Both Big Boi and Fabolous are known for their creative word play in their songs, and now they've revealed that they have taken that word play viral with the addictive iPhone app Words With Friends. Hear what the rappers had to say about their new obsession inside and see what XXX goodies Samuel Jackson got for his birthday....
When you think of hip hop or gangsta rap, you don't imagine UGK, Jim Jones or Ice Cube getting together for games of Scrabble....yet it makes perfect sense. Rappers make their money off creating cool combinations of word play a la Jay-Z in Decoded. And in the latest issue of "GQ" magazine, rappers Big Boi and Fabolous reveal their obsession with Words With Friends, a popular iPhone app. See them discuss strategy and making money off the game inside....
GQ: Were you big scrabble players as kids?
Big Boi: I ain't never played Scrabble. Ever.
Fabolous: I actually got put on to it by one of my engineers who used to play. He brought [Scrabble] to the studio and he would consistently bust my ass. I think from there, I got a start in it. But I never really played it either growing up.
GQ: Did you ever play the similar Scrabble-type game Scrabulous on Facebook?
Big Boi: [Pause] Yeah, I don't really do that Facebook like that.
Fabolous: I never played that either. I don't got a Facebook.
GQ: Right. My bad. So when did you get into Words With Friends?
Big Boi: I started playing 'cause my wife was on it. Her and her friends, they were playing the game on the phone all the time. I was like, "What the fuck is this?" They said, "Just start playing, you'll get into it." So then we started playing for a $100 a game. When we started she'd kick my ass. She can't beat me no more.
Fabolous: I think I just started from that same engineer who brought it into my studio. Then it advanced to the phone, and he started having it on his phone, and we could play each other on the phones. His name is Scribble, actually.
GQ: Do you have a default strategy?
Fabolous: I definitely play it defensively. When you first start playing you start playing with an offensive mindset, just trying to make words. And as you learn how to play, you get better. It becomes clear that you wanna play on defense, to let other people not get words, and not get the spaces that get you points.
Big Boi: I'm a little strategic but it's different each game. It's whatever strategy for me to get my championship belt.
GQ: When you get jammed up with bad letters, do you swap out letters?
Big Boi: I swap it out. I swap my shit out.
Fabolous: I swap it out sometimes. Sometimes. Depending on how close the score is, I might not swap out. I might just try to hold steady. But if you can't make a word, definitely, swap out the letters.
GQ: Who have been some of your fiercest competitors?
Big Boi: Me, I think I play a lot of professors and schoolteachers. And sometimes they be using the cheat app, too.
Fabolous: Yeah, that's the only thing. I lost a little love for it because of that. I only do a small circle of friends now, friends who don't cheat. I used to grab names off of Twitter. If I'm bored or whatever, I'd get people on Twitter. Now, I didn't even know about the cheat apps. I knew that a few people I used to whip they ass all the time, they got a little better. I didn't know why! I thought they just got better over time. Certain people even came up to me and said 'Yo, I got better. Let me play you.' The cheat apps spoiled it.
Big Boi: Fab, I knew you were 100! I could tell.
Fabolous: It ain't really no fun, if you gonna cheat.
Big Boi: What's the whole purpose of doing that shit? You don't know your real skill level. You beat me? Nah, motherfucka, the computer beat me.
Fabolous: I play with Angie Martinez, the radio personality in New York. She's pretty good. And she doesn't cheat.
GQ: Do you have a favorite word that you've played?
Big Boi: I think I played 'zooms' for like a 107.
Fabolous: If I get over a 100, I tweet the screen shot. But I had an issue where I did that before. I put it on Twitter because I'm thinking that I wanna shit on somebody and show the whole world what I did, but they seen my [WWF user name] and I got so many friend requests that it ended up freezing my account. I can't even put my name out there.
GQ: Do you think that the fact that you guys are rappers, and therefore are uniquely proficient in wordplay, makes you better at the game?
Big Boi: I think it's true, but it's not all of it. There are plenty of people I play that ain't savvy rappers such as ourselves.
Fabolous: I really didn't even know that this many people played. I can't believe we even doing this interview.
Big Boi: I mean, the dude Alec Baldwin got kicked off the plane for playing Words With Friends. He wouldn't turn off his phone!
Fabolous: [animatedly] That's what dude did?! I heard he got kicked off the plane but I ain't hear for what. That's crazy.
Unprovoked, Fabolous starts rattling off a few suggestions for the game.
Fabolous: One thing they gotta fix is that if someone be taking days to make they move, you should be able to resign motherfuckers. Like, they be taking days to make a move.
Big Boi: Yeah.
Fabolous: And the other thing is that the kid in the studio, when we was playing in the board game, like, you can't just be trying shit. Like, just plugging in words and letters. I think you should get like three, four tries and that's it.
GQ; Have you guys ever played each other?
Fabolous: Nah, but we got to now. Yo, Big, what's your handle?
Big Boi: [Hilarious, redacted name]. What's yours?
Fabolous: [Hilarious, redacted name].
Big Boi: Let's do it then.
*Searching for their name on my Words With Friends app as we speak*
And in foolywang news.....
Today is Samuel Jackson's 62nd birthday...and look what he tweeted!
SMH.......speechless! Bet it came from his wife LaTanya too. At least we hope it did...