Operating in a haze of charcoal bass, speaker-rattling soul beats and meticulous, acrobatic songwriting, BigXthaPlug produces savvy street raps with the command of a grizzled veteran. Born Xavier Landum in 1998, the Dallas native was an American football star before trouble forced him out of university. While serving a jail stint, BigX began rapping to pass the time, and it turned out he was pretty good. In 2020, he released his debut project, Bacc from the Dead, a mixtape that put his dexterous flows and vivid bars to the test. With 2021’s “Mr.Trouble”, BigX found himself in the midst of a major level-up, one he continued with a variety of freestyles before releasing Amar in February 2023. Coated in block-boy wisecracks and painful detail, the project crystallised his status as an emerging force in Texas. He doubled down on his formula with THE BIGGEST, a late-2023 album that featured his Hot 100 debut, “Mmhmm”. Thanks to nuanced songwriting know-how and subtle authority, it’s been up for BigXThaPlug since.