In the wake of the social unrest in 2014, music has become a catalyst for the voice of the movement: D’Angelo blessed us with Black Messiah after a long 14 year wait, biding his time for when the moment was right and when the music was needed. Kendrick Lamar unleashed To Pimp a Butterfly just last week, easily one of hip-hop’s most socially invigorating records of the previous decade. Hip-hop has always served as the vessel for the voiceless, and at this point in time, the cries are demanding to be heard. Rapper Big Pooh joins in that movement with Words Paints Pictures, his debut record with independent label, Mello Music Group. The project, borne as a response to the 2014 murders of Michael Brown, Eric Gardner and the events that followed, is a collection of stories and truths that depict the ills of what it means to grow up and be black in America. Similar to that of D’Angelo, Kendrick and many others, as a seasoned veteran of words and rhymes, Pooh presents Words Paints Pictures as a piece to add fire to the movement that aims to flip the public perception of black culture on its head in the hopes that change will come. We had a chance to sit down with Pooh and talk about his music and his thoughts, click through to read the full feature.
