We grow mentally, emotionally and spiritually with every success, failure, good decision and mistake. We all know what it is like to make a decision, at the time thinking it a righteous one, only to discover years later, through wisdom, growth and experience that you had a lot of maturing yet to do.
Big Lou, aka ‘The Spanish Frank White’, has grown from his shortcomings and while acknowledging them, he hasn’t let the rash decisions in his life define who he is as an artist or as a man.
Life is about legacy. The legacy of Big Lou is continuing to grow every day as a man, his music portfolio is impressive as well. His latest hit “Out This Club” is in his estimation just a peek into what is yet to come from the Camden native, but is getting a ton of spins in the clubs and on the radio, both locally and satellite. “I have nothing left to prove on the street level,” Big Lou states, “the funny sh*t, is that’s not even one of my best joints. i got sh*t that’s gonna f*ck some niggaz up in a real bad way.”
You read that quote and you might feel that Big Lou has something to get off his chest. However, the man is just focused. Focused on being a force in this industry and letting the talent that he was blessed with be an avenue for him to be able to rebuild his community from the inside out.
“I do a lot for Camden. I’m an artist who struggles and doesn’t pretend to be what I’m not. Yet every year through the grace of God, I gather enough turkeys and toys for the holidays to help my people,” Big Lou explains, “as long as I can feed 1 family, I will keep doing it.”
The name ‘The Spanish Frank White’ was not a label he gave to himself, and while he doesn’t embody all the traits that the infamous Frank White was ultimately known for, Big Lou takes pride in his heritage, his community and in his work that will help to define his legacy. “There are a lot of wannabee street cats out there who label themselves in order to fabricate their street credibility. Real street cats are labeled by the streets not the other way around. ‘The Spanish Frank White’ came from my peers and from the respect I got on the streets. With all due respect, who the f*ck am I to change that. If I ran for office I’d be called the mayor. If I had a bodega, they’d call me a grocer. I can’t change the good or the bad from the past,” Big Lou says, “I tell you what though, I much rather be a nigga who was labeled as that but helped his people than a dude who lived a clean life and as soon as he made some bread said ‘f*ck this city, I’m outta here’.
“I want to grow as an artists and as a person. What is a success anyway?” Big Lou continues asking, “Cars, hoes, money?
“If i don’t ever make a dime in this business but can look in the mirror and be satisfied by the fact that I did my best…….that to me is success. I’ll still drive through the streets of Camden in my clean Crown Vic with my head held high. I interpret success by hard work,” he continues, “the only thing I fear is fear itself.”
Big Lou’s upbringing and his lack of fear could have been the cause behind a mistake that he made that could have potentially been very damaging to his career. While initially being embraced by legendary DJ Kay Slay and the StreetSweepers, words were exchanged, pride was prominent, and a crack in the foundation was created.
“Look, I’m from the muthaf*ckin streets. I ain’t ever had sh*t. Kay Slay is a legend who co-signed me. I will always have love for that dude cause he did something for a nigga who grew up with nothing. This is a business. I have a better understanding today about some of the decisions he made, than what I had when I vocalized my disappointment in the track I recorded.
“I can’t say i would have been in a better postion if I were still f*cking with Slay,” he continues, “because my buzz feels like it’s ten times bigger since I left. That’s not to say that if Kay Slay and I were on good terms that it wouldn’t be even bigger, but I can’t worry about that.
“My reputation as one of the best lyricists in the game is well known by the masses. I need to evolve as an artist,” he goes on to explain, “if I had to do it over again, I may have chosen to focus ALL of my energy on my music as opposed to going after Slay, but at the end of the day, when you come from where I’m from you go hard at niggaz that you feel are trying to hurt you. In my case, Kay Slay wasn’t trying to hurt me directly. I just felt he could have gone to bat for me a lot harder.”
Pride became prominent. You live and learn, and at the end of the day grown men recognize their mistakes, acknowledge them and continue on their path, because every closed window leads to an opened door.
You can only place yourself in the proper position to walk through that open door and usually only truly get there when you realize that challenges and obstacles in your life are mere stepping stones to something greater. Irregardless to past mistakes, personal set backs, or bad decisions – true talent rises to the top.
So far Big Lou has accumulated just about every accolade and award that an up and coming artist can hope to collect. Now it is time for him to take things to another level. The success of his new hit single is evidence that he can make better music while still staying true to the lyrical but raw style that has endeared him to the listening public and the powers that be in the industry. “Man, I’m on some other sh*t now,” Big Lou shares, ” Out this Club is nothing but a ‘F*ck You’ statement to the industry and to those who even thought that I couldn’t make a hot record without selling out or dumbing the lyrics down. that record is getting played in Philly and jersey radio along with a ton of other cats on satellite. All of the record pools are on it.”
His last Mixtape titled, “Goya Product With A Twist Of Soul Food”, is a compilation of up and coming artists that displays what we have come to expect from Big Lou, better music. With more than half the artists on the project being of Hispanic descent.
“I fucks with a lot of Hispanic rappers. I think half the dudes on my last Mixtape were Latino,” Big Lou explains, “the Hispanic community is the most diverse community in the world. We listen to anything from Salsa to Hip Hop to Nat King Cole. We don’t discriminate. I will never distance myself from my people.
“That’s not to say that I make music specifically catering to Latinos,” he continues, “I don’t worry about being labeled. I mentioned our diversity before because if you look at the rising Hispanic rappers today, you’ll notice that they are some of the best lyricists in the game. It’s like building a baseball team with only Dominicans, I would put that team up against anybody. You give me Termanology, Chino XL, Nino Bless, Cuban Link, Famoso, Cortez, Thirstin Howl, Shabaam Sahdeeq and a few other cats and I’ll go to war with anybody.”
It has become increasingly harder over the years to identify with the ‘paying’ listening public, because the music industry has become something of a platform for careers to be made off of a good hook and a cute dance. With the underground movements and battle rap circuits fighting from the other side of the spectrum to keep the focus on what real music is truly about.
Big Lou is fully aware of what he is up against but doesn’t let the odds deter him.
“The industry has changed. We’re a ring-tone society. If you make a hot record that goes viral, you pretty much get to eat on the touring circuit. It’s a shame but the emphasis on making classic albums has died,” Big Lou states, “that’s’ why you still have to respect artists like Jay-Z and Kanye. You can still buy those guys records and not feel cheated. They still have respect for their craft (while) some artists focus on making millions off ring-tones.”
When you hear Big Lou spit and if you’re really into lyrical content or how it is presented as a package with the delivery you will hear the similarities in his style in comparison to the late, but great Big Pun. Its not anything new to the Camden native to hear that comparison, however the respect factor that Big Lou has for the achievements and accomplishments of another artist shows a humility and respect for history that some artists don’t have the courage or wisdom to display. “Big pun is even greater than people think because to be labeled a legend with only one album recorded is an incredible thing to do,” Big Lou explains, “anybody who feels hindered being compared to a legend is out of their mind. People who want to be great like me are definitely influenced by artists like Pun. Not so much by his flow, but by his greatness. If you are in this game to make a hot ring-tone, then your career will be as long as that track. If you’re in the game to change it, then you will always have murals painted in your honor.”
His focus, and rightfully so, however remains on making better music. “I just make music that pierces your soul. Great music is universal,” The Spanish Frank White says, “look at some of the greatest samples in Rap music history. They were taken from the most unexpected artists, like Hall & Oats or Frank Sinatra, some of the old Motown artists.”
