Ain't Worried 'Bout It
rap crew Big Business make a grand statement on new 19-track album
Eric Christenson, photos by Andrea Paulseth |
The name Big Business isn’t as capitalistic as it seems, but the sounds and effort pouring out of the Chippewa Valley-based hip hop crew is anything but small. The dedicated group of rappers is more prolific than ever, and they have a huge album out there to show you what they mean.
It’s called Rise Of An Empire, released in June, which is a pretty apt summation of what Big Business is trying to accomplish. Just take this hook from standout track “Aint Worried Bout It”: “Big things popping, soon as Big Biz talk about it / If we ain’t talking bout it, we ain’t really worried / Haters gone hate, but we ain’t really worried bout it / Make no mistake, you know they heard about us.”
It’s a good mantra for anyone trying to perfect their art in the competitive world of hip hop, but these guys really excel at it at a high level. Rise Of An Empire is 19 tracks long full of breathless verses of grandiose words hitting haters where it hurts, but talking with Raymond Clayton (Mistah) and Scott Carey (Scarey), you can immediately tell that they’re doing this not for the money, or for pomp and circumstance, but simply because it’s what they love to do.
Clayton is an especially dedicated rhyme-writer, and he’s been doing it for as long as he can remember.
“I would freestyle and rap when I was 10 years old, recording on a karaoke machine on karaoke songs on cassette tape,” he said, with a laugh. “I would notice that I could memorize songs easily. I started doing it myself, started writing, and I never stopped. I just write cause I love it.”
While Clayton carries the weight of the beat production, on Rise Of An Empire, Clayton and Carey – the original founding members of Big Business – trade hard-hitting verses throughout with new addition King Shake The Wizard (Mike Purnell), while occasionally being joined by friends and collaborators like singer Bethany and ROAMM.
I mentioned this group likes to go big; heck, it’s even in their name. The final track on Rise Of An Empire is an 8-minute long burner called “The Empire Has Risen,” which sees the collective of emcees taking long strides into verses which make impactful statements over a synth-y, trap-infused beat. It’s an appropriate closer, and feels like a cathartic banger (who knew that existed?) as the album comes to a close.
Polishing the album at Pine Hollow Studios, even the studio owner Evan Middlesworth couldn’t resist singing a few hooks on Rise Of An Empire. The whole thing is extremely collaborative and there are lots of different hip hop styles at play here. Carey said they don’t want to pigeonhole themselves into a specific brand of hip hop. They’re influenced by a lot of different styles, and want to make whatever comes naturally.
“We all kinda brought our own thing to it,” Carey said. “When people ask what kind of rap are we or what kind of music we make, it’s hard to tell them.”
Rise Of An Empire has been out only for a few mere weeks and already the crew has big plans for solo albums – from Mistah, Scarey, and KSW respectively – befor they drop another group record. So yeah, Big Business is right.
These are young, bright rappers with all the potential and ambition in the world. Let’s just see how it plays out.
Check out Big Business on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Google Play, Amazon Music, or pick up a hard copy of Rise Of An Empire at The Local Store.
