Soundcheck: Exclusive — Baby Bash On Moving Forward and Giving Back

posted in: FeaturesUrban

Chances are, Baby Bash is responsible for one of your favorite songs, you just may not know it.  The thirty-six-year-old California native has been turning out hits since 2003, and he shows no sign of slowing down.  His latest hit, Go Girl featuring E-40 was another radio hit and he released his fourth studio album, Bashtown last month on his newly formed label of the same name.

In 2010 I created Bashtown Recordings and I took control of my own destiny.  I ended up finding out I can work my own project better than the label.  I can go straight to the radio and depend on myself and not worry about anyone else, he says. Now I get to keep my own money and I get to promote the way I want, talk how I want, talk for myself and it’s just easier for me, he says.   When you’re on a major [label] you gotta worry about seven or eight people signing off.  They don’t know about music because they’re robots and they play a numbers game.  I only worry about music.” Aside from taking control of his own career, Bash also dedicates his time to giving back.  I caught up with him last week at a Power 106 charity basketball game at a local LA County high school, where he joined celebrities like E-Man and Michael Ealy to play the teachers team and raise money for the school.  Basketball is my first love, he said. Whenever I get a chance to play in a game like this and raise some money for kids, I’m all about it.  In addition, he teamed up with GoGirl energy drink to donate proceeds from the sale of the single, Go Girl and the drink to breast and ovarian cancer research funds.  I partnered up with the energy drink after I wrote the song to put proceeds to breast cancer, because it is a leading killer of women in the world, he said.  We got over 100,000 off top, and we just want to save as many women as we can.

Now, Bash is gearing up to drop a smokin’ single with Ray-J, We Ready and prepping for a summer tour and the release of two new projects.  The first, M.S.U. (Marijuana Smokers Union) will include a single called Let’s Get Naked And Smoke. The video for its first single,  Slide Over has already been filmed, and should hit the streets in a few weeks.  His second upcoming project is a mix tape called Player Made Mexicans that Bash calls a return to his roots as a street rapper and will feature the talents of many Mexican-American musicians. Music is hard on a Mexican, especially in the mainstream.  I have black and white fans and Latinos of course and I’m one of the lucky ones, he says.

Aside from those two drops, Bash also plans to release more music with longtime friend and Latin crooner, Frankie J. The duo’s last hit, Sugar was wildly successful, and Bash says they’ve got lots more on the way. Bash, who says he’s more of a songwriter than a rapper, will also continue to write for artists like Miguel. His past writing credits include songs for Akon, T-Pain, Sean Kingston, Jennifer Lopez and the late Nate Dogg among others.

While he may not be the most famous rapper on the planet, Bash says he’s got all the success and validation he needs from two pretty heavy hitters. I walked into Clive Davis’s office by myself, talked for two hours and walked out with a deal and a check for $650,000, he recalls. Then, in 2007, he was featured on Carlos Santana’s song; This Boy’s Fire a moment Bash calls the highlight of his career.

To do a song with Carlos Santana, that’s the biggest stamp of approval ever.  I don’t need the radio or any critic or no praise from nobody.  That’s the only approval I need.  I can’t believe I did a song with the legend himself.

I’ve never taken myself too seriously. It helps me stay grounded and happy.  I’m not the best rapper in the world. I just know how to make a song, he says. I’m the unsung Mexican.

Looks like my fellow Bash fans have lots of new material to look forward to, and I’ll be looking forward to his next Cali tour stop.  His latest album, Bashtown is available now.