Neighbors: FBE Big John

This installment of NEIGHBORS is republished from Issue 1 of Super Empty magazine, now available at stores across the state and in our online shop. Grab yourself a copy and help make our NC-focused culture journalism possible.

How did you end up becoming a DJ? 

Back in 2018 I was a roadie for a cover band. I did that for like three years, but I was getting tired of missing every weekend of my life — I’d work literally 52 weekends a year with this cover band. When COVID happened, I left the band, and I went to a club in Greenville called 519 and started DJing there, just playing dive bar music. But the real DJing started when me and my friend Cole Sipe started a podcast called Small Talk. We were seeing people like LesTheGenius, Marco Luka, Jaxson Free, Zack Cokas, and we were like, “Damn, we have to meet these people.” So we started this podcast, and we got Les, and then after that was Noahh. He already had plans for the first [InThaFest, 2022] festival, and asked me if I wanted to DJ. I ended up DJing, and we never really stopped rolling from there. 

How did growing up in Greenville influence you?

Honestly, it really took until I moved to West Virginia for school, when I came up with this whole Big John identity. Before that I was just doing what every Southern white boy was doing, wearing the khaki shorts and the boat shoes, just trying to fit in with everyone else, because it was a cookie-cutter environment in Greenville. When I went to West Virginia, no one knew me, and I didn't know anyone there, and I kind of got to be who I am. 

What’s your favorite live show you’ve been a part of?

I’m gonna say there’s three of them. The first, that [InThaFest 2022] summer show, because it just set everything in motion. Then the underground New York [City] show we had around July 4th, where we had 1300SAINT, Tezzus, Sk8Str, DIORVSYOU. Just being outside of North Carolina and organizing a show, and I look beside me and there’s Ian Connor, and it’s a sold out venue. I remember being on the subway with Bryce [Fitts], just sitting there for an hour in silence, like, “What the fuck just happened?” And then the third one has to be the London show with [BigBaby]Gucci from tour — I'm all the way across the ocean, across the world, and I'm there with one of the first artists that I ever met in the hip-hop/underground scene, and I'm one of his biggest fans.

What’s something about yourself that you’re still working on? 

Being a better communicator and not gatekeeping. Like if you want to be an underground rapper, you want to be a DJ, you want to be a promoter, you want to do anything in the arts, I don't think I give enough advice about how to really get there. So just being more open to sharing my experiences and drawing out some plans for people that are just as eager as I was in 2022. 

Who are the artists that define NC hip-hop in your mind? 

I remember when Netflix came out with that hip-hop show [Rapture], and they had the documentary on Rapsody and featured all of Jamla, like 9th Wonder, Rapsody, Kooley High — just seeing all the raw footage from them at State when they were just doing little house shows, or doing the open mics. It really instilled in me that this shit is possible. So Rapsody is my number one. Also Cole, of course. And MAVI, and my man Gucci. He doesn’t get enough recognition in North Carolina for sure.

Where are people most likely to find you outside of home?

I like to pop up at shows that aren’t put on by us, and I like to support my friends in whatever they do. So The Portal [in Raleigh] is always a nearby home, The Bridge in Charlotte, The Pinhook in Durham, and The Pour House in Raleigh. Those are probably my top four right there. Oh, and Kings! 

What’s the feeling you’re leaving 2025 with? 

I'm just really grateful. At the beginning of the year I lost the ability to walk. I had major back surgery in April. And I still get to do what I truly love to do, which is to entertain people and to be involved inside of a community. That could have been taken away from me, and I'm glad it wasn't, and I'm just glad I can still keep on doing what I'm doing.