A lot can be said of Lil’ Jon’s patience. Years before he was the Crunk kingpin that was parodied by Dave Chappelle, revitalizing careers for Ice Cube and E-40, he was a studio rats for So So Def. On So So Def All-Stars volumes, fans hear a pre-sunglasses Lil’ Jon as well as one of BME’s brightest artists today, Bohagon.
Between releasing his single “Wuz Up” and grinding on mixtapes, Bohagon plans to follow Jon’s steps to the limelight. With his Georgia Durt group and label, Bo’s got big plans, even before his Warner Brothers-distributed, Sunday’s at the Bootlegger hits shelves. But as the Atlanta underground of yesteryear continues to strike big numbers in the mainstream, Bo knows what he’s got.
AllHipHop.com: What’s up with you?
Bohagon: I can’t call it.
AllHipHop.com: What’s been going on with you, what projects are you working on right now?
Bohagon: I’m in the lab cooking up this album. I am about 85% done right now. It’s going to be some of the most amazing music the world has ever heard.
AllHipHop.com: Why are you taking that risk and saying that?
Bohagon: I feel like I got something to offer to the game. It ain’t all about trying to make a couple mil’. I bring good music to the game; I have great music.
AllHipHop.com: I’ve been a personal fan of yours for a while; tell the people how long you’ve been rapping?
Bohagon: About ten-15 years, I first been rapping [as a] semi-pro. I first hooked up with [Lil’] Jon in 1997 or 1998. At the time, we were working for So So Def, on the So So Def All Stars, Volume 2 and Volume 3. He kept me under his wing, I signed with BME like 2003, officially. Even before then, unofficially, I was with him.
AllHipHop.com: From 1997 to 2006, what has changed about you, your lyricism, your swagger, how would you compare yourself in ’97 to now?
Bohagon: I’ve learned a lot of other things outside of just rapping. I’ve learned how to perform, I learned how to construct songs, I’ve learned how to construct albums, I’ve learn music in general. I appreciate other forms of music. I extended my musical mind.
AllHipHop.com: Who were your influences?
Bohagon: I grew up on the greats. N.W.A., Too Short, E-40, UGK, and 8Ball & MJG. Coming closer to home, Outkast, Kilo, on that Southern rap.
AllHipHop.com: When your album drops, what is the flavor people can kind of expect from that?
Bohagon: See, the thing about Bohagon is that up until this point, I always featured on other people’s songs and albums. For the most part I was doing songs and not 100% Bohagon on the song. At the same time that made me versatile, it made me able to do all different types of music; gangsta music, pimpin’, conscious. Being featured with other artists allowed me to do a lot of different things. On the Bohagon album, you can expect a lot of versatility. I am going to do all different kinds of music. On this day, I might feel like baring my soul to the world, on the next day I might feel like some gangsta s**t, on the next pimpin’, after that I might feel like arguing with my girlfriend. I feel the best artists, their music contradicts itself. You never know what you are going to see from one day to the other.
AllHipHop.com: From your perspective, what do feel is the biggest problem wit Hip-Hop?
Bohagon: The biggest problem with hip-hop is the fact we make so much money off of it. Hip-Hop music is like an assembly line, instead of people being artist; the record company make you do what made so and so so much money. The artist they want to do what the person ahead of them did because they feel like it’s going to make them some money. The worst part of music is the assembly line aspect of it.
AllHipHop.com: With that said, who would you consider one of the better new artists within the last year, year and a half?
Bohagon: I am a big fan of Kanye West and T-Pain. There are a couple more cats that I appreciate but those pop up right now.
AllHipHop.com: What is your album to be entitled?
Bohagon: Sunday’s at the Bootlegger. I got a song on there with Bun B. I got my BME family, Lil Scrappy, big brother Jon, he produced a track. I got some produced by Bangladesh; I got a song with Jagged Edge on there. Drum Squad, E-40; it’s going to be amazing.
AllHipHop.com: Besides the album, what do you consider some of your major accomplishments in life so far?
Bohagon: Participating on a lot of other peoples stuff. I did the hook to “Damn.” That’s my voice on there. Even before I came in the game as a solo artist, I had participated on hits. I got my on label called GeorgiaDurt, I got some artists. I was able to line up a lot of different things, sit down and peep the overall game to see what I needed to bring to the game.
AllHipHop.com: What kind of music can we expect from your group Georgia Durt ?
Bohagon: It’s actually 100% of the music Bohagon wanted to do. Being in the music business a lot of times I never got to do 100% me. So, Georgia Durt is going to be 100% me. It’s going to be me more behind the scenes, but still in front.
AllHipHop.com: What’s the one thing you want to have definitely accomplished while you walk this earth?
Bohagon: One thing give the people some good music that they can appreciate. Be a good father to my kids, good son to my mama. I want to put myself in a position to take care of my family forever, stable financially forever. That is about it.