Darian "Big Tigger" Morgan (born December 22, 1972), also known as Big Tigg, is an American television and radio personality, DJ and rapper best known as the host of BET's ''

Rap City ''Rap City'', also known as ''Rap City: Tha Basement'' from 1999 to 2005, 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 ...

'' and '' 106 & Park''.

Biography

Morgan was born to a Jamaican immigrant mother and an African-American father. He grew up in Co-op City 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 is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, 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 university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

, he interned at

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

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

charisma () is a personal quality of magnetic charm, persuasion, or appeal. In the fields of sociology and political science, psychology, and management, the term ''charismatic'' describes a type of leadership. In Christian theology, the term ''chari ...

. 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 to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

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 used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...

s for

Black Entertainment Television Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

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., Career Clair is best known as ...

. 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 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 and Rhythmic 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 Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

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 ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

& Donnell Rawlings''. 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 broadcasting, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Morningside, Maryland, and serving the Washington metropolitan area. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs an urban contemporary format. WPG ...

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 broadcasting, FM) – branded as ''V-103'' – is a commercial American radio station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs an urban contemporary radio format. WVEE is one of the highest-r ...

, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. 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 reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

", a top-20 song from R. Kelly's 2003 album, ''' Chocolate Factory and a hidden track on

Ginuwine Elgin Baylor Lumpkin (born October 15, 1970), better known by his stage name Ginuwine ( ), is an American R&B singer. He began his career as a member of the musical collective Swing Mob in the early 1990s. As a solo act, he signed with Epic R ...

's 2003 album ''

The Senior ''The Senior'' is the fourth studio album by American singer Ginuwine. It was released by Epic Records on April 8, 2003 in the United States. The singer reteamed with Troy Oliver to work on material for the album. He also consulted a number o ...

''. 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, a

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

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 imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

, 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 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

games & the PA announcer 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 Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

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 and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

) on ( Back on My B.S.) (iTunes only) *2023: "If You Don't Know Now You Know Pt. 2" (with

) on ( Blockbusta)

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 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, serving as the local outlet for The CW. The station also maintains a secondary affiliation with MyNetworkTV. Owned and operated by The CW's majority owner, ...

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 American rappers of Jamaican descent