As of late there’s been a lot of talk in hip-hop about some of the veteran artists passing the torch to the younger generation. Some say there isn’t a lot of up and coming young talent and some say the vets are holding on to their glory days a little too tight. Everybody has their own opinion but one new MC who is gearing up to change the game and take his rightful place amongst hip-hop’s elite is B.O.B.

It’s hard to call B.O.B. just a rapper due to his endless bag of tricks and genre blurring abilities but his mic skills suggest that he is truly a rappers’ rapper.

After grinding it out independently for a while it was only a matter of time before he started to garner the nationwide recognition that he is now receiving. His talent is undeniable and with super producer Jim Jonsin as well as T.I. and Grand Hustle co-signing him it’s only a matter of time before B.O.B. is a name that everybody knows.

Sixshot.Com’s Jon Michael caught up with B.O.B. to discuss how he got signed to Grand Hustle, the comparisons to Andre 3000, and how he plans to change hip-hop.

Sixshot.Com: B.O.B. you were recently featured on the cover of XXL as a new MC to look out for. My question is this. How does it feel to basically be considered the future of hip-hop?

B.O.B.: (Laughs) Every time I hear that man it’s just funny to me man because I just don’t realize how much of an impact what I’m doing has and what it is to be on the cover of a magazine for millions of people to see. I don’t realize the following and the awareness that I have. I don’t know how many people are following me but I definitely feel like people are watching. It’s crazy to me and it makes me want to get on a beat and speak my mind about certain things.

Sixshot.Com: I was also curious about the Grand Hustle situation. How did that come about?

B.O.B.: Me, my management, and my whole team kind of been talking and communicating with Grand Hustle for a while now. That’s the home team. We been talking for a while and Grand Hustle was actually one of the labels that wanted to sign me. Originally I signed to Rebel Rock and then my manager B-Rich came to me one day and asked me if I wanted to do a joint venture with Grand Hustle and make a powerhouse with Rebel Rock. It’s all under Atlantic, which is the same thing anyway. It’s been on ever since and you know Grand Hustle just seems like family. We’ll all be in the studio just chillin’.

Sixshot.Com: You produce, rap, you just do it all. Does it ever get overwhelming for you doing so many things?

B.O.B.: The only thing that really gets overwhelming is the workload. You really have to try and find a good balance.
Work will drive you crazy if you’re not ready for it and you don’t have that energy level. You could really get overwhelmed. You start making bad decision that are going to affect you in a negative way. I had like three serious sit down discussions with my managers saying that I was going to quit. It can definitely get overwhelming. You just have to find the balance and the realness in the situation. You have to look at it in a positive way and realize you have the ability to change people and that’s the way I try to look at things.

Sixshot.Com: I’ve been a fan for a while and I’ve seen your profile or awareness, whatever you want to call it increase over time. How does it feel at this point that so many people know who you are?

B.O.B.: Man I look at all humans as being one big family. I feel like I’m creating a family, like my family has grown. I feel like I have like an unspoken bond with the people that follow me. My dad looks at my Myspace page more than I do and I could just feel the excitement and I want everybody to share that with me. It’s not even just hip-hop because I make all kinds of genres of music. I just want to bring everybody on this journey with me through my music. The one time that sticks out in my mind is one day I performing and I was there with my guitar and a girl came up to me crying and hugged me. At that moment I thought to myself that this is why I’m doing what I do.

Sixshot.Com: It’s obvious that you’re bringing a new style to the table. Do you feel that you’re going to bring things to hip-hop that it’s never had before?

B.O.B.: Definitely, definitely, I feel like I’m fusing the gap between music period. I’m opening up hip-hop to music. I feel like rappers won’t limit themselves to a hip-hop beat. There are lines between the genres and there always have been but I think in the future people won’t even be using the word genre.

Sixshot.Com: Going back to the XXL cover for a second, how do you feel about the other guys featured with you as artists?

B.O.B.: I really like Asher Roth. I also really like Charles Hamilton because he’s just real. He’s not trying to be an artist. That’s just him. All of those guys are great man. We sat down together and had a discussion about the game and that was the interview they used for the magazine. We got to see everybody’s perspective and even though we’re different people I feel like we had a lot in common. We just happen to be in a position where we have a voice and we can create things.

Sixshot.Com: I’ve heard and I’m sure you’ve heard some of the comparisons you get to Andre 3000. I would consider that a compliment but how do you feel about it?

B.O.B.: Honestly man I take it with the same weight that I take everything else. If somebody days I rocked a show, my show sucked, I sound like Gnarls Barkley, I sound like Andre 3000, things like that all hold the same amount of weight for me. It is a popular opinion and people can draw whatever opinion they want but I just make the kind of music that I need to make and then the people can say what they want and take what they want from it. Everything is always taken from something so I feel that if something sounds good then it sounds good and I’ve done my job. If the audience and the fans want to place me in a certain category then that’s up to them.

Sixshot.Com: You have T.I. in your corner. You have Jim Jonsin in your corner. These guys are proven stars. Do you feel like you’re in the best possible position that you could be in?

B.O.B.: I definitely feel that I am in a very productive position. I feel like it’s a powerhouse. The more people that I have working on my project and behind my project the better. It’s a great process we got in the works here. I just feel change coming man. I even have dreams abut change and then you have Obama winning the election. It’s like something is really stirred up and about to change. I’m real excited to see what it is. I’m excited honestly because I don’t even know what I’m going to do yet. I’m so outside of myself. (Laughs) Man it’s so hard to even explain it.

Sixshot.Com: All right B.O.B. give us the run down of everything you have coming up. What can we look out for?

B.O.B.: Right now we’re about to release the Who The Fuck Is B.O.B.”mixtape with DJ Scream and DJ Spinz. I’m also working on the Unclearable mixtape and that’s a mixtape where all the songs on it had samples that were just unclearable. We just figured that we would put them out. I’m putting together my album and getting ready for 2009, getting ready to make a real impact in 2009. All in all man I’m just working, making this music.

Sixshot.Com: Anything you’d like to say to all those B.O.B. fans out there?

B.O.B.: Whether you’ve been listening to me since the beginning or you just started stay tuned. All the aspiring artists out there who want to get in the game I just want to tell you to understand the industry before you get into it. Be real, be yourself, and don’t let anybody change you. Don’t let anybody tell you to do anything outside of who you are. 

www.myspace.com/bobatl