The Big Chill? Not to be confused with the 1983 movie about a group of college friends who came together many years later to reminisce on the life that was. My curiosity leads me to a conversation with the up and coming alternative hip-hop group from North Carolina. It’s Tuesday night, almost past my bed time.
Beforehand I think back to a fall day a few years back. On this particular day, I’m finally getting the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the grind that started years ago before this day and would continue another three years leading up to the release of their debut mixtape. As I stroll across a familiar campus (to retrieve my one-card) that seems to change and recreate itself each year, I think back to hearing stories of a studio that exist, a studio that my tuition dollars help pay for and I never got the chance to use. But on this day the studio is getting plenty of use, and it has been for some time. I finally enter a small dark room, pretending the entire time I knew where it was located.
Who are you? MC, poet, writer, host...Hustler? “The Chad” is described by his group mates as a tenacious musician. The UNC-CH and EROT alum started off recording poetry over beats. His lyrics has progressed over the years and you can hear it on each track including the remake of Alicia Keys “Unthinkable,” one of my favorite songs recorded by the MC. As for the music says The Chad, “I had to look at it from the outside in and get a lot of opinions from others.” The poetic leader and one time face of the Chapel Hill party scene has turned his focus to a group he help create and put together.
Hidden Talent. “I wrote my first verse at the age of 6,” says the producer/emcee known to the group as “Genius the Animal.” The UNC grad grew up listening to whatever his older brother had playing in the tape deck which included the likes of the Fat Boys and Onyx. Once in the dark room that day on campus, he’s playing a track for me, then he edits, then he plays it back for The Chad’s approval. I had no idea of the talent after hanging out with Q. Smith a few times during our "school daze." He credits his writing for eventually leading him to creating beats, a talent his group mates say he doesn’t fully know he has. A meek compliment of sorts for the man behind the sound of The Big Chill.
Brave New Voice. Although the last of the three to join the group, the modest 16 year old songstress exhibits a humble spirit, but an even stronger voice…with and without the music. Alicia Marie is part of a youth movement of young poets called
Brave New Voices emerging from all over the country inspiring, motivating, and creating imagination with a pen, pad, microphone and last but not least…a voice. It was at a Poetry Slam event that she was invited to come and sing by the group’s leader and she’s been down with the group ever since. When asked about her musical influences, “I would definitely have to say my uncle who was into a Tribe Called Quest,” says Marie. Lauryn Hill also influenced the vocalist and poet who placed nationally at Poetry Slam Festivals in Los Angeles and Chicago respectively over the past few years.
As I wrap up my conversation with The Big Chill on that night, the mood is light, possibly filled with anticipation as they were watching the movie “Tales from the Hood.” No music this evening as one would expect, just the thought of their mixtape and where it actually might be as they await its release. If they continue to grind and create good music, it’ll be worth the wait the next time it returns, because it just might be an album.
For more info on
The Big Chill and the release of their first mixtape titled “My Mixtape Ran Away,” visit them online at:
http://www.facebook.com/TheBigChillNC
http://mymixtaperanaway.com/ (Download a copy of the mixtape for free)
