Rest In Peace BIG MOEAUG. 20, 1974 - OCT. 14, 2007
Big Moe (born Kenneth Moore) is a singer / rapper from the heart of Houston, Texas. Unlike most of the Houston rappers, who tended to offer a harder approach like hardcore or gangsta style, Big Moe offered a slow and calm style. He both raps and sings called rappsinging, and his producers craft smooth, melodic tracks that bounce along at a leisurely pace.
Like many of the Houston based rapper Big Moe began his career freestyling and making flows on DJ Screw's mix tapes before going to Wreckshop Records. Wreckshop Records released the Big Moe's debut album, "City of Syrup" in (2000). "City of Syrup" album featured his single, "Mann!" that Moe intended to be the South Side's answer to Black Rob's East Coast hit "Whoa!". After a year and half later, Moe returned with his second album, Purple World in (2002). It offered a who's who ensemble of Houston vocalists, two versions of Moe's breakthrough single, "Purple Stuff." Priority Records distributed the album, ensuring that it would be everywhere, from the street corners of Houston to the Wal-Marts of suburban America. Even MTV gave Moe's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory-themed video a few rotations. He has been featured on songs with Pimp C of UGK, Z-Ro, Lil' O, Southside Playaz, and Big Pokey AND Mike Jones. Big Moe is also in talks to make appearances in the up and coming cartoon series Pablo and Victor where he will play himself.
As one of the founding member of the Original Screwed Up Click, an elite group of Houston based rappers who were discovered by Texas DJ legend "Robert Earl (DJ Screw) Davis, Big Moe featured on countless of his legendary DJ SCREW grey tapes, S.U.C. which caused recording artists such as Big Moe and The Original Scrwed Up Click to become a vital part of Houston’s thriving underground. Big Moe's patented combination of rapsinging has made him one of the most popular independent recording artists in the Deep South. In addition to having one of the region’s most successful independent albums, entitled City of Syrup, which sold a whopping 200,000 units and counting. When it comes to recording features and hooks, Big Moe is one of Texas’ most sought after artists. In fact according to many of the artist he has worked with, a Big Moe feature can garner an independent artist many as 20,000 additional sales in Houston alone.
Now with the release of Purple World, Big Moe is took his unique blend of southern hip-hop and R&B to a thirsty nation of music fans.
Born and raised in South Houston’s notoriously impoverished third ward, a place Big Moe describes as a “typical ghetto,” the MC says he experienced more that his share of lean years.
“I grew up kinda hard,” recall Moe. “At the place where I once lived we used to use the kitchen stove to keep the whole house warm. I remember one time when the stove broke and we didn’t have no heaters, so we got together in one room and used two or three space haeaters so we could keep warm. It was real hard back then, man, real hard.”
But Moe was able to escape many of the pitfalls that trap many young men of color in the ghetto through his love of music, which he pursued with passion and began his career as a singer.
“Before I really got into the solo rap thing, I was in a straight R&B group called Second Verse. We met up in 1990 and fell apart in’98. We were signed to this dude Chris Morris who played with the New Jersey Nets. Everything was going good at first, but then something happened and the whole thing went down the drain.”
After seeing his group disband due to internal strife, Moe thought that his career in music was virtually over. Moe took a job as a bouncer at a popular Houston nightclub where he met Houston’s mix tape king DJ Screw, who put him back in the spotlight.
“I had a cousin that DJ’ed every Thursday night at this club where I was a bouncer. DJ Screw started working there also and we used to hang out with him, help him bring his boxes in and stuff like that. So one day, he let me hare a demo of his album that was going to come out commercially. I was playing an instrumental from the tape and started singing a rapping some lyrics I made up Screw heard me singing and said, ”I am going to take care of you if you hop on the album.” So I hopped on the album and the album did real well and everybody wanted to know, who was that dude singing?”
The song that Big Moe did was called “Sipping and Codeince,” from Screw’s classic debut LP 3 in the Mornin”. It was the first time Moe’s voice was heard on tape and soon after he was a regular on Screw mix tapes kicking his lethal combination of rap and song. In addition to blazing mix tapes, Moe paid his dues to the hip-hop chitlin’ circuit, doing shown for as little as $150.00 per night. While many of his fellow Houstonites were making far more money, Moe wasn’t complaining. He was doing something that he loved to do and building a loyal fan base to boot—a fact of which many Houston labels took strong notice.
After being bombarded with offers from labels all over Houston, Big Moe remained steadfast and loyal to DJ Screw, with whom he had hoped to sign. But after Screw informed him that he wasn’t interested in running a label, Big Moe pushed on with Screw’s full blessings. He eventually inked a deal with the hot new Houston crew at Wreckshop Records.
"I used to hang with Noke-D over at Wreckshop all the time. I used to hop on ESG albums. D-Reck knew that I was real with it. After I did a few songs with ESG, people started feelingin me, so I winded up doing shows with ESG and I'd have it crunk. D-Reck used to be at some of the shows and he saw how i had it crunk like ESG and that's when D-Reck started to see the big picture." Moe signed with Wreckshop in 1999 and the following year dropped his solo debut City of Syrup. This album sold over 200,000 units and created the biggest buzz Texas has seen since the arrival of the Geto Boys' 1990 classic Grip It On That Other Level. The sucess of City of Syrup, in addition to a number of other successful Wreckshop releases, ignited a firestorm of interest amongst the majors to snap up D-reck's burgeoning independent label. But of all of the labels that came to the table, Priority, who had such phenomenal success with Master P's No Limits label in the '90's, was the one that walked away with the deal.
Purple World was Big Moe's national debut LP on Wreckshop/Priority, and based on the sound of it, it promises to be his biggest record to date. Produced by Wreckshop's in-house production team Platinum Soul, which consists of Noke D and Salih, Purple World illustrates the Texas lifestyle better than any other record. For example the lead single "Purple Stuff" is a light-hearted, laid back, bass laden jam celebrating the joys of sipping on sizzzurp. "Purple is my favorite color. That is the color of the car I drive. Plus I am from the City of Syrup. This is where it comes from so I feel like I have to represent it. That is what 'Purple Stuff' is really about." Another song that reeks with good old fashion Texas flavor is "Cash," featuring UGK's Pimp C. Built around a choppy intoxicating beat and a pulverizing bass line, Cash is guaranteed to keep heads bobbing. Before his passing, Big Moe was in the studio recording preparing to do a mix tape project with fellow OG S.U.C. member Big Pokey.
On the date of October 14, 2007 at 3:00pm God took Big Moe home to glory. The family would like to state that " Just because God didn't choose to keep him here, it was not because he wasn't able. It was because he he chose to bring him home to rest !"
Thank you to all of his loved ones, friends & fans for all of your prayers and support during this difficult time.
Cool Stuff at BlingJam.com
Cool Stuff at BlingJam.com
