A Complete Breakdown of Roc-A-Fella Founder Biggs’ In-Depth Convo With ‘RapRadar’
It’s difficult to sum up everything that Kareem “Biggs” Burke did for Roc-A-Fella Records and its artists in one single blog blurb. For average rap fan, he might just be a name you’ve heard associated with Jay Z and Dame Dash, but for real rap historians, his place in Roc history is just as important as Hov, Dame and any of the rappers that hafe flourished under their tutelage.
He was there from day one when Jay was still shopping for a deal, and he was there when the company they started sold for $30 million some odd years later. The New York City native has traveled the world as a quiet business man and mogul, survived the streets, served time in prison, brushed shoulders with A-List celebs, made millions — and so much more.
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In his first in-depth interview since returning home from prison, Biggs opened up to RapRadar like never before. Here, you’ll hear a true veteran of the music –and street hustle — discuss his new clothing venture, 4th of November, and talk pretty candidly about everything he has been through while creating Roc-A-Fella Records. I’d say the Roc was probably one of the most influential things in my life as a teenager.
1. Biggs’ Early Entrance into the Clothing Business Stems From A Failed Meeting With Iceberg
“I started wearing Iceberg in ’94, Jay and them got on it in 1995,” says Biggs. Apparently, they went to have a meeting with the heads at Iceberg in hopes of getting some clothes for a Jay Z video shoot. Iceberg denied them any clothing. This is what sparked their whole idea for Rocawear.
“We knew what the kids were wearing because at that time we were the consumers,” says Biggs about their early success. They eventually linked with some Russian businessmen who were helping out with Wu-Wear, and then started their own brand. But Biggs says starting clothing lines, liquor companies, etc. were all things he discussed with Dame before Roc-A-Fella even started. Biggs jokes that their own amusement park was probably one of the only business ventures that they didn’t discuss.
2. Biggs’ New Clothing Line 4th of November Is Just the Beginning of His Upcoming Ventures
With the launch of his new brand, Bigg says this just the tipping point. With his own branding company also in motion, he has plans for 4 more clothing lines and a number of other businesses. The name, 4th of November, stems from when he spoke to a childhood friend of his about doing the company. Their convo touched on a poor couple from Ecuador who met on the 4th of Nov. (this couple worked in fashion) — and they ended up launching the company on the Nov. 4. Currently, they are in Footaction’s top 30 stores and have sold out consistently.
3. He Actually Came Home From Prison Months Prior to His First Clothing Event
Despite the fact that a lot folks thoughts Biggs just came home when he did his first events for his brand, Biggs had been home for 6 months already but wanted to keep a low profile and spend time with his family. He also had to complete a halfway house program.
Biggs says he spent a lot of time in prison reading and working out like many do. But he also spent time building with the guys in there, and his views of the prison system changed drastically. It motivated him to want to work with a< a href=”https://newcanaansociety.org/about/” target=”_blank”> non for profit program to provide support to men behind bars
4. Biggs Says He Was Definitely Recognized in Prison
He says a lot of people knew who he was in prison — from prisoners to Corrections Officers. But it wasn’t all love, Biggs dealt with also dealt with hate while serving his time. He did his 5 year sentence between Louisburg, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Pennsylvania.
But he admist he never gave prison a thought before getting caught up.
Admittedly, he says he took his sentence as a slap on the wrist because if it would have happened to him… back in the day, he would have been looking at a far bigger sentence. This is all in relation to how deep he was into the streets as a young man. On his first day home, Biggs says he married his longtime girl — and the mother of his 20-year old son. They originally met at the video shoot for “In My Lifetime.”
5. He Has Plans for A Commemorative Reasonable Doubt Event Displaying Artwork From That Time Period
Biggs was a big part of Jay’s debut album and definitely has plans to celebrate its 20th anniversary this year. He has been speaking to Jonathan Mannion about doing an event to showcase the photos he shot during that era.
