Hip-hop icon Big Boi just revealed the thing he “nerds out” over, and it’s actually kinda awesome how deep he is in it.
During a May 2026 appearance on Kid Cudi’s Big Bro podcast, Cudi asked the Outkast rapper what his “nerd” obsession is, and Big Boi dropped a Poké-bomb. “I carry a Poké Ball in my pocket and catch Pokémon when I’m traveling,” he replied. “I surely do.”
Now, for those who are not familiar, Big Boi is referring to the Pokémon Go mobile game. The publisher, published by Niantic, manufactured a Poké Ball accessory that you can connect to your phone and catch Pokémon without having to have the game open.
“I’m on like level 60. I’m a Poke Master and I just catch Pokemon,” Big Boi quipped while Cudi chuckled. “People know what a Poké Ball is. You put it in your pocket, you sync it with your phone, and catch the Pokémon when you ain’t even got to swipe up and spin the ball, and none of that.”
Big Boi turned his Stankonia studio into a Pokéstop
“You just got to keep buying bag space cuz,” Big Boi added. “You’ll run out of space cuz you’re spinning all the Pokéstops.” He then joked to Cudi, “Is that a good one for you? That’s real life.”
It doesn’t stop there, though. Big Boi also revealed that he had his Stankonia recording studio in Atlanta designated as a Pokétop in the game. This means it’s a spot that people can stop at and get items while they catch Pokémon. “It be a lot of Asian kids sitting across the street in the parking lot catching Pokémon,” he joked.
You can also find Big Boi’s owls in the studio with him on occasion
In addition to being a pokemon master, Big Boi is also an animal whisperer. More specifically, he’s a Big owl guy. In fact, he has even been know to, on occason, bring his pet owls into the recordinf stufdio with him.
Back in 2019, he sat down with Rolling Stone and chatted about his birds of prey friends and their free raign of his recording stuido. “Once they perch, they’re there unless you’re gonna feed them or they see something run across the floor,” Big Boi said. He then warned, “I don’t encourage everybody to [own owls]. You gotta have the space, time, and knowledge of the bird.”
Big Boi also noted how calm and emotianlly detatched owls can be. “I can sit here and smoke 10 blunts, and they won’t move,” he said. The rapper finally clarified, “I don’t smoke around no birds.”
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