Who is Big Dave?
Is he an MC, is he the owner of KP Records, is he a member of the WideAwake Entertainment and Death Row Records family, is he an executive producer, is he a radio host or a concert promoter?
Truth is he is all these things.
If it’s hip hop related you can count Big Dave in.
HISTORY
Call it cliché or call it the norm in street level hip hop circles.
A drug dealer winds up in prison on a five year sentence for armed robbery and assault.
Inside he turns to his music resurfacing on parole to take on the battle scene.
That ex con was Big Dave and since his days on the battle scene he has gone on to become a well established piece of the Australian hip hop landscape.
LIVE SETS
Big Dave has been touring and performing his brand of Raw Australian hip hop since 2006 bombing states all around Australia.
On the road the ‘big fella’ has toured and performed with international acts like Grammy Award winners Bone Thugs N Harmony (SCEC, Canberra 2010), Tupac’s crew The Outlawz (Big Top Luna Park 2008), Kool Keith (Project X National tour 2008) and De La Soul (Waves Nightclub 2007).
Big Dave has also hit the stage with dozens of Australia’s finest local MC’s and crews.
MUSIC RELEASES
Big Dave first appeared on back yard joints, internet releases and mixtapes in 2006 and 2007 including Footlockers K1X mixtape (10,000 copies distributed Australia wide via Footlocker stores).
Big Dave’s first commercial store release hit shelves in September 2008 in the form of an EP.
The EP was titled “Raw Stories Chapter One” and was released through his newly formed label KP Records.
The EP featured production from Domingo, Grantwho and others along with a guest verse from Outlawz crew member EDI and mastering services from esteemed audio engineer John Payne.
Unfortunately this first release turned sour after local Australian distributor UK9 refused to issue KP Records with sales figures and royalty cheques forcing Dave to pull the release from sale in 2009.
Post Raw Stories Big Dave returned to his free release roots dropping MP3 singles and the underground mixtape “Loaded Dice” with fellow KP Records artists Dougy Doug and Grantwho. (Available now at kokyprik.com)
The mixtape reached downloads in the thousands with some of its singles finding their way on to Aussie radio.
Notable guest spots on “Loaded Dice” included Crooked I, The Outlawz and N2W.
That same year Big Dave featured on an official Outlawz mixtape.
Since 2009 a full length Big Dave LP has been in the works.
The LP is titled “Ready 4 Whatever” and will be released through KP Records and Wideawake Entertainment.
In February 2010 a music video and single from Ready 4 Whatever was released online.
Titled “Days Gone By” (Ft KP Records vocalist Kitty B) the song and video found there way on to national airwaves.
The song featured on radio shows Triple J and Jailbreak and the music video featured on TV programs Rage and Landed Music.
The music video also found its way on to the popular US based website hiphopblog receiving over 12,000 hits.
Speculation about the intended release date of Ready 4 Whatever continues.
VIDEO RELEASES
Aside from music and promotional videos Big Dave appeared on the underground documentary “Scene Of The Crime” in 2009.
Also featuring KP Records artist Dougy Doug the free release video detailed several true crime stories put together using interviews and location footage.
The video is available free at kokyprik.com and has reached download numbers in the thousands.
Big Dave also features in the behind the scenes music documentary “Inner Circle Volume One” along with Bone Thugs N Harmony, John Payne, Dougy Doug, Grantwho, N2W, Kitty B and more.
The video is due for free online release and possible TV broadcast in 2011.
KP RECORDS
The evolution of KP Records is real life proof that if you focus on a goal and work hard at it anything is possible.
KP Records was originally founded by Big Dave in January 2007 and since then it has gone from strength to strength.
The label has grown to include a small but diverse roster of talented Australian artists including producer/dj Grantwho (Gold Coast/Sydney), MC Dougy Doug (Canberra), duo N2W (Sydney/Port Macquarie), RnB/Soul vocalist Kitty B (Southern Highlands) and of course Big Dave himself.
With strong support (the official website kokyprik.com has received in excess of 2,000,000 hits to date), passion and a popular live show the label continues to prove just what can be done here in Australia.
In 2011 KP Records again proved anything is possible by joining the Wideawake Entertainment/Death Row Records family in a history making deal that includes fully backed distribution.
The ground breaking deal was made possible by Wideawake/Death Row President John Payne who also happens to be Big Dave’s mentor in the music industry.
With a string of upcoming releases and the backing of these industry heavyweights it stands to reason that KP could well be the next big thing in Australian hip hop leading the way for the next generation.
PRESS COVERAGE
Since he first picked up a mic Big Dave has been a regular feature in the Australian media featuring in some of the biggest newspapers, music magazines, websites, radio and tv stations.
Some of these include; Rage (ABC TV), National 9 News (Channel 9) , J-TV (ABC TV, Triple J (ABC Radio), The Sunday Telegraph, The Herald Sun, The Australian, The Canberra Times, Back2Basics Magazine, 3D World Magazine (Big Dave was a 3D World Mag Urban award winner in 2007), BMA Magazine, HipHopblog(dot)com, Ozhiphop(dot)com and many more.
COMMUNITY WORK
“Behind The Walls” – A human rights initiative created by Big Dave to give the inmates of Australian prisons a voice in the greater community.
The project is best known for letters allegedly smuggled out of Supermax prison in 2007, the event made national headline news.
Big Dave has continued to represent for the boys inside as regular guest producer and host of the nationally broadcast radio show “Jailbreak”.
The program is dedicated to inmates, families and those caught up in the justice system.
“The Workshop” – A youth based hip hop program targeting at risk teens that was created and run by Big Dave.
The program was run in conjunction with a school in the Canberra region and aimed to use hip hop as a vehicle in getting a positive message of hope to kids that needed it.
