Roach Clip: Broadway Joe Baggs | Interview
You take some Boom and some Bap, some snairs and a hard hat, and you get the one who made Manny Pacquiao quit. Broadway Joe Baggs spits jaw-breaking lyrics, with a voice like a Pitbull going for the gullet. His clever rhymes over dope Boom-Bap beats take you on a trip down memory lane. He’s toured with the best of them and recently dropped a bomb on us with “Savage Oppress.” Joey strikes down mics with God’s anger, the bar is set high with every rhythmical composition as he tries to outdo himself track after track. Do not sleep on this giant because it will be one you will regret.
What’s up who do we have on the mic?
This your boy Broadway Joe Baggs from the almighty “Society of Invisibles” Shoutout Joe Lewis. I’m here to fulfill your musical needs with that raw Boom-Bap! We do a few other things but we do that mostly.
Where does the name Joe Baggs originate from?
You have to be kind of an old head, do you remember those old school radio commercials where it was this fat white dude at a bus stop with a boombox playing classic rock? He would turn on the boombox and start doing Kid N’ Play, Big Daddy Kane style dances. That dudes name was Joey Bag O’ Donuts.
So back in high school, to break the ice I would come up and do the same dance to girls at house parties and stuff. I’d run up on them start hitting them with the “Robocop” maybe a little “Pee Wee Herman” something like that.
My homeboy saw it and remembered the commercials, so they started calling me Joey Bag O’ Donuts, which I hated at first. It ended up sticking with me and then eventually when it started growing on me, I just cut off the donuts.
What made you gravitate toward hip hop?
It’s real, honestly I can understand the words. I didn’t get into the heavier metal stuff that my brothers got into because I didn’t know what the hell they were talking about. Plus it was a reflection of what I was looking at outside. Hip hop is considered black culture, strong latino influence and details hood life, I live there as well. I didn’t go through some of the same experiences other people did. I saw those experiences that they were talking about, so I just got kind of pulled into it.
What is Boom-Bap?
Boom-Bap is that classic hip hop sound most people would refer to 80’s and 90’s style hip hop. The Boom and the Bap is the beat of the drum, the baseline, the kick and the snair. Anybody you can think of that you probably grew up on was Boom-Bap, even if was down south or west coast it was still Boom-Bap. There was still Boom-Bap elements and it focused more on lyricism, it’s always been about the beat but lyricism overshadowed it.
Who are some producers you work with?
My album particularly, I mess with The Premonist. He produced most of my album “Savage Oppress” – out of 14 songs, he did 12 of them, he’s family.
Who are some current rappers you show support for?
There’s this cat I found on facebook, his name is John Jakes from Long Island, New York. Ganjre The Giant out of L.A. that’s the homie, he’s tight! Then you have artists like Crime Apple, I mess with Griselda.
Who did you grow up listening to?
Growing up in the bay, I started off primarily with bay music. The first hip hop record I really remember is Fat Boys. But really like “wow” for hip hop was LL Cool J “Walk like a panther”, the first two Ice Cube albums, Too $hort “Short dog’s in the house”, “Shorty the pimp”, “Life is”, E-40, Spice 1, Dr. Dre, Above The Law, Brotha Lynch Hung.
What really blew my mind was when I was put on to that East coast rap. At the time it was Naughty By Nature, Redman, Nas just came out, Wu-Tang Clan was coming out, Biggie obviously, a lot of them old school cats. Growing up it’s what I listened to at the very beginning.
You ended up touring with some of them right?
Yes the best shit was in 2007 we ended up doing five dates with The Wu-Tang Clan! It was everyone except for The RZA and ODB (RIP). We did three Rock The Bells with them, then we did a show out in San Diego with them, and we did one out here (Phoenix, AZ) at the Celebrity Theatre.
Any shoutouts you want to give?
Shoutout to everyone who has been supporting me since day one, you can find my album “Savage Oppress” on all digital platforms from Tidal, to Deezer, you can find me on Youtube, I’m on Spotify, whatever! Broadway Joe Baggs “Savage Oppress.” Big ups for Having me on the Roach Clip Podcast and The Cannabis Cactus Magazine!
To catch the uncensored interview, listen to: Roach Clip Podcast Ep: 86 Soundcloud and Apple Podcast Also check out Broadway Joe Baggs freestyle on Roach Clip Podcast Youtube Page
Shoutout Broadway Joe Baggs! Shoutout Joe Lewis!