Post by Deamonic Angel on Mar 13, 2008 17:34:25 GMT
Most people see Mistah F.A.B.and see the Bay Area slick talk, the flashy clothes, the Ghostriding, and of course the school bus. It’s a shame that some people are ignoring the raw lyricism, intelligence, and work ethic that have made him a success in the ever so fickle rap industry.
Dismissed by many as a fad or a gimmick, Mistah F.A.B. is actually one of the leaders of the new West coast movement of young MC’s trying to bring Cali back to it’s past success. It’s not just in his talk but also in his resume.
Having worked with Too Short and Snoop Dogg, establishing himself as both a hit maker and a battle tested MC, Fab is well on his way to hip-hop superstardom, it’s just a matter of time.
You were signed to Mac Dre right?
Yup, yup.
What was your relationship with him like?
That was my big brother man. Dre was everybody’s homey. He started a movement that looked out for a lot of the younger cats as well as a lot of people that he felt had potential to take it to the next level. He was a real homey man.
His death was a real tragedy, did it hit you hard?
Yeah definitely, it’s one of those things where you don’t know how to handle it. It’s like going to play for a team and the coach gets fired, like going to play for the Lakers and Phil Jackson leaves. It was an unfortunate situation, not just for the fans but also for the people that had a close relationship with him.
You’re big on the battle scene, how did you get into that?
I dibbled and dabbled in that. That’s how I started out. We have a huge underground scene over here and there are a lot of artists that never get that mainstream shine. As an artist from the Bay to be able to go bar for bar with anybody in the game is a part of my arsenal. It’s a side of me that I show people to let them know that I have the ability to do so. Coming up under Sway and the Wake-Up show, things like that, you really gotta be able to get up there and hold it down.
You recently made a lot of noise with the whole Joe Budden and Royce battle thing, what happened there?
Just like you said man, I’m just making noise. I’m just starting the ripple to the wave letting people know I’m out here. I’m going left with it man, it’s like if you have a point guard and he can’t dribble left and you don’t cover him for that he’s gonna drop 40 points. I’m just letting people know that I can satisfy different types of demographics and that I can do all types of music. That’s all it is man.
You’re a popular artist; you got a lot going, why do you feel people would overlook an artist like yourself?
Thank you, I’m local but I’m getting there. I mean I think it’s like you said earlier, I come from a place where people don’t expect an artist to be lyrical. It’s just not something they expect to see so when I come a certain way I think people may not know how to respond to it. The record that got me on a national level was called "Ghostriding" and that was a demographically based son gso other people were thinking it was corny but I think that’s because they didn’t understand it.
I think when people hear my lyrics and hear what I’m bringing to the table they understand that I’m much more than just commercial rap. People see that I got stories and that I got substance to me. I’m not mad at anybody that doesn’t acknowledge that at first so long as they continue to listen eventually they realize, and they open up their eyes and they can see that I do belong with everybody else in the game.
Tell us exactly what Ghostriding is.
It’s just a fad that’s a regionally based thing. It’s something we do in our area, it’s a car stunt, and I guess if there was a comparison, it’s something like urban drifting. It’s something that came from the streets of Oakland and it spread, it’s nothing bad, it’s not this big, phenomenal thing, it is what it is. It’s entertainment man, recreation.
They even brought you on Hannity and Colmes (an extremely conservative political TV show) to discuss that, what was that like?
Yeah, that was crazy. It’s definitely a conservative show that really penetrates pop culture and it gives an insight to what’s going on in the world. To be on that show, it really penetrated the pop culture. Not only for that but to be on that show and have a valued opinion and substance.
Yes, they talk over you and all that but for me to get the points that I got out and to have relevance. I got the opportunity to show that I have intelligence and to show people outside of the Bay that I’m here and I have substance, and to do it through such a conservative show was great. A lot of people showed respect not only for my lyrical ability but also for intellectual ability to be able to go up there and hold my own.
Another thing I gotta know, what’s good with the slang in the Bay area?
It comes from here. The Bay area is known for being friendly and flashy. Even if you look back, the pimps, they speak a certain way, or the even the lack Panthers they would have to establish a certain way to speak they would talk in code.
A lot of the pimps would be like, “hey, jive turkey”, you know a lot of that stuff. A lot of that stuff started here and it kept growing and just became lingo and a part of the culture. We’ll say something and somebody who’s not from here won’t know what we’re talking about.
It’s a part of being fly and flashy. A lot of the stuff out here like the slang, the car culture, they’re real heavy out here. It’s one of those things where you have to be from here to understand it. It’s like; you have to be from L.A. to understand the whole Crips and Bloods thing. You can’t understand it from a distance; you can get a sense of it, but not the whole feeling of it.
You’re signed to a major label; do you find that to be a positive or a negative with the way the game is changing? From the slumping sales to the ringtones, and the list goes on.
