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S1 E20 | Twista

01:11:32

DJ Scream and Big Bank share nothing but “Big Facts” in their podcast, as they chop it up with today’s popular figures in the entertainment industry.

On this episode of the “Big Facts” podcast with DJ Scream and Big Bank, the crew sat down with Twista to discuss a slew of things like his unique and unmatched rapping style, his hometown of Chicago, and more.

Twista is the fastest MC in the world. In 1992, he even broke the Guinness world record for being the fastest rapper alive due to his ability to drop 11.2 syllables per second.

So, why would one want to pick such a challenging task? Twista explained that it was simply because he wanted to try something different — outside of the style he was already displaying. “I got into it early in Chicago doing my thing, and I just felt like it was a little before my time…what I was doing as far as the music. I started battling around the neighborhood and stuff like that once I got pretty good,” the rapper revealed. “I always wanted to keep elevating, and I remember the moment when I said, ‘Okay, I don’t want to make this next rap a battle rap. Let me try to come with a style or rhythm.’ So, I started getting into cadences, rhythm, and style. So, that’s what sparked me to start triple up a word and start messing with the style.”

The 47-year-old also gave his thoughts on the new crop of rappers coming out of Chicago as well as their new sounds, including drill music, which he called “a proud moment.” “I remember coming up and feeling the music wasn’t as good from my city, and then I remember — fast forward — just looking around and listening to all of the artists and being like, ‘Man, all I hear is dopiness from my city,’” the rapped expressed. “Every time I look up and see a new artist coming, they coming with it on a whole other level.”

However, along with the increase of new artists coming out of the windy city, the crime rate has also risen. When asked what he feels could be done to reduce the violence in his hometown, Twista said it’s not just Chicago, but all inner cities across the nation. “There’s no one answer, but definitely funding put into the proper sections will definitely help because a lot of the kids need something to do,” he explained. “They come outside, and they see all the wrong stuff, and that’s what they emulate… you got all these undeveloped minds seeing all this gangsterism, and that’s what they’re going to go to.”

The emcee also had some strong opinions on firearms. Mass shootings have seemingly ramped up since pandemic restrictions began to loosen up in recent months. Twista feels that education is critical to getting somewhat of a handle on the increasing gun violence not only in the Chi, but in America in general. “A lot of the times when you think and see guns, the first thing you think is ‘Let’s try and get rid of [them].’ So, I think a lot of times, we have to be educated in the right way when it comes to firearms, and it changes our perception a little bit,” he said. “Situational awareness, paying attention to what’s going on around you. Knowing when to be somewhere [and] when not to be somewhere. And then just education — better infrastructure on how things are.”

The rapper revealed that he became more interested in gun safety during quarantine. As a result, he became a concealed carry instructor— both in the USCCA and NRA — and he has the ability to issue licenses.

Merging over to the topic of “clout culture,” the rapper admitted that he was shocked by how far some folks on the internet will go in order to get 15-minutes of fame, and questioned whether people genuinely understood the meaning of the word. “Clout is something to be respected for. You used to get clout with your talents. It was something fly about you, not something stupid about you,” Twista explained. “A lot of times like now, you could do something stupid and get a certain type of clout, it ended up coming back on you when you look at it in the long run. But, I just think people put theirselves out there too much.”

Twista also feels as though folks have become too comfortable with revealing specific details about themselves and getting “too used to the cameras.” “You will literally hold up an illegal gun in the camera and not think anything is going to happen to them,” he said. “That clout game is a dangerous game right now, and I think we need to educate ourselves a little bit more on how it used to be when it came to talking too much.”

As always, if you liked what you heard, stay tuned every week for another episode of “Big Facts.” Also, don’t forget to watch the latest show above!