The classical musician Contraband Bigz finds hip-hop as his true forte

Being a choir member and saxophonist at a young age was Contraband Bigz’s version of a musician until he set foot in Stephen F. Austin State University. The Texan hip hop artist had discovered his ‘hidden gem’ and polished it to gain a spot in the industry. By then, he was able to launch his own label called “Contraband Music Group” in 2014. The next thing he found was his song “Whole Lotta Money” being featured on “Str8 Drop 1”.

The sound of this little success echoed to his city, Houston which attracted local artists such as Mr. Wired Up and Rai P following a collaboration. As a result, “Str8 Drop 1” was extended to Contraband’s follow-up project called “Str8 Drop 2” with the release of a single entitled “Skrippaz”. 

From 2017 to 2019 Contraband, familiarized himself with the industry at The Enclave and had rapidly had a grasp of it. There, he engineered at night and worked on his project “Str8 Drop 2” at once. At this time, “Back Then” and “Nawfghanistan” was hitting the stereo while he engineered for some of the best artists.

In 2020, he released an extended play entitled “Dope Tales” and just a year later the album was launched. Contraband produced greatly in three years into this new album featuring artists such as JStead, T$Kezzy, and many more.

Building himself 

Before finding his presently treasured talent, he first laid his hand on saxophone and played it on their school band. His aunty Theola was the person behind the motivation to pursue this as a way of building himself as a musician.’

Apparently, this was one of his best decisions because it brought him to a lift in getting himself involved in the wider world of music. He joined the school choir where he remembered to pick up the song “War with Us” with a combination of organs, vocals, and flutes that harmonizes together. His good understanding of vocal and instrumental music theory gave him an edge in which he was able to maximize his potential in doing something he always wanted to do, “rap”. Producing and engineering followed after all while in high school.

Aside from his aunt, he was also inspired by underdog stories. Contraband supports and pays attention to an individual that has a point to prove. As such, he could relate himself when they go absolutely the hardest in some ways. 

He is a Kanye West and Daft Punk fan but still listens to people like future (Life’s soundtrack). For variety which is a vital part of his sound, he likes Ellie Goulding, Paramore, Owl city, and Skrillex just to name a few. 

His rap sound is molded by rappers that both rap and sing like Bizzy Bone, Chamillionaire, Nelly, and many more. He is a Houston-born and a musician grown from the influence of the harmony of Devin the Dude, Big Hawk, and Big Moe.

All factors play a part for him. However, classical music has left a huge mark on his music either jazz, rock, soul, or doo woop. In the track “Opps” for example, he used 16th Century instruments. Being from the South also made his sound naturally 808 and percussion-based with tales of life yet angelic in harmonies inspired from other genres of music, such as tracks like “No Letting Go” and “Put It on Me”

More than a sound but a vision 

Contraband has been working on his latest project “Dope Tales the Album” for some time now. It started around 2018 with a vision of producing an album from start to finish. Even though he was surrounded by awesome producers, he wanted to be hands-on on the project because it would sound different from all he had already done before. From there, he started on a material that became his “EP”. This album continues that vision. After the song “1way 2swang” was made, he assured me the album was ready.

Working on music since then and on this album with a strong sense of vision made him learn an important thing he wanted his fans to learn as well.

“Keep Pushing.” 

Most of his music is about working and overcoming because that is his story. Even before making a name for himself in the industry, he had always put so much effort into winning the obstacles he faced. People may not be usually inspired by artists nowadays, still, he wanted to cater to the audience that caters to him just as he expected from other artists that inspired him.  He shares inspirations in our daily lives through his tracks such as “Be careful” which listeners can live with because his audience is his main focus. It took time for him to realize such an important lesson as an artist. 

On top of that, he wanted to relay the message in his songs that people don’t fear missing out. They fear being an outcast. Even if they don’t ‘like’ they are still going to try to ‘fit in’ so I just thought to 

“…do it for the people that love it. The others will come later just to fit in.”

The song “Round Me” was written to express to his haters that wanted to be a part of the masses.

Loving Contraband more? Be updated on his social media accounts: Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, and Spotify. You can also check out “Dope Tales the Album”.