Bigg Robb

Bigg Robb is a high-spirited, self-sustaining artist who embraces Midwest funk, modern blues, contemporary gospel, and especially Southern soul. Having started as a young radio DJ and an associate of <a href="spotify:artist:396Kh0m4wGUvcMUULw71yi">Zapp</a> -- whose Roger Troutman provided crucial early support -- Bigg Robb drew from years of experience in the music industry to launch a solo career at the dawn of the 2000s. Dating back to Cheddar Cheddar (2000), Robb has released albums and has overseen collaborative compilations at a rate of roughly one each year. He closed out his second full decade of music-making with Good Muzic (2019).

Robert "Bigg Robb" Smith began his journey in the music industry as a teenage disc jockey at a small radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the late '70s. Through the early '80s he stayed in radio, focusing on soul and funk artists such as <a href="spotify:artist:5K0rbdBrs2tNXe5LeWMATT">Bootsy Collins</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0KMLfCXYb3Dhf1hLpu8cVd">Midnight Star</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:396Kh0m4wGUvcMUULw71yi">Zapp</a>, and other greats of the era, often interviewing them on his shows. Eventually he fell in with a circle of soul and funk stars, hanging out in recording studios with them and ultimately coming under the mentorship of Roger Troutman, who enlisted Smith as his driver, then as a member of his band <a href="spotify:artist:396Kh0m4wGUvcMUULw71yi">Zapp</a>, all the while encouraging Smith to record his own original music. Starting in the late '80s, Smith worked as a recording engineer on Troutman-affiliated studio sessions for albums such as Zapp V, <a href="spotify:artist:446ZfKMyzU2hwfHA4CI3dy">Shirley Murdock</a>'s Let There Be Love!, and <a href="spotify:artist:3GMoVpWJy4smKuxFuFTwXC">Roger</a>'s Bridging the Gap.

After Troutman's death in 1999, Smith took on the Bigg Robb moniker and set out on a prolific solo career with the 2000 album Cheddar Cheddar. Bigg Robb's catalog soon grew at a prolific rate as he offered up an assortment of solo and collaborative projects on his <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Over+25+Sound%22">Over 25 Sound</a> label, a haven for his own releases and those of his peers. He went on to release numerous albums and capped off his first decade with Jerri Curl Muzic, featuring appearances from <a href="spotify:artist:446ZfKMyzU2hwfHA4CI3dy">Shirley Murdock</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0Z4CzYz9ieK8q9XiVMPkW5">Bar-Kays</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:25TKXk9zo9yk0HMJQ3TuE9">Kurtis Blow</a>, as well as an update of <a href="spotify:artist:6GpuL6WNTOVhmMl6lZbiKS">Floaters</a>' "Float On." From Soul Prescription in 2010 through Good Muzic in 2019, Robb's pace remained steady the next decade, supplemented with natural diversions into gospel and holiday material. ~ Andy Kellman & Fred Thomas, Rovi