BigXthaPlug isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo. But when the Dallas rapper learned he had been named Variety ’s hip-hop disruptor of the year, his first impulse was to laugh. “When you say disruptor, that means you’re causing a scene,” he says. “I was like, ‘Man, is it a good thing or a bad thing?’ Then I thought about it — it means I’m making noise. I guess I’m the good version of the class clown.”

That self-awareness defines BigX’s unlikely rise. In just a few years, he has gone from regional favorite to national force, balancing heavy bars and country soul while maintaining complete independence. His crossover hit, 2024’s “All the Way,” featuring rising country star Bailey Zimmerman, didn’t just blur genre lines, it bulldozed them on its way to a Top 5 debut on the Hot 100.

“

See Full Page