Texas rapper BigXthaPlug is making headlines after a memorable performance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"—and now he's teasing a full country-rap project that's already generating major buzz.
On April 23, the Dallas native brought his Southern charm and booming sound to late-night TV, performing his hits "The Largest" and "Mmhmm" with a live band.
But before the show began, he surprised host Jimmy Kimmel with a special gift: a $90,000 custom chain in the shape of Texas, complete with their names engraved on the back.
"I come bearing gifts as always, man. We're twinning. I have one as well," BigXthaPlug told Kimmel backstage. Laughing, Kimmel replied, "People do tell me we look like twins. I feel like a princess."
The pendant, designed by The Ice Champ, is based on the artwork for BigXthaPlug's breakout 2022 single, "Texas."
According to Rap-Up, it features iconic Lone Star imagery like swangas, a lean cup, and a Dallas Mavericks jersey. According to the rapper, "The man did his big one, for sure. This is my artist piece."
Rap’s latest superstar! BigXThaPlug gifted Jimmy Kimmel a $100,000 chain after meeting him and performing on his show.
— Rain Drops Media (@Raindropsmedia1) April 23, 2025
‘That’s very kind of you’ pic.twitter.com/HD76BGHqoL
Following the viral moment, BigXthaPlug is shifting gears musically. He recently dropped "All the Way" with Bailey Zimmerman, a country-infused single that debuted at No. 4 and is now No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The hit is just a preview of what's to come, as the artist teases a full country-rap album.
BigXthaPlug is reportedly working with stars like Post Malone, Luke Combs, Shaboozey, Jelly Roll, and Morgan Wallen for the project, Billboard said.
Though no official release date has been announced, the success of "All the Way" has fans eager for more.
"Jimmy Kimmel. BigXthaPlug. I appreciate y'all," the rapper said during his Kimmel performance, ending the night on a high note.
His latest album TAKE CARE got a deluxe edition in January with new tracks including "Holy Ground" featuring Jessie Murph and "Comes & Goes" with Tommy Newport. But it's the genre-blending country tape that has fans buzzing.
More must-reads:
It might have been a good thing the Chicago Bears didn’t play Caleb Williams on Sunday. The Bears might need to hide their second-year quarterback as he irons out his wrinkles in the pre-snap process and with accuracy issues. The No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft struggled with timing and accuracy during the Bears’ joint practice with the Miami Dolphins on Friday. Caleb Williams was inaccurate in the red zone against no defenders On Sunday, head coach Ben Johnson chose not to play Williams against the Dolphins in the Bears’ first preseason game. Instead, Johnson led a workout with Williams and wide receivers Rome Odunze and DJ Moore before the game. Per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, the Bears ran a total of 87 plays during the workout. All of the plays were routes in the air with no defenders on the field for the scripted practice. Despite going against no defenders bringing pressure or guarding his receivers, Williams struggled to hit his targets in the red zone. "Williams would stand next to Johnson, who would give him the play," Biggs wrote. "Then, the quarterback simulated a huddle with the player (only one ran a route on each snap) and gave the play call. They’d break the huddle, go to the line of scrimmage, Williams would simulate pre-snap actions and then the play would be run… "Before ending the session with eight deep balls, there was a 25-play set of snaps in the red zone. One thing Williams struggled to connect on was out routes to Moore and Odunze near the goal line. Those throws were not close and Williams consistently led the receivers too much." A closed-door problem for the Chicago Bears The throws weren’t close during routes on air… in the red zone… seriously? Williams wasn’t ready to take the field for the preseason game. For all of the flak he’s been getting from practice reports, the quarterback would have been relentlessly mocked for having these issues shown during an NFL Network broadcast. Biggs’ report is troubling, with a month to go before the season. Williams has much to improve upon, and the Bears are very much trying to do so without cameras present for a reason.
It is no secret that NASCAR's current road-course package has not been very good. Aside from the mile-and-a-half tracks that were once the least competitive and exciting in the series, those races are the rare bright spot for the Next Gen Car since its inception in 2022. Shane van Gisbergen drove away to an 11.1-second win over Christopher Bell in Sunday's race at Watkins Glen and set multiple records in the process. While the racing was not particularly exciting, that was not what left former crew chief and current analyst Steve Letarte frustrated the most following the weekend. A recurring issue in each race over the weekend was drivers utilizing the runoff areas around the track and not staying on the traditional racing surface, which ultimately led to some crashes in Saturday's Xfinity race. "So, I hate track limits that have to be officiated," Letarte said on "Inside the Race." "Because I like tracks that you should just stay on the track. I didn't think it mattered. Now, I am team get-them-back-on-the-race-track-at-Watkins-Glen. I don't love the Watkins Glen that I see. ... I think Turn 1 is not as great of a corner with no exit respect or responsibility. You just blow the exit. I think the carousel is a much easier corner, being able to just go driver's left. "I also think Turn 6 is going — let me add, that I think the (Connor) Zilisch, SVG wreck between the last two corners (in the Xfinity Series race) happened because they left the track, and the Austin Hill wreck with Michael McDowell happened off the race track. Now, both could have been avoided, we can talk about who's at fault. What I'm saying is, I've never driven a lap at Watkins Glen. I can analyze what happens between the white lines." This comes one year after rumble strips were placed in Turn 1 to keep drivers from using the runoff area, and that clearly has not worked. As the field has got closer together, using up all the track has become a common way for drivers to establish momentum, especially as they prepare for the right-hander going into The Esses at Watkins Glen. The bottom line is NASCAR's road-racing product needs to get better and Letarte wants to see race cars "stay on the race track because I think it will be a better race." Van Gisbergen's historic dominance certainly does not help, but the overall road course product is not great. Whether NASCAR makes some changes to the runoff areas and enforces track limits remains to be seen, but that still may not be the biggest issue if the racing does not improve.
