The Mid-West has always been a melting pot of cultures. Cities like Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Chicago have always been instrumental in the development of the United States. Kansas City, Missouri is no different. The Jackson County city which is the largest in the state happens to be home to a lot of amazing people and great things, Big Court being one. Thissomebull.com recently caught up the former rapper turned podcast host to see what he’s been up too over the recent years. Decades later, Big Court is the true definition of it being NO LIMIT.
TSB: Introduce yourself to our readers.
Big Court: I’m Big Court and I’m a TV/Film Producer, content creator and Executive Producer and host of Holdin Court Podcast.
TSB: Tell me about growing up in Kanas City, Missouri.
Big Court: I grew up an only child in a single parent household. I was a precocious child raised on love, not survival. I was raised by strong educated women so education was a focal point as my grandmother would make me read the dictionary and quiz me on the spelling and definitions of words. I wasn’t even allowed to use Ebonics or say “ain’t” as my grandmother would often correct me. I was an artist and I loved to draw and right my mother poems. I was an athletic kid and avid basketball player, but my other love was BMX Freestyle. As an adolescent I had dreams of being sponsored by Mongoose or GT and to someday design my own bike frames.
TSB: Being an only child, who did you look up to as a kid?
Big Court: Growing up I was an obsequious Mama’s Boy, and I had no shame in it! My mother was my end all be all. But if I had to say, I looked up to my Uncle Ed. He was from Gary, IN and was married to my Aunt and he was the epitome of an Alpha Male. He played for the Chicago Bears briefly and he didn’t take no shit. I remember him being cool, loving, and funny but also hard and a disciplinarian too. I recall him always keeping a .38 Special in his little purple Crown Royal bag.
TSB: You started music early, tell me about some of your earliest musical influences.
Big Court: I grew up in a musical household, so I grew up digging in the crates and playing my mother’s records. I grew up listening to Confunkshun, The Gap Band, EWF, Cameo, Alicia Myers, Luther Vandross, Prince, etc. Before hip hop became a thing as the early days of MTV didn’t play Black Music, I would listen to Duran Duran, Hall & Oates, Foreigner, and Culture Club. As a kid growing up in the 80’s you couldn’t help but have an eclectic ear for music.
But my first hip hip musical influence was Ice T “Squeeze The Trigger”. That was the record that made me fall in love with primarily gangsta rap as the hardcore acts like Eazy E, NWA, Geto Boys, and Kool G Rap would inspire me to start writing raps in class.
TSB: KCMO, has always been a major staple in the independent music business, how was it being a part of the rap scenes early development?
Big Court: It was difficult in the 90’s because studio time was very expensive, and the process of producing music was much more involving. You had to have a little money to produce an adequate sounding demo or album. The good thing about that era was it wasn’t as saturated because everybody couldn’t do it.
Vell Bakardy was from KC and signed with Rick Rubin’s Def America in the early 90’s so that gave me a glimmer of hope that a career in music could be a reality. Of course, Tech N9ne and a hand full of others were doing their thing but it was Rich The Factor that connected with JT the Bigga Figga and brought the independent game back to KC.
TSB: You shopped your music to some legendary companies in the early 90’s, even was in talks with Ruthless Records. How did you get the attention of No Limit Records?
Big Court: Persistence! I sent several tapes to No Limit when they were headquartered in Oakland, Ca. I would call Master P’s business line and intentionally fill up his voicemail with messages of how my group CCG was the next big thing! My tactics worked and he finally called and flew us to Oakland to do Down South Hustlers. That was 1996.
TSB: Some people may not realize you’ve been the right-hand man to Master P for so long because you had a major change in appearance, how was that transition?
Big Court: Well, I moved to LA in 2002 and Master P moved to LA about the same time. Even though I was down with No Limit, I always had my own identity and business ventures outside of No Limit. Another contributing factor was that I wasn’t on social media for many years so if you weren’t directly connected to me, you didn’t know the moves I was making. Everybody remembered me as Court Dog when I looked like the 6th member of Bone Thugs N Harmony. But once I re-emerged on social media some 15 years later, I was Big Court and had put on 50lbs of muscle! It’s always amusing to me that even till this day, people are still making the connection that Court Dog is actually Big Court!
TSB: Talk to me about your latest venture, the “Holdin’ Court” podcast.
Big Court: I got my first experience about 5 years ago with a show on Playboy Radio called “Doin The Most” with Master P and J Tweezy. It was J Tweezy that planted the seed and would encourage me that I had an untapped skill set. During the pandemic I would watch Gangster Chronicles, Drink Champs, Vlad TV, etc. and these platforms inspired me to create Holdin Court Podcast alongside Producer Ken.
I wanted to create a platform that could be inspirational and move the culture forward in a positive direction. I’ve had guest such as J. Prince, Master P, Ice T, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Michael Jai White as well as popular social media influencers Crip Mac, Boskoe100, and Watts Homie Quan. We talk about the journey of life, music, culture, the streets, and trending topics. I like to describe Holdin Court Podcast as a perfect blend of Black Excellence and N***a Sh*t. Both sophisticated and gritty all in one!
TSB: What other ventures are you currently working on?
Big Court: Master P and I partnered on a supplement called Tru Body Milk which is a healthy meal replacement and will be in grocery stores soon. I have an autobiography/self-help book I’m writing called “Chronicles Of A No Limit Soldiers” and I just signed on to play in a new movie being filmed in Atlanta this summer. I also have a new YouTube Series titled “Urban Street Legends” that interviews major street figures from every city to share their past stories of life in the drug game, prison, redemption, and the positive things they are doing in their communities presently.
TSB: How can people contact you?
Big Court: People can follow me on IG @iambigcourt and @holdincourtpodcast. Also Subscribe, Like, and comment on the Holdin Court Podcast on YouTube. (https://www.youtube.com/c/HoldinCourtPodcast)
In the 90’s it was music, today its podcasting. No matter the task Big Court is frontline with no hesitation. Once a soldier, Now a five-star general. Big Court has put in enough work to kick his feet up. Instead, his future proves there is no slowing down for the man that is proud to be from Kansas City, Missouri, not Kansas.
Conversation conducted by: S.L Jackson (For more info www.1sljackson.com Santoine@thissomebull.com)
