Trailer Choir’s Bigg Vinny Opens Up About Slimming Down, Staying Fit

When Trailer Choir began their career in the mid-2000s, Vencent "Bigg Vinny” Hickerson weighed more than 400 pounds and was, by his own admission, "addicted to food." However, after appearing on The Biggest Loser in 2011, Hickerson is a healthier, stronger person and has maintained his weight loss, even amid the sometimes-irregular demands of a music career.

"I don’t eat for taste anymore," Hickerson tells The Boot. "I’m very on point with what I do; I don’t stray from it. I carry my food with me everywhere I go ... I have this thing, it’s called an Isobag, and I can put six meals in it ... We’ll be riding down the road, [and] every three hours, no matter what, I eat. I eat protein, carbs and fat every single meal."

The singer says that his wake-up call came when he nearly lost his leg as a result of his Type II diabetes. The scare was enough to motivate him to get -- and stay -- healthy.

"I’ve not eaten pizza in four years. I enjoy having the simplicity of eating same thing every day," he concedes. "I was addicted to food; it was everything to me. I didn’t drink, and I didn’t do drugs. I never needed it. I still don’t drink; I just don’t need it ... For me, it was food. While everyone else was spending $40 a night on their drinks, I’m the guy who was ordering a pizza at 3 in the morning."

Hickerson has used his weight loss to inspire others. In addition to his music career, he is a motivational speaker.

"... I let people know that it’s not okay. You can sit there all day long and make up excuses and be like, ‘Well, I’m this way because of this and that,’ and the truth is, it’s not okay, because we’re setting bad examples for everyone around us in the world -- for our kids, for people that are watching us," Hickerson says. "I’m not saying you’ve got to be skin and bones, but I’m saying, if you put yourself in the position where you’re about to die at 27, that’s not okay. It’s a slow suicide; that’s what I was doing."

The artist also ties exercise into all of Trailer Choir's concert dates.

"We’ll tie in to a local gym while we’re there. They’ll pay us to come in, and I’ll do a boot camp. There will be 40 people, sometimes up to 90 people, and I do an hour session with them," Hickerson explains. "They come in, and I take them through all the things I would have done on The Biggest Loser."

Hickerson's new physique has also affected Trailer Choir's music: Before, he was the funny, 400-pound break-dancer; now, he gets to show off his artistry in a new way.

"At first I was like, ‘What are people going to think?’" he admits. "But I’m still a 250-pound break-dancer, with all this muscle. People still look up there and say, ‘That’s a big ol’ dude up there dancing.' My overalls fit a little different."

Marc "Butter" Fortney, Hickerson's Trailer Choir partner-in-crime, deserves some of the credit as well.

"Butter made me focus more on my music," Hickerson adds. "I still do all the dancing, all the crazy fun stuff, but Butter asked me to become more musical, so I’m trying to get better on guitar. I took voice lessons, I just started learning harmonica -- things like that."

Trailer Choir signed to Average Joes Entertainment in 2015 and are currently working on a new album.

"You’ll hear me sing a lot on this new record, where you used to hear me rap, and sing a little bit on there, but not very much," Hickerson notes. "And now, you’ll hear me on the record quite a bit, and Butter as well."

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