24 Mar B.o.B: Southern Graduate

Within the realms of Hip Hop there are tons of beat makers, rappers and flat out illiterate sounding assholes, but you rarely hear about musicianship. That’s why it was a surprising pleasure to find out about B.O.B (born Bobby Ray Simmons), an Atlanta based rapper-musician-producer that’s just been inked to Grand Hustle. Featured on the cover of XXL’s Hip Hop Class of ‘09 (with other newcomers like Wale, Charles Hamilton and Asher Roth), B.o.B’s music gained momentum with a hand-full of guest slots as well as being featured on tons of end years list when he does release a song. But after EPs and mixtapes (with his latest mix being B.o.B aka Bobby Ray: May 25^th) in preparation for his new album, he still has something to prove. People still need to know who B.o.B is, simple and plain. In-between cities on a promotional tour, the 21 year old rapper met me at a down home blues restaurant in downtown Columbia for a southern fried lunch and sit down. When he arrived (after sitting with members of his entourage including manager and local label reps) I didn’t know what to expect. Before I wanted to get into any questions, the kid was antsy. Looking at the stage of the restaurant called Mac’s On Main, the stage with full-working P.A. system was tempting to the young artists. “That stage makes me want to grab my guitar and my trumpet right now and start playing. I have my in. I ask him about his history of live instrumentation...