It’s one of those split decision things man, it can be a positive if we use it right. A negative with the majors is that they look to create a single or a ringtone and not a real artist. We didn’t just sign an artist deal; we have a label deal with the majors. In this ever-changing game my advice to anybody coming up would be to do it yourself.
Get the major connects, from media, to radio and do it yourself because at the end of the day it’s all about how hard you work.You don’t wanna go out and bust your ass and you don’t get the right percentages. There are artists that go with terrible deals just to get noticed. The main objective is to put out good music and also to make money. I mean, if you don’t, why you in it for? I love hip-hop, I love the culture but I gotta pay my bills too. Be compensated for your talent.
What’s with the school bus?
It’s basically about the hyphy movement, like going stupid, but not literally, it’s basically just a lose it all mentality. I’m gonna go out and party, I had a rough week, I’m just gonna let loose, you know? I’m gonna get retarded, I’m gonna get stupid and just have a good time, that’s what it’s about.
So we popularized the whole yellow school bus thing but it really made it cool for kids to go to school. I do a lot of community work. We would go to a lot of schools and let them know it’s cool to be intelligent and the bus is cool, it has rims on it and the kids are fascinated by it and we just let them know it’s cool to go to school. A lot of people identify me with that and it’s cool. You have to brand yourself; you have to make yourself a product.
So tell us man, what projects can we expect to see from you?
My major album is coming up, that’s called The Bus Ride. I’m gonna explain a bus ride and what different people do when they hear the word bus ride, I’m just gonna do that whole thing. I got a couple mixtapes that I’m dropping; Alchemist and me are doing an album. I’m just tryna stay busy, staying current. I just did a video with Snoop and Too Short, which should be on TRL soon.
You mentioned that you worked with Snoop and you’ve worked with Too Short, these dudes are legends. What do you think it is that makes them want to work with you?
I think its personality man. Some people have a lot of talent but no personality. Some people confuse swag with personality with swag. Swag is not that, some people put so much effort into their swag that they actually become standoffish. I’ve been influenced by the West Coast. Snoop and Too Short they’ve done more than anybody, put together they have more platinum album than anybody, more years in the game than anybody, they’re legends and to be embraced by them is amazing and I do it by just being me, nothing artificial, just me.
On the album, can we expect any big name appearances or production?
I got Rick Ross. I got Glasses Malone on my album who’s a part of the new West. He has a hot record out right now with Akon. I got Paul Wall, Chamillionaire, Trey Songz, Snoop Dogg of course. We got some big production as well on the album, Alchemist and a few other people.
Dismissed by many as a fad or a gimmick, Mistah F.A.B. is actually one of the leaders of the new West coast movement of young MC’s trying to bring Cali back to it’s past success. It’s not just in his talk but also in his resume.
Having worked with Too Short and Snoop Dogg, establishing himself as both a hit maker and a battle tested MC, Fab is well on his way to hip-hop superstardom, it’s just a matter of time.
You were signed to Mac Dre right?
Yup, yup.
What was your relationship with him like?
That was my big brother man. Dre was everybody’s homey. He started a movement that looked out for a lot of the younger cats as well as a lot of people that he felt had potential to take it to the next level. He was a real homey man.
His death was a real tragedy, did it hit you hard?
Yeah definitely, it’s one of those things where you don’t know how to handle it. It’s like going to play for a team and the coach gets fired, like going to play for the Lakers and Phil Jackson leaves. It was an unfortunate situation, not just for the fans but also for the people that had a close relationship with him.
You’re big on the battle scene, how did you get into that?
I dibbled and dabbled in that. That’s how I started out. We have a huge underground scene over here and there are a lot of artists that never get that mainstream shine. As an artist from the Bay to be able to go bar for bar with anybody in the game is a part of my arsenal. It’s a side of me that I show people to let them know that I have the ability to do so. Coming up under Sway and the Wake-Up show, things like that, you really gotta be able to get up there and hold it down.
You recently made a lot of noise with the whole Joe Budden and Royce battle thing, what happened there?
Just like you said man, I’m just making noise. I’m just starting the ripple to the wave letting people know I’m out here. I’m going left with it man, it’s like if you have a point guard and he can’t dribble left and you don’t cover him for that he’s gonna drop 40 points. I’m just letting people know that I can satisfy different types of demographics and that I can do all types of music. That’s all it is man.
You’re a popular artist; you got a lot going, why do you feel people would overlook an artist like yourself?
Thank you, I’m local but I’m getting there. I mean I think it’s like you said earlier, I come from a place where people don’t expect an artist to be lyrical. It’s just not something they expect to see so when I come a certain way I think people may not know how to respond to it. The record that got me on a national level was called "Ghostriding" and that was a demographically based son gso other people were thinking it was corny but I think that’s because they didn’t understand it.
