Darian "Big Tigger" Morgan (born December 22, 1972), also known as Big Tigg, is an American

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

radio personality A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

and

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

best known as the host of

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

's ''

Rap City ''Rap City'' is a music video television program block that originally aired on the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network from August 11, 1989, to November 8, 2008. The program was an exclusive showcase for hip hop music videos, and featu ...

'' and ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

''.

Biography

Morgan was born to a Jamaican immigrant mother and an African-American father. He grew up in

Co-op City Co-op City (short for Cooperative City) is a cooperative housing development located in the northeast section of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by Interstate 95 to the southwest, west, and north and the Hutchinson River ...

and played basketball at the Wheaton high school l courts in section 4. While growing up in Co-Op city he began to rap and scratch under a local DJ Rob Lasky; aka DJ All Might Scratch. Later, he started out working as a DJ at the radio station WERQ, 92Q in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, but his road to success began a few years earlier. While attending the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

, he interned at

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

radio station WPGC 95.5 FM. At WPGC, Morgan worked alongside popular host Albie Dee and was promptly recognized for his ambition and

charisma Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects. Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...

. His college

internship An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...

evolved into a flourishing career. Soon Morgan, with his innovative freestyles, gained popularity on night radio. When the Bronx native returned to New York City in 2001, he departed D.C. as the highest rated, six-year undefeated nighttime radio champion.

BET career

Rise to fame

He entered the television scene on

voiceover Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...

s for

Black Entertainment Television Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

in 1996, while still working the radio circuit. Within a year, fans were watching him on-camera, in ''

s "Hip Hop News," and he advanced to become the co-host of ''Rap City'' in its tenth season, alongside Big Lez and

Joe Clair Joe Clair (born February 13, 1969), also known by the nickname "Joe Cleezy", is an American stand-up comedian, radio personality, VJ and actor. A native of the Seat Pleasant, Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C., Clair is best known as a former hos ...

. BET then changed the show's format, and Morgan became the lone

video jockey A video jockey (abbreviated VJ or sometimes veejay) is an announcer or host who introduces music videos and live performances on commercial music television channels such as MTV, VH1, Much (TV channel), MuchMusic and Channel V. Origins The term " ...

. He hosted the show from 1998–2005, before being replaced by Mad Linx.

Latter end

Big Tigger hosted BET's top rated show ''Rap City: Tha Basement'' until 2005 (replaced by Mad Linx, and another show

BET Style ''BET Style'' is an entertainment show, much like syndicated ''Entertainment Tonight'', that focuses on African Americans in the entertainment industry. It aired from 2004 to 2006 on Black Entertainment Television at 7:30e-p/6:30c on Thursdays. Its ...

until its final episode on July 6, 2006. He also hosted numerous episodes of BET: Uncut.

Radio

Until April 2013, Morgan hosted ''Live In Tha Den with Big Tigger'', a syndicated radio show on weekends that aired on various

Urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

and

Rhythmic Rhythmic may refer to: * Related to rhythm * Rhythmic contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic adult contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic gymnastics, a form of gymnastics * Rhythmic (chart) The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and ...

formatted Hip-Hop/R&B stations across the country. On his show ''Live In the Den'', hip hop stars such as

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

had made guest appearances. He also conducted his own countdown of the Top 20 Hip-Hop/R&B hits of the week throughout the show. He replaced ''Star and Buc Wild'' on WWPR "Power 1051 FM" New York in 2006 with a temporary morning show, ''Live With Tigger with

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Donnell Rawlings Donnell M. Rawlings (born December 6, 1968) is an American comedian, actor, and radio host. He is best known as a cast member on the Comedy Central sketch comedy TV series ''Chappelle's Show'' and the HBO drama ''The Wire''. Early life Donnell R ...

