“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” a curious fan asks BigXthaPlug as the rapper and his entourage are escorted through Coachella’s artist entrance.
BigX has probably heard that phrase a lot lately. From Beyoncé using the good-naturedly boastful “The Largest” as part of an interlude on the Cowboy Carter tour to earning a top five hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for his Bailey Zimmerman collaboration, “All the Way,” the Dallas native radiates Texas-sized star power.
And while BigX’s booming voice and larger-than-life stage presence have helped him become one of rap’s most recognizable newcomers, the 26-year-old born Xavier Landum is preparing to take his outsized charm across genre lines with his highly anticipated country-trap project.
“Everybody is realizing I’m not just a rapper — I’m an artist,” BigX says while reclining in the cavernous living room of the Indian Wells, Calif., estate he’s calling home for Coachella, as vitamins flow through an IV drip into his beefy bicep. “I feel like it’s not [me] trying to take over somebody’s situation. It’s more like, ‘Hey, I’m an artist and I want to see if I can do this as well.’ ”
BigX landed on the country scene in 2022 with his platinum-certified breakout hit, “Texas,” and its music video, in which he threw on a cowboy hat while rapping over bluesy acoustic slide guitar. Some believed BigX had country roots, having been raised in the 214 — but the self-described “city boy” bluntly admits he “never listened to country music in my life.” Instead, he grew up on the mix of rap, soul and R&B, ranging from Lil Wayne to 2Pac to The Isley Brothers, that his parents played.
But as his career picked up steam, some of his biggest new fans turned out to be country superstars like Morgan Wallen, Jelly Roll (who just brought BigX out during his 2025 Stagecoach set), Post Malone and Luke Combs. “So many people from the country world said they f–ked with me and wanted to do something with me,” says BigX, who was genuinely surprised by the crossover appeal.
The seeds were planted for a country project. “We buckled down and did it before the next person would do it,” he says. BigX’s right-hand producers — Tony Coles, Bandplay and Charley Cooks — collected different sounds to create a perfect country-trap blend that remained true to BigX’s signature soulfulness.
“I wouldn’t say my version of country music is country music. It’s kind of mixing the two sounds,” he explains. “I’m rapping on a bunch of country-style beats, but it’s not just country. I’m not on there sounding like no cowboy; I’m rapping. I’m just doing it from a country standpoint. I’m not saying it was easy — it definitely was a challenge.”
Among those challenges: For a country project, BigX felt he needed a different mentality from the one he has had while recording his upcoming rap album. “I was just coming out of my sad era and I don’t really drink liquor like that, [so] it was kind of harder to do,” he admits.
But the early returns on his country gamble have been both immediate and massive: First single “All the Way” debuted at No. 4 on the Hot 100 in April and became BigX’s first Hot Country Songs No. 1.
“All the Way” was a year-and-a-half in the making before its release. After hearing the rapper was working on a country project, Zimmerman thought it would be “insane” to work with BigX. A few months later, “All the Way” was in his inbox.
“It didn’t feel like we were trying to be something. It just felt right and a great song,” the rising country artist says, adding that he hopes “All the Way” encourages other artists from different genres to team up. “It always felt off to me that we wouldn’t go have fun with Snoop Dogg or go have fun with Eminem like Jelly [Roll] did.”
While BigX considers the project done on his end, his team is still awaiting verses from potential collaborators and doesn’t want to shut the door on any 11th-hour tweaks. As it is, BigX’s country rodeo is already shaping up to be a star-studded affair, with Jelly Roll, Post Malone, Shaboozey and more onboard.
“I didn’t think I was going to get as much positive feedback as I’ve been getting,” he says of the wide-ranging approval he has received from the country community, including being honored as Billboard’s 2025 Country Power Players Innovator. “A lot of people, I feel like, wouldn’t even accept that. A lot of people don’t even accept people of my color even trying to be in that lane. Just to be accepted the way it’s being accepted and everyone wanting to work with me — I’m grateful.”
This story appears in the May 31, 2025, issue of Billboard.
