ATLien Big Boi touched down in the Converse Rubber Tracks studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Tuesday night to showcase selections from his new album Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, due out December 11. Before Sir Lucious Left Foot a.k.a. Daddy Fat Sax took the stage, DJ Cutmaster Swift, assisted by a drummer and electric bassist, hyped the crowd to the tune of OutKast favorites “Rosa Parks,” “B.O.B.,” and “SpottieOttieDopalicious.” “Alright, where the fuck Big Boi at?” DJ Swift inquired before a host announced: “Grammy award winning, diamond selling — you realize that, diamond selling….Ladies and gentleman, let’s welcome Big Boi to the stage!” Donning an army fatigue jacket and shades, Big Boi entered, a medallion glinting against his chest. To follow up on our original listening session in July, here are four more things SPIN learned about his upcoming album.
1. Big Boi is Born Again
A$AP Rocky is fighting demons on the first verse of the Organized Noize-produced “Lines,” but Big Boi pays homage to the Most High: “Was born in West Savannah, Georgie then I was born again like the baby in the manger / I gave my life to Jésus because he could protect me from the dangers / In the circle of angels, just to help me sign my halo.” Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel floats in and out of the storytelling track and steals it.
2. The Album Includes Several Songs About the Ladies.
“I know it isn’t too conventional / But it’ll do until I get you in the physical,” Big Boi raps on “CPU,” a cosmic synth-funk song about an online love affair, also featuring Phantogram. Big Boi’s caught up in a broken relationship on “She Hates Me” featuring Kid Cudi: “I’m late, I just put the key in / It would probably be straight if she was European / She’s not, she’s hot and mad as she can be.” He celebrates someone special, rapping at top speed on “Apple of My Eye.”
3. Big Boi’s Still a Hometown Boy
“The monitor’s down in here,” Big Boi announced as the live band vanished. Patiently bobbing his head perched on a chair center-stage, Big Boi eventually got up and danced with a drink in hand, arms outspread as if toasting to the crowd. The DJ continued playing tracks via laptop as Big Boi emphatically rapped along to “In The A,” a hometown collaboration with T.I. and Ludacris on which Luda boasts: “Got chicks huggin’ my nuts like a Speedo / ‘Cause when I’m on the mic I go for broke like T.O.”
4. He Raps About Onesies
General Patton spits like he’s got something to prove on “The Thickets,” the album’s intro and the final song he played for the Williamsburg crowd. “It seems just like yesterday, where did the time go? I’m giving you the best that I got / Anita Baker rhyme flow… Divine flows / So radio catch on like zombies, come alive hoes / Like a litter full of puppies or a baby with a onesie on.” As the session came to a close, Big Boi thanked Def Jam and told the audience: “I don’t wanna give it all away, I still want ya’ll to be surprised when ya’ll go to the store to get that shit or download it illegally.”