I think when people hear my lyrics and hear what I’m bringing to the table they understand that I’m much more than just commercial rap. People see that I got stories and that I got substance to me. I’m not mad at anybody that doesn’t acknowledge that at first so long as they continue to listen eventually they realize, and they open up their eyes and they can see that I do belong with everybody else in the game.
Tell us exactly what Ghostriding is.
It’s just a fad that’s a regionally based thing. It’s something we do in our area, it’s a car stunt, and I guess if there was a comparison, it’s something like urban drifting. It’s something that came from the streets of Oakland and it spread, it’s nothing bad, it’s not this big, phenomenal thing, it is what it is. It’s entertainment man, recreation.
They even brought you on Hannity and Colmes (an extremely conservative political TV show) to discuss that, what was that like?
Yeah, that was crazy. It’s definitely a conservative show that really penetrates pop culture and it gives an insight to what’s going on in the world. To be on that show, it really penetrated the pop culture. Not only for that but to be on that show and have a valued opinion and substance.
Yes, they talk over you and all that but for me to get the points that I got out and to have relevance. I got the opportunity to show that I have intelligence and to show people outside of the Bay that I’m here and I have substance, and to do it through such a conservative show was great. A lot of people showed respect not only for my lyrical ability but also for intellectual ability to be able to go up there and hold my own.
Another thing I gotta know, what’s good with the slang in the Bay area?
It comes from here. The Bay area is known for being friendly and flashy. Even if you look back, the pimps, they speak a certain way, or the even the lack Panthers they would have to establish a certain way to speak they would talk in code.
A lot of the pimps would be like, “hey, jive turkey”, you know a lot of that stuff. A lot of that stuff started here and it kept growing and just became lingo and a part of the culture. We’ll say something and somebody who’s not from here won’t know what we’re talking about.
It’s a part of being fly and flashy. A lot of the stuff out here like the slang, the car culture, they’re real heavy out here. It’s one of those things where you have to be from here to understand it. It’s like; you have to be from L.A. to understand the whole Crips and Bloods thing. You can’t understand it from a distance; you can get a sense of it, but not the whole feeling of it.
You’re signed to a major label; do you find that to be a positive or a negative with the way the game is changing? From the slumping sales to the ringtones, and the list goes on.
It’s one of those split decision things man, it can be a positive if we use it right. A negative with the majors is that they look to create a single or a ringtone and not a real artist. We didn’t just sign an artist deal; we have a label deal with the majors. In this ever-changing game my advice to anybody coming up would be to do it yourself.
Get the major connects, from media, to radio and do it yourself because at the end of the day it’s all about how hard you work.You don’t wanna go out and bust your ass and you don’t get the right percentages. There are artists that go with terrible deals just to get noticed. The main objective is to put out good music and also to make money. I mean, if you don’t, why you in it for? I love hip-hop, I love the culture but I gotta pay my bills too. Be compensated for your talent.
What’s with the school bus?
It’s basically about the hyphy movement, like going stupid, but not literally, it’s basically just a lose it all mentality. I’m gonna go out and party, I had a rough week, I’m just gonna let loose, you know? I’m gonna get retarded, I’m gonna get stupid and just have a good time, that’s what it’s about.
So we popularized the whole yellow school bus thing but it really made it cool for kids to go to school. I do a lot of community work. We would go to a lot of schools and let them know it’s cool to be intelligent and the bus is cool, it has rims on it and the kids are fascinated by it and we just let them know it’s cool to go to school. A lot of people identify me with that and it’s cool. You have to brand yourself; you have to make yourself a product.
So tell us man, what projects can we expect to see from you?
My major album is coming up, that’s called The Bus Ride. I’m gonna explain a bus ride and what different people do when they hear the word bus ride, I’m just gonna do that whole thing. I got a couple mixtapes that I’m dropping; Alchemist and me are doing an album. I’m just tryna stay busy, staying current. I just did a video with Snoop and Too Short, which should be on TRL soon.
You mentioned that you worked with Snoop and you’ve worked with Too Short, these dudes are legends. What do you think it is that makes them want to work with you?
I think its personality man. Some people have a lot of talent but no personality. Some people confuse swag with personality with swag. Swag is not that, some people put so much effort into their swag that they actually become standoffish. I’ve been influenced by the West Coast. Snoop and Too Short they’ve done more than anybody, put together they have more platinum album than anybody, more years in the game than anybody, they’re legends and to be embraced by them is amazing and I do it by just being me, nothing artificial, just me.
On the album, can we expect any big name appearances or production?
I got Rick Ross. I got Glasses Malone on my album who’s a part of the new West. He has a hot record out right now with Akon. I got Paul Wall, Chamillionaire, Trey Songz, Snoop Dogg of course. We got some big production as well on the album, Alchemist and a few other people.