Jake Belanger

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to sit down and talk to the greatest MC to ever live: The B.I.G. Ta$ty. For those of you who don’t know who this God amongst men is, Big Ta$ty (AKA Matthew Lamoureux) is a rapper hailing from Middleborough, Massachusetts, and is regarded by many as one of the greatest rappers of all time. There is an urban legend about this word wizard: Once, Big Ta$ty was walking through a mall, and a child had lost his mother, crying and despaired, running around frantically searching for her. Ta$ty brought the child under his care, helped him find his mom, and even imparted a little bit of rap knowledge upon the child along the way. Years later, that child grew up, became successful, and never forgot the lessons he learned from Ta$ty. That child’s name was Tupac Shakur.

When asked what he goes by, Ta$ty replied, “Matt… Ta$ty.” I asked after how he came up with it, and he simply replied, “I saw it on TV.” (The show he’s referring to is The Goldbergs.) He said he linked up with his lyrical partner, Yung Beef, through their existing friendship. One day, “We were chilling in his basement freestyling and decided to put together one of the world’s worst songs of all time” He has given several other rappers the opportunity to exhibit their lyrical prowess, including  Deezy D, dretta,  Lamb Chop, and Snacks. Among those, he says his favorite feature he’s had was by Snacks (AKA Ben Sangiolo), because he contributed to a few of the lyrics, and it’s also a feature on his favorite song they’ve made to date: Church League Anthem. He told me that they record their raps in “Middleboro basements,” and that their music video was filmed and edited by “Saucy” Sean Rutledge and Ben Carey. As far as critical reception, his only real major haters are “Cory Ford and Justin Pittsley.” I then asked him who his number one supporter is, to which he simply pointed at himself, and said “If you’re not your favorite artist, then you don’t belong.” He and Beef recently performed at The MET, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and were very successful there. When asked about the moments leading up to the event, he stated, “Ummm.. i was… I was mildly excited, but not very nervous.”

I asked Matt about some of his musical interests as well. His favorite rap song is the song Last Call, by Kanye West, but only “the first 4 minutes of last call.” When asked his favorite rap album ever, he told me, “that’s between the college dropout, because the internet, and under pressure (deluxe edition). actually, I’m a big fan of Midnight Marauders. it’s one of those.” After these, I finished the subject of favorites by asking his favorite rapper ever, to which he said he had two: Logic (all of his music) and Childish Gambino (strictly the music off of the album Because The Internet.)

On his own music again, I asked who his top five major influences are, he paused, pondered, and hesitantly replied, “Logic, ummm… Pharrell, Childish Gambino, Lil B… is that 5? toss down.. I should’ve expected this… just put A Tribe Called Quest” I asked which of his songs he would remake if he had the chance, and he told me, “One thing I don’t think I delivered on was definitely Harambe… if I could redo one song it would definitely be Harambe. i’d like to write a different verse.” I decided to ask him a very specific question, based off fan’s opinions, asking “Many say Trap Pod is your best verse ever, and many hold it in high regards, comparing you to Tupac, only much better. Do you agree with all of that?” His reply was short and sweet: yes. I inquired after about his upcoming music, asking if he had any specific songs he wanted to use for his next track, and he told me with slight excitement, “I’d like to make a song to Christ Conscious by Joey Bada$$” Although still lacking energy or interest, this was the least uninterested I’d seen Big Ta$ty so far, so he seemed confident and happy about this upcoming song. I asked if he wants to collaborate with anyone in the future, and the only artist he was interested in working with was Logic.

According to Ta$ty, he only eats McDonalds before Church League basketball games. I asked if he will play Church League again this year, and he simply said “most def,” with no further elaboration. He told me Church League and Magic Markers frisbee give him subject matter in his raps, and that he like Church League much more. I asked the legendary wordsmith, “In an unreleased verse, you rapped, ‘eating and writing is key.’ What do you usually eat when you’re writing fire bars?” He replied very nonchalantly, “McDonald’s,” with no further elaboration. He told me that he will eventually pursue a solo career, and that he plans on rapping after high school (professionally). Matt told me that his favorite verse of mine was on the song “1, 2, 3,” a fan favorite; this meant a lot coming from such a talented and elite rapper such as himself. Again with other artists, I asked him which artist he dislikes more, Lil Yachty or Lil Uzi Vert. He rambled on incoherently for a few seconds, and then told me confidently that he thought Lil Yachty was worse, despite his appreciation of his song “Mase In ‘97.” When asked about the influence Lil B plays on Matt’s music, he replied, “from 1 out of 10, I’d give him a 7.” Following up, I asked about his influence on his life in general, to which he simply told me, “he helps me stay positive.”

As we finished up, Matt’s original closing remark was simply “#DeleteBeefAndMakeHerSay2k16” This was referencing our first two songs we ever made together; although they both have many listens, they’re very bad, and Matt wants them deleted off of our SoundCloud and YouTube immediately. When pressed for further final comments, he said fairly cheerfully, “I have a lot of fun. and thanks for the support. and uh.. shoutout to king_dman12.” On that note, we ended, and The B.I.G. Ta$ty went off to further his rap career even more. There you have it folks, a look into the mind of one of the most intricate and talented figures of our generation, if not all time. Be on the lookout for new songs and show dates from the best rap duo to ever live.