Energized by certain issues, says Big Piph of new album

Little Rock rapper Big Piph wasn't really planning to make an album. After last year's I Am Not Them: The Legacy Project recording and its video-heavy accompanying app, he was looking for a little breathing room.

Still, Celebrate, his latest, which was released last week, muscled its way into the world.

"It kind of just came out of nowhere," says Piph, born Chane Morrow and reared in Pine Bluff.

Recorded mostly at Wolfman Studios, with a few tracks recorded at Moonrise Studios and Ferocious Studios, Celebrate is classic Piph -- filled with introspection, side-eye social commentary and wise counsel all wrapped around addictive beats and wicked little hooks.

An album release party, hosted by Sean Fresh and with Piph's band, Tomorrow Maybe, will go down at the Rev Room on Saturday. Faron Rashelle & The Kosher Sound, Virghost and DJ Code Red will open the show.

"The last project was enjoyable, and I learned a lot, but it was also tiring and I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have," he says. "The first impulse was that whatever I did next, I wanted to enjoy the process more."

The theme behind Celebrate has a lot to do with responding to current events, acknowledging the seriousness of social and political matters and still being able to find some thread of hope.

"There are lots of times, despite the global and national tone, that I can still appreciate things," he says. "I wanted to make this project representative of those moments of appreciation, but still not neglect the anger, frustration or struggle."

On a banger track like "Anarchy," Piph, who has a mechanical engineering degree from Stanford University, goes epic, the tension building as he takes aim at racism, apathy and a laundry list of other ills: "I talk about certain things on there, but I don't feel necessarily angry, I feel energized. I get energized by certain issues and I celebrate that."

And speaking of celebrating, the title track originally sounded to Piph like a beat for someone else.

"When I heard it, I got the feeling people would assume [someone else] would be on this track," he remembers. "But I really wanted to try it out. Then I started with 'I celebrate, I celebrate, I celebrate' and it went from there."

One of the album's most infectious tunes, "You Said," features singer Dee Jones and is one of those singalong jams that should be blaring from cars all summer. Produced by frequent Piph collaborator Ferocious, the song had a lengthy gestation.

"I had that hook in my head for probably two or three years," Piph says.

The song starts out dealing with someone who, in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way, isn't exactly sad that certain people aren't in his life anymore. By the third verse, though, Piph is tackling the evils of systematic racism and discrimination. All the while, the song maintains its bouncy appeal.

"What's interesting, the last verse wasn't on there at first," he says. "I was writing from the perspective of white supremacy. It was a three-step process, where each verse gets a little deeper."

The album closes with "Garret Morgan," named after the black inventor and community leader who created, among other things, an early version of the traffic signal.

"I definitely wanted to end it on a positive tip," Piph says of the track, which features vocals from fellow Pine Bluff native Papa Leo. "It's playful and I like playing up the aspect of Garret Morgan. And whenever I hear that song there's a feeling of empowerment, like, 'Whatever I want to do, I can make it happen.'"

Weekend on 07/27/2017