WITF Music: Loe Badgett

Don't be a rapper.

• Joe Ulrich
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Joe has been interested in audio and music since he was a kid. What started as a fascination with his parents’ vinyl records and cassette tapes turned into a love of both performing and recording. He grew up in Elizabethtown, Pa. and moved to Pittsburgh in 1999 where he majored in Photography at the University of Pittsburgh.
  
  In 2004, he attended the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences in Tempe, AZ. He returned to Pittsburgh to work at a recording studio.
  
  In 2008, Joe arrived at WITF, where his skills have found a good home as an on-air host, audio engineer and producer of WITF Music. In 2016, Joe earned a National Edward R. Murrow award for Best Use of Sound.

Loe Badgett performs for WITF Music on April 2, 2024. (Jeremy Long - WITF)

Harrisburg musician Loe Badgett got interested in being an emcee from his father, who took part in hip-hop battle videos in the early 2000’s. Loe is about to release his new album titled “Don’t Be a Rapper” and he talks about the differences between a rapper and an emcee, how that ties into hip hop culture and why it’s important to not follow the crowd, both musically and in life.

Joe Ulrich: Tell me when you got started making.

Loe Badgett: I guess like 12 or 13. I remember my dad, Lumberjack Blackston, he was actually in a video 2 Raw For The Streets. It was actually shot at The Music Man and he came home with the DVD. And just watching that, it just sparked an interest and a love for music and hip hop for me. My father was shaping me and molding me to become the MC that I am today.

Joe Ulrich: I imagine that was something that made you close, that you bonded over.

Loe Badgett: The first thing that we did bond over was music, and our relationship grew from that. So it’s something that definitely brought us closer together and I’ve always strived to be better than him. I think I’m there now, you can hang it up. [laughs]

Joe Ulrich: I have to ask if you guys have ever battled each other.

Loe Badgett: He won’t battle me. He thinks he’ll destroy me, but no, at this point in the game, I know a little bit too much about him. But he also knows a lot about me as well. So it might get too personal. So we just don’t do it.

Joe Ulrich: I remember you saying in one particular interview about growing up, you would said that you were just trying to stay out of the way and do your own thing. Where did you get that impetus?

Loe Badgett: I’ve had a lot of really good role male role models in my life. But I would have to say my grandfather is very big on being your own man and not being a follower, being an absolute leader.

When I say I like to stay out of the way, some things just aren’t worth it. And you realize that, at a young age when you see your friends get in trouble, you got to watch how those things play out and pick your own lane and walk your own path. My grandfather really was instrumental on giving me that mindset to be able to go whatever way I wanted to go as a man. I didn’t have to follow anyone.

Even what I do with music. It’s not the most popular thing right now. I mean being an emcee. It’s not that popular. People want you to just be a rapper.

My next album is called Don’t Be A Rapper. I’m pushing that right now. Be an emcee. Be a father. Be a husband. Be true to what it is that we started this with.

Joe Ulrich: What’s the difference?

Loe Badgett: A rapper is somebody that just does it just for money. It’s all a show to them. The cars they drive, all the theatrics involved with it and making money.

An emcee is someone that’s skilled in the art form. Someone that can deliver a message, potently to a crowd of people in a way that they still understand, and speak about the culture of hip hop and not just chase the glamour and the glitz.

Hip hop is a culture and hip hop did start because there were a group of people that did want to change. It started from having nothing and somewhere along the lines, we lost our way. And it just became about being a rapper, which is why my next album is called Don’t Be A Rapper. I’m pushing that right now: Be an emcee. Be a father. Be a husband. Be true to what it is that we started this with.

Loe Badgett performs for WITF Music on April 2, 2024. (Jeremy Long – WITF)

Joe Ulrich: I gotta ask about the freestyling. I watched you in a video for five straight minutes. It blows my mind.

Loe Badgett: I’ll tell you this, God didn’t bless me with math skills. He had to give me something and he made me really good at the art of English and the art of language.

Something that I like to do is, in order to get the freestyle to go for 5-10 minutes long, you got to break it down into sixteens. You just pull from in your mind the various work that you’ve done or you’ve wrote over the past X amount of months or years.

Sometimes when it’s on the spot like that, sometimes it does get tough. It gets difficult. Sometimes you stumble, but for the most part, it’s just there.

Joe Ulrich: I’m just fascinated by having the vocabulary. I imagine you must have to listen a lot.

Loe Badgett: It does come from listening. I’ve also always been inquisitive. When I was young if I heard a word being used I want to know what it means, how to properly use it. My mom, she’s always been very big on learning about my history and making sure that I am able to express myself properly, in a proper manner and in all settings. Coming from that I was able to come up with a pretty nice vocab to be able to get my point across, whether that’s hip hop or me and you sitting here talking now. So shout out to my mom. I love you.

I’ve had a lot of really good role male role models in my life … My grandfather really was instrumental in giving me that mindset to be able to go whatever way I wanted to go as a man. I didn’t have to follow anyone.

Joe Ulrich: How did having your first kid change your perspective on your life?

Loe Badgett: My daughter was more so a shot to wake up. And, realizing that, what I was doing in that moment or what my [wife] was doing in that moment wasn’t going to cut it. It’s not just me and her. There’s a child involved. She pretty much taught me how to get up and go get it and be responsible and hold myself accountable for my actions at all times.

My son, he brought the music side out of me. I looked at him like, there’s no way God could bless me with a talent and not pursue it to provide these children and my wife with everything that I could offer them.

Loe Badgett performs for WITF Music on April 2, 2024. (Jeremy Long – WITF)

Joe Ulrich: So tell me about the truck trucking company.

Loe Badgett:  I’ve been an owner-operator for, it’ll be three years in October of this year. And, I’m looking to scale up now. I’m looking at purchasing new trucks. So anybody got the CDL and looking to get a new job?  I’ll be on the market here looking for guys.

Joe Ulrich: What are you listening to when you’re driving around?

Loe Badgett:  It’s weird. I really just write in my truck as I drive. I mean, in my mind. I put on instrumentals and I’ll just ride. Everything that I wrote the last four years of my life has been written in a truck. And when I get to a stop, I’ll type it into my phone or just write it down.

Joe Ulrich: What’s your favorite smartphone app?

Loe Badgett: Oh, that’s an interesting question. I guess Google Maps, because that’s what gets me paid.

Joe Ulrich: What are you into outside of music?

Loe Badgett: I was a sports guy when I was younger. But now man, I’m just so focused on my family and just whatever I can do to make their lives easier or better.

We’re real big on Sunday dinner. My whole family likes to get together every Sunday. That probably sounds boring as hell.

Joe Ulrich: I think it sounds awesome. That’s the important stuff.

Loe Badgett:  It’s exciting to me, man. I like the boring life. Sometimes I sit and I think about what was going on before and [shakes his head]. Don’t be a rapper.

A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.

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