http://illroots.com/2008/07/10/featured-mistah-fab/#comment-16823
illRoots.com: First thank you for sitting down with me today.
MF: Oh no problem man, I’m wit it.
illRoots.com: Define yourself. If I looked in Webster’s what would it say?
MF: Its going to say “This dude is that nig” [Laughs]. Nah, I don’t know man. Its going to be one of them definitions where they have hella different meanings depending on what side of me you get. Certain people I open up too and certain people you get that closed in and selective FAB. Its going to say something like “eclectic, weird, abstract, charismatic”.
illRoots.com: A bunch of shit.
MF: Yeah, a bunch of them joints.
illRoots.com: [Laughs] What do you have coming out?
MF: I am finishing my long awaited album and its going pretty good for and I have been able to connect just off relationships. Its just a wonderful thing for me, I have T-Pain, Rick Ross, and then I have some people from Houston like Bun B.
illRoots.com: That is my dude. I don’t know him personally but I’ve been listening to Bun B since “Pocket Full Of Stones”.
MF: Bun B is one the greatest guys alive.
illRoots.com: That hottest emcee shit they didn’t even mention Bun B. Come on now.
MF: Yeah, their supposed to have his name somewhere in there, they could have at least given him an honorable mention or let him know of something.
illRoots.com: Yeah man, TRILL was hot, the double disc shit.
MF: He’s one the greatest guys on earth and its not just the rap thing, he’s a real down to earth guy. He’s like a walking almanac man, he has so much history and just a wonderful dude. Its an honor for him to get on my album. Another thing with these features, a lot of them got on my album for free. That just shows the love and respect that I showed them is returned ten fold. That means a lot coming from where I come from.
illRoots.com: Give me one good book?
MF: 48 Laws of Power.
illRoots.com: Damn that shit is so cliche.
MF: It’s just one of those books that if your in power man you have to be able to read that book. “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” is a good one but I just love reading. You said one but I just love reading so I read all the time.
illRoots.com: As far as Hip-Hop whats 08′ look like to you?
MF: It got off to a slow start. I don’t know man, whats so crazy is that a lot of these artists are driven by these labels that are all in their ear telling them that they need ringtone songs and songs that they can market. So alot of them don’t get the push that they deserve. I think one of the most talented artists in the game that isn’t getting the push that he deserves is Lupe Fiasco. That guy is one of the dopest dudes on the planet, lyrically, and because he’s not talking about what everybody else is talking about they kind of hated on him. Yet he still went Gold so that is a beautiful thing.
illRoots.com: To go gold in this era is pretty rare especially for hip-hop.
MF: Very Rare, very rare especially looking at the singles that he chose to put out. Which really shows the power that real hip-hop has in the market today. Real dedicated fans are still going to go out and support you. People like Talib Kweli and so forth still hold alot of relevence in the game. Its just like in the hood, if these kids see you without a big chain and a nice car they like “Man that guy ain’t got it, How is he gonna tell me something?”.
illRoots.com When most of the time the people that have money don’t say shit.
MF: Off the top, the real rich people look broke. They like why do I have to tell them. I don’t want them to know I have money. I don’t have to advertise my achievements. They like I don’t have to dress like Kanye. Kanye is incredible, regardless of what people say about his arrogance or whatever the dude makes feel good music and speaks form his soul. I’m happy to be under the hip-hop regime with a guy like that running it. Its a beautiful thing, it just goes to show you that you can do and be anything you want. If you do you then you create your own lane. I do my lane and can’t nobody do me better than me.
illRoots.com: I see this alot where it is so evident that people don’t know what they want, and why can’t we just make music. Fuck a ringtone beat. How much talent do you need to make a ringtone?
MF: None.
illRoots.com: Thirty seconds.
MF: “This a ringtone beat, a ringtone beat, this a ringtone beat its a ringtone beat”
illRoots.com: Bam, there you go. [Laughs]
MF: Like you say I don’t think people are putting there all into albums anymore. I do say that it has to do with some of the pressure due to the labels. Some cats really love rap and some just love the money from rap. I love both. I would be totally stupid if I said “Oh I’m not doing it for the money”. I’m trying to eat, but at the end of the day I do have a genuine love for this shit. If I wasn’t doing this I would still be writing and freestyling.
illRoots.com: If you were to go back to 88 like everybody wants to then we would all be poor.