''. He returned to WPGC 95.5 FM in 2007 as their weekday afternoon drive host (2pm-6pm). On April 12, 2010, Morgan took over for Donnie Simpson as the weekday morning show host on

WPGC-FM WPGC-FM (95.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Morningside, Maryland and serving the Washington metropolitan area. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs an urban contemporary format. WPGC-FM has studios in the Navy Yard neighborh ...

from 6am-10am. Big Tigger and WPGC agreed to part ways on December 22, 2011. In January 2013, he took over the afternoon drive time slot (2pm-6PM) on WPGC's sister station,

WVEE WVEE (103.3 FM, "V-103") is a commercial radio station in Atlanta, Georgia. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs an urban contemporary radio format. WVEE is one of the highest-rated stations of the Atlanta radio market according to Nielsen Aud ...

, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. As of August 2020, he took over hosting duties of the morning drive slot on WVEE.

Additional credits

Morgan began his rap career when he was featured on "

Snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

", a top-20 song from

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwid ...

's 2003 album, '''

Chocolate Factory ''Chocolate Factory'' is the fifth studio album by American recording artist R. Kelly, released on February 18, 2003, by Jive Records. Recording sessions took place mainly at Rockland Studios and Chicago Recording Company in Chicago, Illinois, and ...

and a hidden track on

Ginuwine Elgin Baylor Lumpkin (born October 15, 1970), better known by his stage name Ginuwine, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. He began his career as a member of Swing Mob in the early 1990s. Signing to Epic R ...

's 2003 album ''

The Senior ''The Senior'' is the fourth studio album by American singer Ginuwine. It was released in the United States on April 8, 2003, via Epic Records. The album was primarily produced by Bryan-Michael Cox, with additional production from Scott Storch, ...

''. He boasts numerous vocal cameo appearances on albums for hip-hop artists including Method Man, O.G.C., Redman, Too Short and Pete Rock. In 2001, Big Tigger demonstrated his lyrical prowess on Jordan Brand's promotional CD-rom, which accompanied the Air Jordan 17 basketball shoes. The announcing and ring introductions in

Fight Night 2004 ''Fight Night 2004'' is a 2004 boxing video game developed by NuFX, Inc. It features ''Roy Jones Jr.'' on the cover. It is the successor to EA's previous boxing series, '' Knockout Kings''. Four sequels followed, ''Fight Night Round 2'' in 2005, ...

, a

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed by

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...

, were recorded by him. Big Tigger's commentating character can also be unlocked in the game as a playable middleweight fighter (cheat code activation required). He also works as the resident DJ at

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

games.

Appearances

*2009: "If You Don't Know Now You Know" (with

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

) on (

Back on My B.S. ''Back on My B.S.'' is the eighth studio album by American rapper Busta Rhymes. It was released on May 19, 2009 through Flipmode and Universal Motown. Background The album was originally going to be called ''Before Hell Freezes Over'', but went ...

) (iTunes only)

Television

On April 3, 2010, Morgan hit the small screen again hosting the urban entertainment program Direct Access with Big Tigger. The show is produced in Washington, DC and highlights what's happening in entertainment, sports, music and DC nightlife. It includes interviews with celebrities in sports and entertainment and the hottest music videos. Direct Access with Big Tigger also features a gossip segment brought by model Katie Rost. The show can be seen on DC50-TV/

WDCW WDCW (channel 50), branded on-air as DCW 50, is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from The CW. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside Hagerstown, Maryland–licensed independe ...

on Saturdays at 11pm with encores on Fridays at 11:30pm and on

WPHL-TV WPHL-TV (channel 17) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group and has studios in the Wynnefield section of West Philadelphia; it maintains a ...

Sundays at 12am.

Footnotes

External links

Official website
*
''Live In The Den'' website

BT Wheels.com

Big Tigger's Annual Celebrity Classic

The StreetCorner Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Tigger 1972 births African-American television personalities American radio personalities American infotainers Living people Rappers from the Bronx University of Maryland, College Park alumni 21st-century American rappers People from Co-op City, Bronx 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people