The Adventures of Bobby Ray
An interview with B.O.B
Sean Ryon
Issue date: 11/20/09 Section: A&E
This past Thursday, November 19, Atlanta-born emcee B.o.B, ne Bobby Ray, came to Lafayette for a free Lafayette-Lehigh Rivalry concert. In May 2008, the 20-year old rapper signed to T.I.'s Atlantic Records imprint Grand Hustle. Later that year, he was named one of XXL Magazine's Ten Freshman of the Hip-Hop's Class of '09. With a number of critically acclaimed mixtapes already under his belt, including his most recent release B.o.B vs. Bobby Ray with Don Cannon and DJ Green Lantern, B.o.B is preparing for his debut studio album B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray for an April 2010 release. I spoke with B.o.B this past Tuesday about the guitar-slinging emcee influences, how he mediates his personal creativity with an easily accessible sound and why he's a veritable "alien" in the hip-hop industry.
LAF: How do you approach a live performance? I heard once you made someone in the audience cry, and I was just wondering, what's your mentality with a performance? Do you view like it's a party or do you use it as a chance to connect with people?
B.o.B: I try to ensure that everybody in the building is having the absolute most fantastic time of his or her life, and if not that, the most memorable experience. I've had a few people cry at shows. Even at one show, my manager cried on stage and actually came out on stage and it was like, you're just really in the moment and it's not really tears of sadness. It's really tears of joy because that's the type of energy that can accumulate when it's just really high energy. A lot of people let go of stuff and sometimes when they let go of it, they cry. Pretty much, I never really know. I kind of just have the best expectations and I play off of the crowd, and most of the time, the crowd is very excited. It's not that difficult for me to meet them halfway.
LAF: Does your performance dynamic change at all when you go from a big venue to smaller venue like Lafayette College?
B.o.B: It does kind of change at smaller venues. I'll talk to the crowd more because I'm so close and it's really personal. With the larger venues, you kind of have to speak to the crowd as a whole and kind of perform to them and still be connected to them. Honestly, I like intimate shows better because of the fact that they're more personal. Really, I just love performing. Seeing people have fun is really the goal. I get to play music and perform for people. But if they're not really enjoying it, then it doesn't really mean that much to me, but the fact people can enjoy it is the main thing.
LAF: How do you approach a live performance? I heard once you made someone in the audience cry, and I was just wondering, what's your mentality with a performance? Do you view like it's a party or do you use it as a chance to connect with people?
B.o.B: I try to ensure that everybody in the building is having the absolute most fantastic time of his or her life, and if not that, the most memorable experience. I've had a few people cry at shows. Even at one show, my manager cried on stage and actually came out on stage and it was like, you're just really in the moment and it's not really tears of sadness. It's really tears of joy because that's the type of energy that can accumulate when it's just really high energy. A lot of people let go of stuff and sometimes when they let go of it, they cry. Pretty much, I never really know. I kind of just have the best expectations and I play off of the crowd, and most of the time, the crowd is very excited. It's not that difficult for me to meet them halfway.
LAF: Does your performance dynamic change at all when you go from a big venue to smaller venue like Lafayette College?
B.o.B: It does kind of change at smaller venues. I'll talk to the crowd more because I'm so close and it's really personal. With the larger venues, you kind of have to speak to the crowd as a whole and kind of perform to them and still be connected to them. Honestly, I like intimate shows better because of the fact that they're more personal. Really, I just love performing. Seeing people have fun is really the goal. I get to play music and perform for people. But if they're not really enjoying it, then it doesn't really mean that much to me, but the fact people can enjoy it is the main thing.
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