MF: Off the top, because they wasn’t getting no money.
illRoots.com: Back then people knew how ball on a budget, but on a mainstream level people have lost that. There is a few exceptions but why do you need record label to put out good music?
MF: Straight up. You have to realize how hip-hop transcends to today, we are making the most money and doing the most shit. Like a month ago me and Snoop performed on “One Life to Live”. Not in a million years would you have thought to perform on the Soaps. I done got cussed out backwards and my ass beat by changing the channel when the soaps on. Its just like the reality of it is look where it is now. You have theme songs being done by Snoop Dogg now. People have to realize this is not the “golden era” this is the “platinum era”. You know you can go from nothing to something with one phone call.
illRoots.com: I look at the genuine progression of packaging media is tired as hell.
MF: I just was talking to my homeboy Ryan about what happened when you listened to an album and you felt like you knew that artist. You open that album up and was like “look how he did that cover, thats crazy”. From the artwork to the marketing.
illRoots.com: So what do you feel about the Nas project?
MF: That first single he put out was crazy.
illRoots.com: I love me some Nas, I remember duck taping the deck to the bike and riding to school.
MF: Truth comes with a witness, we just sat down eating and we talked about Nas. Nas has to be top 5 in the game ever and he can go easily to top 3 or 4.
illRoots.com: I just wished people would have better continuity to there albums.
MF: Thats how Lupe did with his album though, listen to his album, most of his homeboys produced it. No major beats or names, its just a real genuine collection.
illRoots.com: I just don’t see why others don’t notice that if you come out and support your locals and bring up your people than you will get your just dues if it is done right.
MF: Exactly, as well why do we in Hip-Hop section our music off in regions?
illRoots.com: Boy, you hit the nail on the head. I get in so many debates where people don’t realize that we are literally one of the only genres that will segregate our music into little boxes.
MF: Its region haters. I could do the hottest song in the world and they are still going to say “Oh thats that Bay Area, Hyphy shit”. I could be doing a song talking about my daughter and the same response. I could do a song with some of the hottests artists in the game and they will still say on thats that hyphy shit.
illRoots.com: Many don’t give a chance to people who are put into these boxes. Say Soulja Boy wanted to make a lyrical record, would he get the respect? No.
MF: Off the top. Its funny I don’t worry, I do me.
illRoots.com: Talib Kweli - Hostel Gospel was one of the hardest records out and he didn’t get half the play it should have.
MF: I told him that the other night, because that is one of my close friends. I’m like that song right there was one of the hardest ever and how he did the video in Africa. This shit is crazy. I got him on my new album too, and watch how people say “Aww man what is he doing on a song with Talib”. Its so many people who are going to be so stubborn, lets take Wayne or Jay-Z and they could say some of the wackest shit in the world. People who are die hard fans are going to say “Oh my godddd, did you hear that?, Oh my god he said he’s fly as a pilot”.
illRoots.com: When Wayne was on BET 106 & Park, I was like…oh man…please.
MF: Fans are crazy, some people think Wayne is god and thats how its going to be.
illRoots.com: I just think that if you remember back in the day when people were like “Don’t tell him he can sing because then he will go out there and make a fool out of himself”. Now you can’t say that because your a “hater”. So what joints are you looking forward to coming out?
MF: The joint that I got with Glasses Malone and Rick Ross coming out. Glasses joint with Akon “Certified” is tearing the coast up. Glasses is a real street certified dude. I got a joint with them called “Still Gon Eat (Fat Boys)”, that joint is crazy. Then I got some shit with Serius Jones and its another thing I’m a freestyle rapper and cats think that I can’t write a song and that is what Serius is going through right now. He’s a hell of freestyle rapper but he could do one of the dopest songs and still be labeled as a freestyler. I got a couple joints and hopefully if everything goes right, Dow Jones my big brother has some crazy joints on the album. Dow Jones and J. Hen are actually working on the new T-Pain/Lil Wayne album and we are just working and trying to stay busy. My main thing is all about just working, I’m on tour now with Snoop Dogg and that in itself is an honor. Snoop is like the “Black Elvis” and for me to say, in my lifetime, that I went on tour with Snoop Dogg is crazy. I happy and I have a daughter on the way, and I’m just good.
illRoots.com: Since the election is coming up, Mistah Fab is elected into presidency what is your first order to address?
