not really.....everything is a learning process, you know. Not regrets, but it's just that...not being able to separate business and personal things, you know what I'm saying, and I think I'm getting in a position where I can start to separate them a lot better than what I used to. They're not regrets, but it was a lot of tuition into the school of experience.
6. Who are some of your favorite in-studio guests?
Favorites? That's hard, because when people come to the Neighborhood it's like, for one, we're not forced to do any interviews, so anyone that I sit down with, is someone that I want to sit down with. So already, you've kind of cut the line with us liking you. But Will Smith is always great energy, Wiz Khalifa is great energy, Jennifer Lopez is great energy, Usher, ... I mean I can go on... Busta Rhymes.....
Yeah I can go on and on with so many different names but I mean, that number is astronomical. I've been at Power for years and there's not one guest that I say "Oh that's my favorite guest." We've got plenty that I really enjoy seeing a lot.
7. You've done some acting here in Hollywood. If you could be a regular cast member on a current TV show, which show would you love to be on?
Oooh man, the shows that I watch, I wouldn't want to be on. You know what I'm saying, because I watch like "Locked Up" I don't want to be a deputy inside of a jail, and I don't want to be an inmate.
I watch "Beyond Scared Straight" and I don't want to be a teenage juvenile having somebody yell in my face, you know, I watch "Dateline", I don't want to be the person that they find floating in the ocean somewhere.
I don't watch like the "Sons of Anarchy" and all those kind of shows where it's like, "I would love to have a part on that", I'm really a documentary guy.
I really like reality, not reality like "Basketball Wives" and stuff like that, but like "Dateline", like news driven shows. I really enjoy those kind of shows.
What about a CSI?
I would do a CSI, stuff like that, and I just got on CSI Los Angeles as far as watching it. I would do those because challenging.
I could be the funny radio guy all the time but I want to be the guy that, if there's a script, people say damn, you brought that. You know, where I'm crying and snot coming out of my nose and (sniff sniff), a couple of those, I don't know how you're gonna spell that but make sure that gets in there. (laughs)
8. What do you like to do in your spare time?
Stay with my family. I love to hang out with my wife and kids, you know what I'm saying, any free time that I can get, I love going home. I love being at home with my wife and my kids, man. If there's any free time, I spend that free time with them. I try not to go anywhere else.
Ten years ago, would you say that was your answer?
No, not at all. Ten years ago, it would've been "I like to travel", which I still like to, we just can't travel as much because the kids are in school. Everything's got to be when they're on Thanksgiving, Spring Break, so on so forth, but if I could, I would get up an just go.
I used to enjoy that so ten years ago, that would have been my answer and ten years ago, if you would've told me that I would say "I like being at the house with my family", I would have been like, "Man, who is that guy?" You know?
9. Would you be open to a Big Boy and/or Big Boy's Neighborhood reality TV show?
Not at all. No, because we are a reality radio show. I don't think.....well, Big Boy's Neighborhood reality show, possibly, if it's done right. You know what I'm saying, but you also gotta be careful of how much you let people in.
Because people are always on some...."Oh, I can't believe they said that about us" and all, but you know, we allow people in too much sometimes.
I think I want my radio show, to be the radio show. And you know, we get hit up about Television shows all the time but it's just gotta be done right where at the end of the day, you don't mess up your Big Boy brand or your Power 106 brand or your radio brand.
And sometimes man, it's like, you can go in, and for one season somebody done learned something about you in one season that they didn't know about you for years, and you can't take that back, you sign it off to any....you know, channel, without saying any names, you just kind of sign away your rights and I'm not with that. I'm a brand protector.
10. As a seasoned radio vet, got some sage advice for someone looking to break into morning radio?
For one thing, you gotta be you, and I know that sounds so cliché, but the one thing you want to do is, before you work on any kind of radio or you want to be this next radio person, you got to make sure that people like you. You know what I'm saying, if they don't like you, then no one wants to be around you. You become more problems than profits. So I always tell people when they say, "Oh, how do I get into radio, how do I...." I say, build your character first. Not characters like Phonetaps and Luther Luffeighs, I'm talking about....character is what's being said about you when you're not in the room.
And you never know who's gonna be the person that will hand you the next opportunity just because you were a good person. I do good radio and people enjoy me because...I feel like I'm a good person.
If I had been the janitor at Culver City high school, then people would be like, "Man, that's a cool ass janitor", and I would've been the best janitor. You know what I'm saying, but I would've been one of those guys, that integrity and character, would have always been first and foremost.
So when people say, "Oh I wanna become...." of course, the regulars, work hard, try to stay outside of the box..... you know those things. But the one thing that you gotta understand also, is that, you gotta be a good person first. Because you could be more problems than profit, and a person won't put you in a position.....like when the Baka Boys put me in a position, it was like when Rick Cummings was like "Who's this guy", so on and so forth, they said "Man, that's Big Boy." You know what I'm saying?
People co-signed for you.
Yeah. They could've said like, "Oh yeah, he's funny but you don't wanna be around him." or "He's scandalous." or you know what I'm saying? So then, my character would have outweighed anything else, you know, "he's funny' he's this, BUT"
That "BUT"......you know what I'm saying? Nikki Minaj, that's a big ass butt, you know what I'm saying? (laughs) You want to be careful about your "BUT's"
Bonus Questions
What do you think makes Big Boy's Neighborhood special?
It's us, man, you know what I'm saying, it's like, what you get on the mics, is what you get off the mics. We don't go into a phone booth and have to change into these personalities that we are.
Krystal is Krystal, Louie is Louie, Big Boy is Big Boy, Luther Luffeigh is in his box, so I think that what you hear on the radio, as soon as we turn the mics on, it's no "characters" to it. That's just us and I think that we get a head start because all we gotta do is be us, you know, and people feel like .....you know, they enjoy it so.... I mean if there's a benefit to being able to just be ridiculous and crazy, and out there, then here we are, Big Boy's Neighborhood.
Yesi Ortiz has a record out, DJ Carisma has a record out, Felli has released several records. When do we hear the next Big Boy featuring ____, _____ & ______? Who would you want on your record with you?
Top of the year. I don't do the "big guys", you know what I'm saying? Like "oh, I got Rick Ross" I got great relationships but Big Boy Music is more....cats that I want to find. You know what I'm saying, if I do put them next to somebody like a Wiz or something like that, that's cool, but I want my guys to get their legs first.
We had a good run with TAYF3RD and Garret Douglas for "A OK", and it did its run, so 2015, we're just kind of stretching out right now, for the rest of the year we're stretching out, and we're getting ready for next year.
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