Big Boi (Antwan André Patton) grew up in Savannah and attended Jenkins High School before moving to Atlanta. He’ll be 38 in a few weeks — and he seems destined to forge a career even more interesting than the one he has now.
I’m not sure how he got hooked up with SCAD grad Jake Troth, but Jake was the featured second in Big Boi’s appearance on Letterman this week.
The performance prompted Spin to ask: Who’s That White Guy Performing With Big Boi on ‘Letterman’?
From Spin:
Troth was the artist Daddy Fat Sax chose to have David Letterman spotlight by name in last night’s Late Show performance of the new album’s bouncy Troth collaboration “Apple of My Eye.” Cutting a gawky figure with glasses and a sportcoat, Troth and two backup singers looked overjoyed snapping along, while Big Boi rapped at high speed at the front of the stage. They had a full band, including two horn players, to back them up.
Sure, Big Boi has also been busy putting out a video for T.I.-Ludacris team-up “In the A” and hinting at a new verse on Frank Ocean’s André 3000-touting “Pink Matter.” But on network TV, he chose to lend his considerable credibility to Troth. Time will tell if Big Boi’s anointed “Apple” guest can come back for another bite.
Rolling Stone seemed impressed too.
I only met Troth once or twice in passing, but back in 2009, he held a release party for a mix tape at blankspace, a gallery that I was quasi-managing at the time. The event was chronicled in SCAD’s District, Jake Troth releases “Daydream Big†mix-tape, in which Troth’s friend Kyle Hopkins even draws a comparison to T.I.:
“Jake Troth is going to be the next T.I.,†Hopkins added.
At first it seemed Hopkins was joking when he said this, but he suddenly lost his smile and very ardently stated, “No, seriously, Jake is bigger than Savannah.â€
And here’s “Apple of My Eye” on Letterman: