It’s not every day you hear of an emcee who can stroll into New York City from out of town and straight command respect. Big Lou did just that, and within a matter of months was rolling with Kay Slay and connecting with some of the heaviest hitters in the industry. And although, in true Hip Hop fashion, he’d rather battle Fat Joe on wax than in an alley, don’t mistake it; Lou ain't one to be pushed around.

Hailing from one of the most violent cities in the country, Lou is bringing back that gritty, raw, street feel that’s been lacking in rap music these days. Going hard at Fat Joe on the lethal "Elephant’s Nightmare" diss track is just further proof that Big Lou is all about his longevity and keeping Hip Hop, well, Hip Hop.
Not just a studio emcee, Lou has proven on several occasions that he can murder his opponents in a freestyle too-- just peep one of his many YouTube videos. As far as signing to a major label, Lou says, “We in negotiations now…if a major offers something good then we’ll run with it. But if we can do it independent then [we’ll do that too].” But after selling 3,500 copies of his first independent album in his small hometown of only an eight square miles, we have a good feeling that Big Lou won’t need to depend on a major label to see success. DXNext goes down to South Jersey, across the murky waters of the Delaware River, where a new breed of artists is in development.

Name: Big Lou.

Age: 29.

Repping: Camden, New Jersey.

Who Is this guy?: Making noise across the Tri-state area and beyond for the past two years, Camden’s golden boy [known as "The Spanish Frank White"] is one of Kay Slay’s newest additions to the Street Sweepers team. “He saw me perform at that this one show and I killed the show bad,” Lou tells DX, “I’m from Camden [New Jersey] and I went to New York and just went into it. He saw me do my thing and he jumped on stage…offered a stack [of cash] to anybody who could battle me…nobody raised their hand. So that kinda set the mark…he was like wow…it was a done deal from then." Since then, Lou has opened up for acts such as Freeway, Mobb Deep, KRS-ONE, Papoose, Remy Ma, Jae Millz, Busta Rhymes, D-Block, Saigon and many others, proving that he’s definitely one to watch for in '08.

Influences: “My sister was a singer, my uncle played the drums, my real dad - even though I never knew him- I heard stories that he was a crazy drum player. He played with a popular band out here called Grancombo back in the day…I came from a background of Latin music… Then my other brother who used to deejay, he put me on to Rakim and all of them…”

Dream Collaborations: “I’d wanna do a 'Symphony 2008' track…like the old track with Marley Marl on it, with Big Daddy Kane on it, Rakim, KRS-ONE, Kool G Rap….they never all got on a track together so I’d like to make history with them on a track. Then from the south, of course my man Bun B, Ludacris, Scarface…”

His Recipe for Quality Music: “I’m into that real Hip Hop. I respect the south, but I’m more into Common, Talib Kweli, Rakim…you know, when music was real… real Hip Hop. My formula is the legendary classic cats.”

On Growing up in Camden, New Jersey: “I was the same as any other ghetto kid; it was hard. Where I’m from, it’s a poor neighborhood and everything’s a struggle, but its nothing people in the hood can’t handle…we adapt pretty good. So I ain't gonna make a big story outta it. It is what it is."

On His Diss Track Towards Fat Joe: “I respected Fat Joe but then…my man was in Miami and he called me up [and said] 'Fat Joe asked me if I knew Big Lou…he said he was gonna wire your jaw!' So I’m like, 'What is this dude talkin' about?' So I get on the horn wit' Kay Slay. Slay said let him be. So I let that joint ride. But then a month later we in Philly, and someone called me on the phone like, 'Yo, Fat Joe’s here.' [And in the background I hear someone ask Joe] 'What you think about Latin rappers?...What you think about Joell Ortiz?” He said, 'Joell Ortiz is aight.' Then they was like, 'What about Big Lou?' and he said 'Oh that muthafuckin’ Big Pun clone? Yo, fuck that nigga.’ I don’t even know this nigga! I respected Fat Joe for what he did in the game, but at the same time, after he did that shit, I lost all respect for him as a man. If he felt some type of way about me he shoulda came to me and [said that]. He a grown ass man, he coulda reached out to another Latino coming up in the game instead of talking reckless. Continued on page 2 »