Big Pooh

Thomas Louis Jones III (born February 12, 1980 in Virginia), better known by his stage name Rapper Big Pooh, is an American rapper, who, along with fellow rap artist Phonte, is a member of the acclaimed North Carolina hip hop group Little Brother. In addition to numerous records and EP's by Little Brother, Pooh released a solo album in 2005 entitled Sleepers to positive critical review.[1] Furthermore, he has been guest featured on numerous tracks by other artists. Big Pooh also appreciates basketball and has served as a guest writer on a basketball blog.[2]

Big Pooh
Jones performing in Atlanta, Georgia in March 2008
Background information
Birth nameThomas Louis Jones III
Also known asRapper Big Pooh
Born (1980-02-12) February 12, 1980
Fairfax County, Virginia
OriginRaleigh-Durham, North Carolina
GenresHip hop
Occupation(s)Rapper
Years active1998–present
Labels6 Hole, Atlantic Records, For Members Only, Mello Music Group
Associated actsLittle Brother, Phonte, 9th Wonder, Chaundon, Lute, Black Hippy

Biography

Being inspired to pursue Hip-Hop by lyricists such as Nasir Jones and Ice Cube, Big Pooh first got his break by Beni B of ABB Records. [3] He had been pursued by most of the major labels for about a year. He ended up signing to Atlantic "because the independent label we were signed to, ABB felt Atlantic was the best route for them as well as us". His deal with Atlantic ended in 07.[4]

In January 2007, in response to the departure of Little Brother member, co-founder and main producer 9th Wonder, Pooh stated in an interview that "there are no hard feelings and no beef", adding that "this is just a decision that had to be made so all three of us could move forward and continue to provide the world with dope music."[5]

In 2007, Rapper Big Pooh appeared on the Little Brother download-only mixtape entitled And Justus for All, which was released free on the internet February 13, 2007, mixed by DJ Mick Boogie.

In 2009, he released a new interim "street" album, The Delightful Bars, with four slightly different versions of the album available, including one iTunes exclusive "Candy Apple" edition which contains 13 tracks, each featuring different artwork showing a nude model sprinkled with candy.[6][7][8] The video for the album's lead single, "The Comeback," features a kitchen scene with Pooh surrounded by women preparing ingredients, baking and packaging "Delightful Bars" candy bars.[6]

In early 2010, Rapper Big Pooh released The Purple Tape for free download. This mixtape features Rapper Big Pooh rhyming over Detroit producer Black Milk's instrumentals from a collection released years ago using Prince samples, hence the "Purple" reference. This is also a reference to Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx album that was released as a purple cassette tape, garnering the name The Purple Tape.

In January 2014, Rapper Big Pooh signed a two-album deal with independent label Mello Music Group- the record label that's also home to Oddisee and Kenn Starr.[9] The first release will be an album produced entirely by Virginia producer Nottz, while the second project will be an EP produced by the label's production roster.[10]

In the 3rd quarter of 2014 Rapper Big Pooh started an NBA podcast with co host's Drew Hepburn of Asheville, NC and Vince Poe. The podcast is titled "Pooh on Sports NBA Podcast". Rapper Big Pooh had previously had a podcast and sports blog similarly titled "Pooh on Sports". The podcast was announced via his Twitter account in September 2014. The duo is planning a global release of the show on January 1, 2015 following the New Year and what many consider the "true" beginning of the NBA season. The show runs 1 hour in length and features as many as 8 segments per show. The show has caught the eye of many notable names both in the hip hop industry as well as in professional basketball, notably J.E. Skeets formerly of The Basketball Jones and currently of The NBA TV Show The Starters. It is rumored now that the show will feature both interviews and guest host spots from some of the biggest names in Hip Hop. The show is also rumored to have been recently picked up by a large internet radio station.

Rapper Big Pooh graduated from South Lakes High School in Reston, Virginia in 1998.[11]

Discography

Albums
  • Sleepers (2005)
  • The Delightful Bars (2009)
  • Fat Boy Fresh Vol. 1: For Members Only (2011)
  • Dirty Pretty Things (2011)
  • Fat Boy Fresh Vol. 2: Est. 1980 (2012)
  • Fat Boy Fresh Vol. 3: Happy Birthday, Thomas (2013)
  • Fat Boy Fresh Vol. 3.5 (2013)
  • Trouble In the Neighborhood (2014) with Roc C[12]
  • Words Paint Pictures (2015) with Apollo Brown[13]
  • Home Sweet Home (2015) with Nottz[14]
  • Everything 4 Sale (2016)
  • RPM (2018)

Mixtapes
  • Rapper's Delight (2008)
  • The Purple Tape (2010)

With Little Brother
Main article: Little Brother discography

References
  1. Prefixmag.com Review
  2. Jones, Thomas "Pooh". My Informal Introduction: Meet Rapper Big Pooh: Musician, wordsmith, basketball fan. Now, SLAM’s newest blogger. Slam Online. 16 March 2010.
  3. https://twitter.com/rapperbigpooh/status/1261808450193031168?s=21
  4. handsonhiphop Interview
  5. "Brian Kaiser Interview". Archived from the original on 2009-04-02. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
  6. Tullis, Eric (2009) "Rapper Big Pooh's The Delightful Bars Archived 2014-03-23 at the Wayback Machine", Independent Weekly, 8 April 2009
  7. Lee, Frazia (2009) "Big Pooh Delightful Bars (North American Pie Version)" (review), Metro Spirit, Issue #20.37 :: 04/08/2009 - 04/14/2009
  8. AbduSalaam, Ismael (2009) "Little Brother’s Big Pooh Preps New Solo Project Archived 2009-04-22 at the Wayback Machine", Allhiphop.com, 19 March 2009
  9. Kyles, Yohance. "Rapper Big Pooh Signs New Deal With Mello Music Group". article. allhiphop.com. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
  10. Baker, Soren. "Big Pooh Signs With Mello Music Group & Set To Release Project With Nottz". article. hiphopdx.com. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
  11. "South Lakes High School". Public School Review. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
  12. "Rapper Big Pooh & Roc C Discuss Upcoming Collaborative Album". 2dopeboyz.com. 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-02-22.
  13. "Premiere: Rapper Big Pooh Announces New EP And First Single "Stop"". xxlmag.com. 2015-02-03. Retrieved 2015-02-06.
  14. "Rapper Big Pooh & Nottz "Home Sweet Home" Release Date, Cover Art & Tracklist". HipHopDX. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
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