LGBTQ+ rapper Big Dipper shows love for men of all sizes in new music video \'Lookin,\' performs in Madison Aug. 18 | Entertainment

The comments section of LGBTQ+ rapper Big Dipper’s latest music video isn’t filled with remarks from trolls, naysayers or bigots like many have come to expect to find on the internet. Rather, it’s filled with messages of body positivity and personal notes of thanks from those who have been given courage by the images in the video, which is filled with scantily clad men of all sizes unashamedly strutting their stuff along with the rapper.

“Lookin” is the latest single off of Big Dipper’s new album Late Bloomer, which is set to release on Aug. 24. The song is a quintessential example of how the rapper’s niche sound has landed him national attention — he creates music that you can dance to, laugh to and — for many in the LGBTQ+ community — relate to.

Big Dipper will perform at the Woof’s King Street Pride Block Party on Aug. 18, and Wisconsin Gazette had the opportunity to catch up with the rapper over the phone before the show.

Wisconsin Gazette: When did you first realize that you could make a career out of making music?

Big Dipper: Well, I’m still figuring that out. I released my first song and video in 2012 and the response is so different than what I was used to when I was making art. I was living in Chicago and directing storefront theater productions where 600 people would see the show over a month-long run, and I put up one video and within over a week it was like 10, 20, 30 people. When I really thought about it, I pushed myself to try to get gigs and performances. When I was able to start stringing those together, I was like, “Oh, I can make my income doing this,” but I would say I’ve only been doing it fulltime for the last two to three years — otherwise it was supplemented with other jobs.

WiG: Was it difficult for you to branch out and push to get gigs with such a niche music project?

BD: It’s interesting. A lot of my shows are either promoters or events reaching out to me who are so excited to have me and fully roll out the red carpet. They put cans of La Croix in the hotel room and bring me donuts. The flip side is that I’m cold calling clubs in St. Louis asking I could do a show at a bar to perform during a happy hour. It’s a huge mix of convincing people I can put on a show and delivering. It is a niche audience, so sometimes I’m playing concert venues with mixed crowds with people saying they’ve never seen anything like it before and other times I’m playing pride events at places where I seem to fit in. More often than not, people say they’ve never really seen anything like that.

WiG: Has the internet helped a lot with getting you shows?

BD: Yes, without the internet I would not have the platform to do what I’m doing. Because a lot of people connect to what I do are in this niche population, if I was just in a city like trying to hustle and make it happen without the opportunity of a global audience, I think I would just be just in a city hustling to make it happen. I wouldn’t be able to travel and perform for other people because no one would have an idea of who I am or what I was doing. When I put on a show I am a great entertainer, but because of who I am and what I represent, record labels and the industry as a whole are uninterested in jumping on the band wagon and pushing me to a larger audience and so I maintain this independent status as a musician. Thankfully the internet allows independent artists to flourish.

Wig: A lot of people comment on your videos saying that they appreciate your representation of gay body types. Is this something you set out to do because of a lack of representation that you had noticed or just something you did naturally?

BD: It’s definitely a mix of both things. I feel like when I put together a video or a song, I’m trying to be as authentic to my gut instinct as an artist as I can be. I wanted to do a bunch of chubby boys at a car wash and almost immediately you understand the implication for what that means for representation of body types in the media. It’s the kind of thing where I look around in the world around me and I see a lot of people who have a hard time loving themselves and a hard time celebrating themselves because they don’t see themselves reflected back, so If I could see that art and they could see themselves in it, that’s such an amazing thing that I can do.

WiG: Have any artists had that effect on you lately?

BD: I really like an artist named Lizzo, she is from Minneapolis by way of Houston, and she is a singer and rapper and she’s really fantastic because she takes what she does really seriously and her career is really booming but she’s also playful, fun and celebratory.

WiG: I read a quote from you that mentioned that the queer night life in Chicago really opened up your eyes. What about it was eye opening for you?

BD: Well I came out when I was a senior in high school, to sort of a selective group of family members, and when I moved to Chicago I started engaging in this queer scene and I realized as a person and an artist, I felt really boxed in by all of these identities and when you are coming out, you sort of have to choose something to latch onto. In the queer world, those lines are blurred so much, and people express themselves however they feel. There was this performance scene happening in Chicago and I’m met these people who were exploring their identity and exploring who they were as performers and how they wanted to express themselves and I felt so free to experiment and learn who I was. That inspired me to make music and I met some of my closest friends and collaborators in Chicago.

WiG: I also read that you were sort of inspired by Eminem as a white rapper and I find that interesting because he was so homophobic in his earlier music.

BD: Yeah, it’s interesting, I listened to Eminem in middle school and I was closeted to even myself in middle school. I knew he had really homophobic lyrics and some of the other rappers who were successful had homophobic lyrics and I didn’t identify with the lyrics, but I identified the flow, the rhyming and the music. When Eminem became popular and he was a white rapper who wasn’t cheesy, I was like, “I could do this.” And at this point, I’ve been around and been out of the scene for half a decade now, even longer than that, and I know so many queer rappers and musicians, I don’t really look to mainstream artists. If I do, they definitely aren’t men. I’m interested in Nicki Minaj — I’m not interested in male vocals anymore. With the music that I listen to, if the music is homophobic I turn it off. I don’t support it.

WiG: And the internet has made it easier to discover those artists who aren’t mainstream.

BD: I wasn’t on this list, but Paper Magazine just published a list of queer artists to check out. The fact that they published 50 queer artist and I wasn’t on the list means there are a lot of queer musicians making quality music. It’s gotten to the point where so many queer people are expressing themselves and using the internet to make music and put their music out there.

WiG: You have a new record coming out — Late Bloomer. What sorts of themes will that record deal with?

BD: I called the album Late Bloomer because I feel like I take a little bit of extra time to get where I’m going. The album explores a lot of themes that are typically explored in music — specifically in rap music. There are definitely a couple of “don’t f--k with me” tracks on there, and definitely some “mind your business and let me flourish over here” sentiments. I always sort of felt like when I first started I was like, “What do I have to brag about?” I felt like a poser because so much of rap music is about how much money you have and how successful you are. Yeah, I make rap music but it’s not how I make my living. You know, I’m a nice guy so like playing into that was really hard for a while and then something sort of clicked and I was able to strip away the façade I was using to put myself out there and the album just feels really personal and authentic and sometimes I feel like I’m the shit, so I wrote like that. Sometimes I feel like breaking up with my boyfriend, so I wrote about that and sometimes I want to be flirty and I wrote about that, so it feels like there’s a song for any mood and its playful, fun, political and raunchy.

WiG: Have you received any backlash from the LGBTQ+ community for the raunchiness?

BD: I’ve never received official or thoughtful criticism, but sometimes people comment on my videos saying “This is why we hate gay people” or people will shame me for taking my shirt off and shame my body and they’ll just make fat jokes and I know that a lot of that comes from within the community. I’ve never been approached with a thoughtful argument but bring it on — I’m ready to have that conversation because I know I can handle myself and I know what I’m doing is a positive thing for the community. But yeah just internet trolls and comments.

WiG: What can fans expect from you in Madison on Aug. 18 at the WOOF’s King Street Pride Party?

BD: The show in Madison is going to be rad, I’ve never been to the block party before but I’m going to do a full show. I think I’m doing 40 minutes, and I’m going to do a bunch of music. it’s fun and interactive and raunchy and I think its late enough in the evening that I think kids won’t be there. I never know if I’ll show up and it’ll be families but yeah, the one thing I’m most confident in is my live show and I know how to entertain, so people should come out to that.