MF: “If I ruled the world and everything in it/ sky’s the limit/ I’d push a Q45 Infinite…
illRoots.com: [Laughs] Yeaaaaa.
MF: I don’t know man, there is so much responsibility in that and you can imagine what you would do . Yet this is how I am, I don’t think the “What if?”, I think for the possiblities and the happening. I’m not really quite sure though that is an extremely hard position to fill. I don’t feel that I would be able to fill that position to the fullest so I’m going to bow down and go on and let Obama take my position. He has been groomed for it and so forth so why not?
illRoots.com: One of the things that I think is just amazing to me is how this legalized slavery otherwise known as privatized jails are still operating?
MF: What these jails do, me speaking from personal experience, since my brother has been in jail for the last 14 years and my little brother just sunk in a life sentence. What they do is they send you to these places that they own and they are doing things to people that no one knows about. If you need a root canal then they put a tracking device in your mouth, with the GPS. Its crazy and people don’t think that these things are going on but these private jails treat these prisoners like Guinea pigs. They are suffering from bad science projects and they are actually treating human beings like lab rats in these private jails.
illRoots.com: I read somewhere that they get away with amazingly free labor, its almost like outsourcing or modern slavery.
MF: As well they get grants to keep the labor going. If a school closes within a certain perimeter of a jailhouse, the money that was going fund that school will go to that jail. So they will close like six schools and open a private school where they can debate what children are accepted. Then all the money that was going to go those six public schools goes to fund places like Pelican Bay and San Quinten. These are just local spots but I’m pretty sure that its happening everywhere. Some of the cells in San Quinten are so old that its like early 1900’s cells and you wonder why these people act the way they act. You are reduced to such inhumanitarian living and life that when you do get set free your are so used to living in this cage that you have this box thinking. How can you expect someone who has been reduced to nothing to come out and live a normal life and act accordingly? Its crazy that this actually happens. A 14 year old can have the mentality that he can kill you and he’ll be out in 10 years and it doesn’t matter. My little homie told me the other day “Fab if you need me to kill a nigga its nothing I’ll be out at 26 bruh. I still have the rest of my life”. I would rather you do something to save a life. This is different sides of me, and its deeper than what it is.
illRoots.com: When you have a platform you should always take advantage of it and make the proper moves to initiate reactions from people in power. We can talk about music and the music business but there is so much more than all of this and recognizing that is what makes our culture great.
MF: Blogs are taken over man, like what we do off my website is we stream me live out of the lab or just a regular day so people can see that I’m just a regular person and what you can’t get in an album or a music video you can get from these blogs.
illRoots.com: Whats your view on all this independent movements refering to record labels?
MF: I’m from the Independent world so you already know how we get down. We brought the Independents to the game. Too Short brought Independent to the game. You have to think this dude had a song called “Out the Trunk” in ‘87, this is 21 years ago. If you ask Bun B he will tell you that he grew up off of Short, like Short is my man. Thats how it is, nobody in the game has done what Too Short has done. I don’t give a fuck if people don’t respect his lyrical ability but nobody has done a song with Biggie, Jay-Z, 2Pac, Pimp C, Scarface, Lil Kim, Nelly and so on and so on. Too Short was on Jay-Z’s first album. No rapper in the game has done what he’s done. People don’t give him credit for it and he won’t take it because he’s so cool about it, thats just the type of person he is.
illRoots.com: With hip-hop your longevity and sustainability is key and if you can’t talk directly to those teachers and janitors and regular ass people then your lost. There is more struggling lower class people then there are these rich rappers. If you can’t relate you are assed out.