We all know Scottie Scheffler is the best golfer on the planet by a fairly large margin, but what makes him so much more consistent than other stars in professional golf? Bryson DeChambeau, one of Scheffler's biggest rivals in major championships, thinks he knows the answer. In Tuesday's appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show," DeChambeau detailed how Scheffler dominates the PGA Tour weekly. "He's got the best spin and distance control I've ever seen," DeChambeau said. "He controls the golf ball from a spin perspective so much better than everybody else. Like, if you're 175 yards out, and it's 10 miles [an hour] into the wind, he knows how to control the flight and spin to get that ball to land right next to the hole every time. Probably since Tiger [Woods], he's the best that we've seen." The stats confirm DeChambeau's breakdown. Scheffler has ranked first on the PGA Tour in strokes gained on approach in three straight seasons. He also ranks first in proximity to the hole and greens in regulation percentage over the last four years. Iron play is Scheffler's superpower, but it wasn't always that way. "I played with him in college a bunch, and I've said it before, but he's definitely improved since college for sure," DeChambeau said with a chuckle. "It's impressive to see what he's done, and we're all aspiring to do that. That's something I've gotta get better at. I can hit it farther than him. I can hit it probably straighter than him. I can make just as many putts as him, but, really, it's about my iron play right now and wedges to get a little more consistent." Iron play is the biggest indicator of success in professional golf. If you're giving yourself more birdie chances from close range than anyone in the field, you're going to have the best chance to win by Sunday afternoon. No one is better at hitting specific distances more consistently than Scheffler. Just look at how accurate he is. DeChambeau has the best chance to catch Scheffler as the best player in the world because he's elite off the tee and on the greens, but that won't happen unless he makes a major improvement to his iron game.
HENDERSON, Nev.—The Las Vegas Raiders moved indoors today, and the level of competition, despite escaping the excruciating heat, didn’t cool down. Our latest episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast provides an in-depth look at today's practice and the current Silver and Black depth chart. You can watch the entire podcast below: Pete Carroll is putting on a master’s level course in leadership since taking over the Silver and Black. Along with GM John Spytek, their masterful manipulation of the roster has the Raiders on the verge of the 2025 season considerably more talented. Pete Carroll answered several questions after practice, and below we have a partial transcript for you. Head Coach Pete Carroll Q: Speaking on the competition and making decisions, how quickly do you feel like you need to figure out who the starting five is going to be on that offensive line? Carroll: "No, we have a long time. We got a month before we start playing real games, and maybe we don't figure it out by the start of the season and we're rotating then. It just needs to declare when it declares, but it's good for all of us. It's good for those guys to be battling and looking around and saying, 'Somebody's going to take my spot if I don't play well on every play that I get.' That's the mentality we're looking for." Q: Are you seeing what you wanted to see from Jackson Powers-Johnson? Carroll: "Yeah, he's definitely a physical football player, and at the guard spot, playing next to Jordan [Meredith], it showed up. It seemed to be a bit of a factor. We need consistency. We need those guys working together. Jordan's coming a long way at the center spot, but he played a really solid game right out of the chute. So we played him a lot, and played almost to half time, and that was to just give him enough reps so that we could have stuff on film that we can work from. Same with JPJ [Jackson Powers Johnson]." Q: At 73, you still call this your first day of school. What are you still learning this season? Carroll: "It's almost a moment to moment process of trying to figure out a better way to communicate, a better way to do something better, how to communicate with the coaches so they can reach their players, learning the coaches still, learning the players still, that's just an ongoing process, and that's why all of the competitive situations we put them in, I think it gives us more opportunity to learn who they are, and that's so eventually we can embrace who they are and help them be the best they can possibly be. Hey, by the way, this was a great showing by our fans today. It was really fun to see them out. There was over a couple thousand people here today, and you can feel it and the players could feel it. They were excited to be playing for them, and it was great to see. Appreciate that." Q: How does that off the field chemistry translate to on the field? Carroll: "Everything counts. Everything is a competition in my mind. It's trying to do something as well as you can possibly do it. Being a good teammate, being connected, communicating with your teammates, communicating with your coaches. All of those are decisions that we can make, and we can act on them. And to me, it's all connected. So rule number one in the program is always protect the team, and that's about your conscience, and that your conscience -- it takes into account everybody that you're dealing with. So I'm looking for all of those kinds of illustrations we can find." Q: Is Alex Cappa dealing with anything significant? We haven't seen him practice. Carroll: "He's got a rib something. It's a little crack, or something like that that we're just making sure that he gets back. It's a pretty subtle injury, but it does take a little while. It's hard to even take breath at times. So he's coming back, and he feels pretty good about it. It's not a long term deal at all." We'd appreciate it if you would follow us on X @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr , and let’s talk about the Silver and Black’s training camp and Pete Carroll’s comments.
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!