Tuesday Q&A: Big Moochie Grape

Among the key contributions Young Dolph made to hip-hop was sharing the spotlight with up-and-coming artists. Prior to his tragic death in 2021, the rapper and entrepreneur spent years building up his Paper Route EMPIRE imprint with not just his own releases but those from others out of Memphis. One such artist, Big Moochie Grape remains deeply grateful for what he gained and learned from associating with the man, regardless of what others in their city thought about it.

"People didn't like Dolph because he was independent," he says matter-of-factly. "He was shitting on everybody. People didn't like that, so they ain't going to like the seeds he produced."

Beef and ill will aside, Big Moochie Grape can't be bothered with how others perceive him and his affiliations. Having grown accustomed by necessity to hard living as a child, he took to the streets to make money, a lifestyle that led to imprisonment at a relatively young age. But as his PRE mixtapes like East Haiti Baby and the recently-released Eat Or Get Ate 2 demonstrate, he grew into the man he became because of those experiences. If nothing else, it gave him an extraordinary amount of confidence, so much so that when prompted he likens himself to an epic cinematic hero.

"I like Planet Of The Apes," he says. "I've always been a leader–my whole life–and Caesar reminds me of myself. Caesar lead the pack, and that's what I was doing back in my day. Still doing it."

CABBAGES: What made you return to Eat Or Get Ate to turn it into a series with producer Bandplay?

Big Moochie Grape: It's just like how I was feeling at the moment. Going over the track list, and it was like, this gives me Eat Or Get Ate vibes. So that's why I'm going to just make a Part Two. "Crip Blue Hundreds" gave me an Eat Or Get Ate vibe. It was just the right introduction. What I'm saying on the song and the beat, everything. This song was just perfect to go where it's at. "Manifest," "Bigg Azz Bands"–everything on there got an Eat Or Get Ate vibe.

I ain't gonna lie; me and Bandplay, like, we the Terrible Two. I'm open to work with anybody else, but it's like Bandplay just know me. He know what I like and he know my speed and my sound. That's why you hear a whole lot of Bandplay and me.

On "Never Come Second," you talk about your youth. Do you feel like those experiences shaped you as an artist?

It is really just me telling my life story. At first, I never thought I was going to be a rapper. I never had rap dreams. I never pictured myself being in front of microphone rapping or on a stage. That wasn't my deal. But God works in mysterious ways. That was just my hidden talent and I went ahead. Once I tried it and it kept going, I ain't had no choice to keep going. It started going good for me.

Music, obviously, has since become a very positive force in your life. What kind of songs were you hearing when you were younger that were inspiring to you?

It was just, go get you some money. Basically, that's all it was: the money, the money, the money. But then once I got around Dolph, it became more than just go get the money. It was a couple more things come with that.

You have this very distinct tone and flow when you rap. And Memphis artists seem to develop these voices that are either regionally specific or otherwise unique. Did that come natural to you or is that something you worked on as you were developing on your craft?

It most definitely came from working on my craft. I started getting the beats and some people already said, oh you already talk fast. So I put two and two together to make it four. Everything made sense. Then I'm thinking, ain't nobody else rapping like this. I done tried slower songs. And I'd go out and listen to it and be like, take all that off. I'd go back in there and do it fast and it'd sound way better to me. But I got a couple songs that don't rap it slow. The first Eat Or Get Ate, the intro, I switch it up.

You've got a few guests on Eat Or Get Ate 2, including your Paper Route EMPIRE label mates Key Glock and Kenny Muney. But there are non-PRE artists too like Money Man. What was it like working on "No Favors" with him?

Money Man is my boy. Money Man is a genuine person. Anybody genuine can always link with me, because I'm the same type of person. Even though I know he got what he got going on, he busy on his end, I'm busy on my end. But we still call each other. If I need him to get on a song, he'll get on the song. And if he sent me a song, I'm sending the song right back to him. That's how me and Money Man work.