MF: For real and thats why we hold him to such a high standard because he did it when nobody was doing it. He went platinum and he only sold 800 records on the whole east coast. When he was on Jive with EPMD and the first time he met Erick Sermon in the office “He was like You got a platinum plaque?” Its so hard for most to believe that he sold 2 million on a record that only sold 800 on the East coast. The times and the days are much different but the reality is the industry doesn’t give him credit because they say his lyrics arent up to par. He carved his own lane and now its a highway.
Shout out to Dow Jones and J for setting this up and look out for much more from Mistah FAB as his album is sure to fire.
illRoots.com: First thank you for sitting down with me today.
MF: Oh no problem man, I’m wit it.
illRoots.com: Define yourself. If I looked in Webster’s what would it say?
MF: Its going to say “This dude is that nig” [Laughs]. Nah, I don’t know man. Its going to be one of them definitions where they have hella different meanings depending on what side of me you get. Certain people I open up too and certain people you get that closed in and selective FAB. Its going to say something like “eclectic, weird, abstract, charismatic”.
illRoots.com: A bunch of shit.
MF: Yeah, a bunch of them joints.
illRoots.com: [Laughs] What do you have coming out?
MF: I am finishing my long awaited album and its going pretty good for and I have been able to connect just off relationships. Its just a wonderful thing for me, I have T-Pain, Rick Ross, and then I have some people from Houston like Bun B.
illRoots.com: That is my dude. I don’t know him personally but I’ve been listening to Bun B since “Pocket Full Of Stones”.
MF: Bun B is one the greatest guys alive.
illRoots.com: That hottest emcee shit they didn’t even mention Bun B. Come on now.
MF: Yeah, their supposed to have his name somewhere in there, they could have at least given him an honorable mention or let him know of something.
illRoots.com: Yeah man, TRILL was hot, the double disc shit.
MF: He’s one the greatest guys on earth and its not just the rap thing, he’s a real down to earth guy. He’s like a walking almanac man, he has so much history and just a wonderful dude. Its an honor for him to get on my album. Another thing with these features, a lot of them got on my album for free. That just shows the love and respect that I showed them is returned ten fold. That means a lot coming from where I come from.
illRoots.com: Give me one good book?
MF: 48 Laws of Power.
illRoots.com: Damn that shit is so cliche.
MF: It’s just one of those books that if your in power man you have to be able to read that book. “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” is a good one but I just love reading. You said one but I just love reading so I read all the time.
illRoots.com: As far as Hip-Hop whats 08′ look like to you?
MF: It got off to a slow start. I don’t know man, whats so crazy is that a lot of these artists are driven by these labels that are all in their ear telling them that they need ringtone songs and songs that they can market. So alot of them don’t get the push that they deserve. I think one of the most talented artists in the game that isn’t getting the push that he deserves is Lupe Fiasco. That guy is one of the dopest dudes on the planet, lyrically, and because he’s not talking about what everybody else is talking about they kind of hated on him. Yet he still went Gold so that is a beautiful thing.
illRoots.com: To go gold in this era is pretty rare especially for hip-hop.
MF: Very Rare, very rare especially looking at the singles that he chose to put out. Which really shows the power that real hip-hop has in the market today. Real dedicated fans are still going to go out and support you. People like Talib Kweli and so forth still hold alot of relevence in the game. Its just like in the hood, if these kids see you without a big chain and a nice car they like “Man that guy ain’t got it, How is he gonna tell me something?”.
illRoots.com When most of the time the people that have money don’t say shit.
MF: Off the top, the real rich people look broke. They like why do I have to tell them. I don’t want them to know I have money. I don’t have to advertise my achievements. They like I don’t have to dress like Kanye. Kanye is incredible, regardless of what people say about his arrogance or whatever the dude makes feel good music and speaks form his soul. I’m happy to be under the hip-hop regime with a guy like that running it. Its a beautiful thing, it just goes to show you that you can do and be anything you want. If you do you then you create your own lane. I do my lane and can’t nobody do me better than me.
illRoots.com: I see this alot where it is so evident that people don’t know what they want, and why can’t we just make music. Fuck a ringtone beat. How much talent do you need to make a ringtone?
