Train of Thought
BigXthaPlug on “Mmhmm”
Interview: Aleia Woods
Editor’s Note: This story appears in the Spring 2024 issue of XXL Magazine, on stands now.
“I just went, bought a watch with a whole lot of diamonds/ To show all these n***as it’s my time/Took a trip out to Cali to hang with the Crips, make a play and get high off that zaza/I say, “RIP Kobe,” a n***a so fly, when I ball, I’ll f**k around, skydive/So much chicken on me, could’ve went bought a Williams, a Rudy’s, a big-ass Popeyes/And a whole different bracket, this life is immaculate/If you hit me for ’bows, then you know that I’m taxin’/Keep buying clothes, that s**t still in the packages/If he say that he robbed me, he cappin’ then/Really know n***as throw sevens like Kaepernick/You not blind, then you see that we havin’ it/Known in my city, so no, I’m not average/Came a long way from dope in the cabinet/N***as know that I step (uh-huh)/And the gang that I rep (uh-huh)/Went to Solomon, iced out the 10, put 600 on all of our neck (uh- huh)/Paid in Full like Mitch (mmhmm)/Really havin’ this s**t (mmhmm)/Got off of that step, started rapping and six months later, I’m rich (mmhmm)/N***a know I’m a stepper, I step with some elegance/All these n***as I’m with is some felons/And strapped with a post, so I hope that you heaven-sent/If they spin, make ’em wish that they never spinned/Most of these n***as is hoes, they be telling it/Man, I’m finna take over, I’m stampin’ it/ How you bang this? Hit that cell and ain’t reppin’ s**t/Left your dog in that rain and ain’t help with it/How is you solid? You ain’t never dealt with it/You see me, I come different, I’m blessed with it/Went got the Rollie, it go with my necklace/30 for both, you could die if you mess with it/Can’t do the show if it don’t got a check with it/These n***as po-po, I swear they irrelevant/Hatin’ like I don’t know that’s really jealousy/ Knowin’ they mad that they no longer next to me/N***as know that I step (uh-huh)/And the gang that I rep (uh-huh)/Went to Solomon, iced out the 10, put 600 on all of our neck (uh-huh)/Paid in Full like Mitch (mmhmm)/Really havin’ this shit (mmhmm)/Got off of that step, started rapping and six months later, I’m rich (mmhmm)”
XXL: “Man, I’m finna take over, I’m stamping it.” Why do you feel people should take heed to the movement you have going on?
BigXthaPlug: With that bar, it was just kind of like some, Yeah, I been let y’all do what y’all do. I let y’all drop y’all music. But nah, I’m claiming it. I done let y’all do what y’all did and I still don’t feel like y’all have overcome what I done overcame. This me, I got it. That’s kind of what vibe I was on right then.
“Hatin’ like I don’t know that’s really jealousy/Knowin’ they mad they no longer next to me.” How do you identify the snakes in the grass before it’s too late?
You really can’t. That’s why they’re snakes and that’s why they’re in the grass because they’re real good at hiding. I just try to do best by people, hoping that they do the best by me, but not all the time you catch it. And so, once you finally catch it, you just gotta hope whatever bite they bit you with is not venomous and that you can overcome it.
“Went to Solomon, iced out the 10, put 600 on all of our necks.” How important is it for you to look out for your home team?
I was finna stop rapping. I was finna go back to what I was doing before. If it wasn’t for the people around me, the ones that I put those chains on, I wouldn’t be still rapping. I did it by who I knew was solid since day one. Who ain’t never did nothing wrong by me. I’m not the type to ask nobody for nothing. So, the stuff that people do do for me and that they have done for me, I remember it because it’s rare that I even get help.
Listen to BigXthaPlug’s “Mmhmm”
Read BigXthaPlug’s interview in the Spring 2024 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now. The new issue also includes the cover story with Gunna and conversations with Metro Boomin, Danny Brown, Teezo Touchdown, 42 Dugg, Jim Jones and Maino a.k.a. Lobby Boyz, That Mexican OT, BabyDrill, 41, Rapsody, actress La La Anthony, Rob49, Reuben Vincent, singer Tyla and producer Tate Kobang. There’s also a look at how social networking has a chokehold on rappers’ feelings, how hip-hop in 2024 is experiencing more wins than losses, and the ways in which kid rappers are thriving thanks to social media.