He remembers getting close with Roc Nation’s Emory Jones during the early days of Roc-A-Fella. Emory would come visit Hov at the offices, then Biggs and Emory would go on shopping sprees in Soho for clothes. They first met in 1995 at the Tyson fight in Las Vegas. Emory got his nickname “Vegas Jones” that night.
https://youtu.be/DitP6zlxWTE
6. He Speaks to Both Jay Z and Dame Dash
He says there’s no bad blood between him, Jay and Dame, and says it’s all love still. Biggs also says the doesn’t feel any of the artist that he worked with owe him anything — even Kanye West — who he helped early when a lot of folks at Def Jam doubted him.
“If I do something for somebody it’s never for something in return,” Biggs says about how he has changed when it comes to business and his views on the “industry.” “When I speak to Jay , when I speak to Dame its all love,” says Biggs.
7. Biggs Recalls Not Really Believing in Jay Z’s Career Right Away, But Becoming Friends Instantly
Biggs was down in a crew called “Best Out” with his brother Bob-A-Love (RIP) and Dame Dash. He was just 14 when he met Dame on 142nd street through his brother. Dame would later introduce him to Jay Z, but Biggs wasn’t aware of his star power just yet. It wasn’t until he saw Jay battle DMX Uptown when he really started to believe in Hov’s skills. Biggs reveals Big L was the one filming the battle on camcorder. Wow!
8. Roc-A-Fella Started When Biggs Moved Back to NYC After Living in St. Thomas For Some Years
Biggs recalls coming back to NYC after a bad hurricane struck in St. Thomas, where he was living at the time, upon his arrival is when Dame and Jay approached him about starting Roc-A-Fella Records. The “In My Lifetime” video happened through Biggs friends’ and family on the island.
https://youtu.be/qVWZxopXIDA
9. Biggs Remembers Picking the “Cant Knock The Hustle Beat” and Ma$e Having “Dead Presidents” First
Biggs remembers specifically that he picked the “Cant Knock the Hustle” beat and Jay wasn’t fond of it off bat. He also recalls
Ma$e having laid some vocals over the “Dead Presidents” beat first, and Children of The Corn may have been on it, too.
This was all happening during a time period when Jay would call Biggs and rap verses from Reasonable Doubt for him. Also, this is when Biggie came through to record “Brooklyn’s Finest.” Biggs jokes about Biggie not really knowing how to count bars at the time. He also remembers Biggie being stunned when they pulled out $200K in cash for the unforgettable Monopoly scene in the “Dead Presidents” video.
10. Biggs Opens Up About The Sale of Roc-A-Fella and Helping Kanye West Early In His Career When No One Believed
“Everybody that worked for us is either a president or vice president, and even the street team. They have companies now,” says Biggs proudly when he reflects on the legacy of Roc-A-Fella. He says he got into the music game because of his love for BUSINESS and not necessarily music. For Biggs, the plan was always to create something and sell it — and they did just that with the sale of Roc-A-Fella for $30 Million in 2005.
“While Dame was yelling at everybody, everybody wanted to talk to somebody in the room. I’m the guy everybody can talk to, so I maintained a lot of relationships,” says Biggs about his growth as a business man. Biggs says he kept good relationships with the folks he broke bread with — that includes Lyor Cohen. He remembers being very hands on with Kanye’s debut album on Roc-A-Fella. At the time, Biggs can remember Jay and Dame being really wrapped up in their own business ventures, so he stepped up and got hands on with Yeezy’s career. He fought for Def Jam not to drop the Young Gunz & Kanye after their albums didn’t have the instant success on the charts as previous Roc projects.
**Bonus Credits**
Biggs brought Kanye to London for the first time
He gave NORE his original Roc Chain and then the deal didn’t go through
Dave Beckham bought the house they used to rent in London
“Biggs did it first and jay put in a verse” — was a quote…
The Roc was very close to signing Scarface and Twista
via MissInfo