MF: None.
illRoots.com: Thirty seconds.
MF: “This a ringtone beat, a ringtone beat, this a ringtone beat its a ringtone beat”
illRoots.com: Bam, there you go. [Laughs]
MF: Like you say I don’t think people are putting there all into albums anymore. I do say that it has to do with some of the pressure due to the labels. Some cats really love rap and some just love the money from rap. I love both. I would be totally stupid if I said “Oh I’m not doing it for the money”. I’m trying to eat, but at the end of the day I do have a genuine love for this shit. If I wasn’t doing this I would still be writing and freestyling.
illRoots.com: If you were to go back to 88 like everybody wants to then we would all be poor.
MF: Off the top, because they wasn’t getting no money.
illRoots.com: Back then people knew how ball on a budget, but on a mainstream level people have lost that. There is a few exceptions but why do you need record label to put out good music?
MF: Straight up. You have to realize how hip-hop transcends to today, we are making the most money and doing the most shit. Like a month ago me and Snoop performed on “One Life to Live”. Not in a million years would you have thought to perform on the Soaps. I done got cussed out backwards and my ass beat by changing the channel when the soaps on. Its just like the reality of it is look where it is now. You have theme songs being done by Snoop Dogg now. People have to realize this is not the “golden era” this is the “platinum era”. You know you can go from nothing to something with one phone call.
illRoots.com: I look at the genuine progression of packaging media is tired as hell.
MF: I just was talking to my homeboy Ryan about what happened when you listened to an album and you felt like you knew that artist. You open that album up and was like “look how he did that cover, thats crazy”. From the artwork to the marketing.
illRoots.com: So what do you feel about the Nas project?
MF: That first single he put out was crazy.
illRoots.com: I love me some Nas, I remember duck taping the deck to the bike and riding to school.
MF: Truth comes with a witness, we just sat down eating and we talked about Nas. Nas has to be top 5 in the game ever and he can go easily to top 3 or 4.
illRoots.com: I just wished people would have better continuity to there albums.
MF: Thats how Lupe did with his album though, listen to his album, most of his homeboys produced it. No major beats or names, its just a real genuine collection.
illRoots.com: I just don’t see why others don’t notice that if you come out and support your locals and bring up your people than you will get your just dues if it is done right.
MF: Exactly, as well why do we in Hip-Hop section our music off in regions?
illRoots.com: Boy, you hit the nail on the head. I get in so many debates where people don’t realize that we are literally one of the only genres that will segregate our music into little boxes.
MF: Its region haters. I could do the hottest song in the world and they are still going to say “Oh thats that Bay Area, Hyphy shit”. I could be doing a song talking about my daughter and the same response. I could do a song with some of the hottests artists in the game and they will still say on thats that hyphy shit.
illRoots.com: Many don’t give a chance to people who are put into these boxes. Say Soulja Boy wanted to make a lyrical record, would he get the respect? No.
MF: Off the top. Its funny I don’t worry, I do me.
illRoots.com: Talib Kweli - Hostel Gospel was one of the hardest records out and he didn’t get half the play it should have.
MF: I told him that the other night, because that is one of my close friends. I’m like that song right there was one of the hardest ever and how he did the video in Africa. This shit is crazy. I got him on my new album too, and watch how people say “Aww man what is he doing on a song with Talib”. Its so many people who are going to be so stubborn, lets take Wayne or Jay-Z and they could say some of the wackest shit in the world. People who are die hard fans are going to say “Oh my godddd, did you hear that?, Oh my god he said he’s fly as a pilot”.
illRoots.com: When Wayne was on BET 106 & Park, I was like…oh man…please.
MF: Fans are crazy, some people think Wayne is god and thats how its going to be.
illRoots.com: I just think that if you remember back in the day when people were like “Don’t tell him he can sing because then he will go out there and make a fool out of himself”. Now you can’t say that because your a “hater”. So what joints are you looking forward to coming out?
