What’s your stage name and where are you from?

My name is Big O, born in ATL, raised in Birmingham, and currently living in London.

What’s the story behind your stage name?

My name comes from an old friend of mine, since I was pretty much the tallest friend she’s ever had. She gave me the nickname Big O back in ’08, and fast forward a year later, when I was in college, everyone I met on campus was calling me Big O, and it just stuck from there.

Describe your musical journey in three sentences.

It started when I bought 2001 in ‘99. When I heard “The Next Episode” in 2000, it sparked something in me, and I’ve been making music non-stop ever since. My style has kept evolving over the years.

Share an interesting experience you had while creating your latest track.

With this album, I wanted to do something different. I was going through my discography and said to myself that I want to make something I’ve never done before. The more I was deep in the creating process of this project, the more I was doing things that I haven’t done before. For instance, with the songs “Sounds of Broken Pieces” & “Still Standing.” With “Sounds of Broken Pieces,” that was purely sound design of glass shards triggered to sound like a synth and the programming of the drums on “Still Standing” took me almost 3 weeks to perfect.

What message do you want to convey through your music?

Basically, I want listeners to take away from this is not to be afraid to try something different. Push yourself to that untapped potential inside of you, and that you don’t have to always announce when you’re about to do something. Sometimes silence is key, and your actions will speak louder than your words.

Tell us about a challenge you faced during production and how you overcame it.

The drums on “Still Standing” took me awhile to perfect. I just kept putting my patterns together piece by piece and didn’t care how long it took because I was determined to make something that was HBCU inspired.

If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?

As of now, Lupe Fiasco, K. Dot and Ab-Soul. Their storytelling and rhyming are amazing, and it would be a dream to have them on a track with me in some way someday.

Where do you see your music taking you in the next year?

Performing at bigger venues and working with more established artist.

What’s the next big step for you as an artist?

More awards, performing at bigger venues and taking my artist with me to another level.

Where can we hear/watch your most recent work?

You can hear my new album “When it’s Not Said, But Done” and all my other tracks on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, YouTube, and Bandcamp. Just type in Big O.