Memphis has this amazing history as a hip hop city. Have members of the older generation of artists from the city reached out to show you love?

No, not really. Project Pat hit me up a couple times before, back in the day...

I'm not worried about nobody trying to link with me. I'm not even worried about all that. I could do bad by myself, know what I'm saying? I don't need features. I don't need niggas to reach out. My music is still growing and still doing its thing. With Eat Or Get Ate 2, ain't no artist that post me like that, but that's a whole 'nother story. I'm not tripping on that neither. I do me, know what I'm saying? I'm big gigantic, man. This is all I got to say. Self-explanatory. I'm not worried about nobody else.

My fans know I'm hard. Everybody know I'm hard. If you never heard of me, then once you listen to me you'll be like, oh I became a fan now. I got that big impact on people. I'm Mr. Don't Miss. I don't make bad music, so I don't need to go get this person and this person and this person to get on the song with me. I can do what they doing probably even better on the song. Just me by myself.

So what's next for you? 2025 is coming right up. Where's your head at for that?

I'm going to do my first album. It's going to be called Gigantic. Like, y'all getting Big Moochie Grape with the mixtapes, but y'all finna get Big Moochie Big Moochie, you know what I'm saying? It is time to dig in deep now with this one. I'm already working on it, and oooh I got some cold, cold shit on now. I ain't gonna lie. It's finna shock everybody. If people was ever sleep on me–they were supposed been woke up by now! From Eat Or Get Ate to East Haiti Baby to East Haiti Baby: Incarcerated to Eat Or Get Ate 2, if you ain't heard none of this, you most definitely don't know good music and you most definitely sleep. But hey, man, we still going to get to it.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Cavalier & Child Actor, CINE

(buy it / stream it)

When this ominously energized year finally ends, don't be surprised to find Cavalier's Different Type Time crop up within the upper reaches of the annual Best Of lists–this one included. As if his direct-to-consumer Quelle Chris team-up Death Tape 2 wasn't already ringing in discerning ears, here comes a second Backwoodz Studioz effort from the NOLA transplanted Brooklyn native. And it's that New York pedigree that makes CINE such a remarkable rap album, its city-seared themes gently burning the brain. He wastes no time in his allotted half hour, reminiscing about a colorful youth on opener "Sojourn" and memorializing the street corner hustle on "Knight Of The East." (Dubbing himself Lex Luthor Vandross on highlight "Gifted And Talented" ranks among the best flexes in recent memory.) From a lyrical and vocal perspective, the clever "Dassit" has all the trappings and charm of a late '90s Noreaga single, but its degraded jazz beat gives his wordplay substantially greater weight. Credit on that is due to his production cohort Child Actor, another Backwoodz familiar who justifiably co-headlines here. Much like he did this year for ELUCID, Navy Blue, and Previous Industries, he provides his emcee associate a robust foundation full of small details and grand gestures.

Roper Williams, Too Beautiful To Die

(buy it / stream it)

A fixture of the NY/NJ underground, enigmatic producer Roper Williams has landed on some of 2024's dopest projects, not the least of which being the bewildering Fatboi Sharif set Something About Shirley. Given recent placements with AKAI SOLO, Nolan The Ninja, and Your Old Droog, it makes sense that this mostly instrumental Q4 album drop includes features by some of the finest spitters around. LORD JAH-MONTE OGBON picks up the pace over the submerged soul of "Good Together," while Lungs reliably double-times it for the otherwise beauteous "Act Like U Know." Repeat collaborator YL luxuriates in the CEO glow of Williams' gleaming "Glitch" and the stirring "Only" with Blu. Beyond the guest list, he contentedly showcases his sonic adventurism, starting with the slow paced soul of "Lies" and capping things off with the post-disco meltdown "Take Me With You."

Three new tracks to snack on...

miles cooke, "sangria"

freespottie, "clocks"

Ghais Guevara, "Camera Shy"