Kirko Bangz surprised fans at the end of March when he decided to deliver an all-freestyles mixtape in his Progression series, Progression 4. The freestyle effort whet our appetite for his delayed debut album, Bigger Than Me. We were able to catch up with Kirko out in Washington, D.C., and spoke to the rapper about the impending debut and when we can expect it.
First our new host Baker asked Kirko about his love for Rihanna, documented on the freestyle "Love Rihanna." While you may assume it was just a re-interpretation of Drake's "Girls Love Beyonce", Kirko reveals he actually got his inspiration for the cut from Lil Wayne.
"I dunno if she heard it, I hope so", Kirko said of the track. "It ain't so much of me loving Rihanna really though, the whole mixtape I took the Wayne formula. How Wayne used to do the shit on Droughts and shit. And remember he had the song he did about Ciara, and I was like shit, I wanna do some shit like that, who can I talk about? Rihanna."
The Houston native also detailed the progression he's felt he's made since he kicked off the mixtape series of the same name. "I've learned how to give people what I wanna give them, but at the same time, give them what they want", Kirko said, before going on to reveal that Bigger Than Me is slated to arrive in June. "I've never dropped an album, leading up to my debut album now, that's gonna drop in June. So you go through a lot of changes musically and away from the battle field you know. So I just learned a lot of shit, but for the most part, control my music and control what I wanna get out there, and really control what people are gonna get from it too."
Finally, the Southerner detailed the album's title, and explained how it translates to him. "Since I was younger like since I first started I was like my first album gonna be called Bigger Than Me. It's just ironic the way my career went, I had "Drank In My Cup" and I ain't have nothing big as that record since then, in the meantime, I had to take time and learn shit about the game, musically learn how to work with the labels, if they give you a record you don't wanna do, interviews, having good vibes, good energy, I had to learn all these things, and it all comes back to me learning that this shit is way bigger than me."
When can we expect the next LP single? Kirko wouldn't give up that information too easily. "I got a single, it's already ready. We gonna catch it probably in like a month. All my singles are already lined up, everything good. I just gotta put two more songs on my album and it's a wrap."
Take a look at our full interview below. Stay tuned for Bigger Than Me this June.