MF: The joint that I got with Glasses Malone and Rick Ross coming out. Glasses joint with Akon “Certified” is tearing the coast up. Glasses is a real street certified dude. I got a joint with them called “Still Gon Eat (Fat Boys)”, that joint is crazy. Then I got some shit with Serius Jones and its another thing I’m a freestyle rapper and cats think that I can’t write a song and that is what Serius is going through right now. He’s a hell of freestyle rapper but he could do one of the dopest songs and still be labeled as a freestyler. I got a couple joints and hopefully if everything goes right, Dow Jones my big brother has some crazy joints on the album. Dow Jones and J. Hen are actually working on the new T-Pain/Lil Wayne album and we are just working and trying to stay busy. My main thing is all about just working, I’m on tour now with Snoop Dogg and that in itself is an honor. Snoop is like the “Black Elvis” and for me to say, in my lifetime, that I went on tour with Snoop Dogg is crazy. I happy and I have a daughter on the way, and I’m just good.
illRoots.com: Since the election is coming up, Mistah Fab is elected into presidency what is your first order to address?
MF: “If I ruled the world and everything in it/ sky’s the limit/ I’d push a Q45 Infinite…
illRoots.com: [Laughs] Yeaaaaa.
MF: I don’t know man, there is so much responsibility in that and you can imagine what you would do . Yet this is how I am, I don’t think the “What if?”, I think for the possiblities and the happening. I’m not really quite sure though that is an extremely hard position to fill. I don’t feel that I would be able to fill that position to the fullest so I’m going to bow down and go on and let Obama take my position. He has been groomed for it and so forth so why not?
illRoots.com: One of the things that I think is just amazing to me is how this legalized slavery otherwise known as privatized jails are still operating?
MF: What these jails do, me speaking from personal experience, since my brother has been in jail for the last 14 years and my little brother just sunk in a life sentence. What they do is they send you to these places that they own and they are doing things to people that no one knows about. If you need a root canal then they put a tracking device in your mouth, with the GPS. Its crazy and people don’t think that these things are going on but these private jails treat these prisoners like Guinea pigs. They are suffering from bad science projects and they are actually treating human beings like lab rats in these private jails.
illRoots.com: I read somewhere that they get away with amazingly free labor, its almost like outsourcing or modern slavery.
MF: As well they get grants to keep the labor going. If a school closes within a certain perimeter of a jailhouse, the money that was going fund that school will go to that jail. So they will close like six schools and open a private school where they can debate what children are accepted. Then all the money that was going to go those six public schools goes to fund places like Pelican Bay and San Quinten. These are just local spots but I’m pretty sure that its happening everywhere. Some of the cells in San Quinten are so old that its like early 1900’s cells and you wonder why these people act the way they act. You are reduced to such inhumanitarian living and life that when you do get set free your are so used to living in this cage that you have this box thinking. How can you expect someone who has been reduced to nothing to come out and live a normal life and act accordingly? Its crazy that this actually happens. A 14 year old can have the mentality that he can kill you and he’ll be out in 10 years and it doesn’t matter. My little homie told me the other day “Fab if you need me to kill a nigga its nothing I’ll be out at 26 bruh. I still have the rest of my life”. I would rather you do something to save a life. This is different sides of me, and its deeper than what it is.
illRoots.com: When you have a platform you should always take advantage of it and make the proper moves to initiate reactions from people in power. We can talk about music and the music business but there is so much more than all of this and recognizing that is what makes our culture great.
MF: Blogs are taken over man, like what we do off my website is we stream me live out of the lab or just a regular day so people can see that I’m just a regular person and what you can’t get in an album or a music video you can get from these blogs.
illRoots.com: Whats your view on all this independent movements refering to record labels?
MF: I’m from the Independent world so you already know how we get down. We brought the Independents to the game. Too Short brought Independent to the game. You have to think this dude had a song called “Out the Trunk” in ‘87, this is 21 years ago. If you ask Bun B he will tell you that he grew up off of Short, like Short is my man. Thats how it is, nobody in the game has done what Too Short has done. I don’t give a fuck if people don’t respect his lyrical ability but nobody has done a song with Biggie, Jay-Z, 2Pac, Pimp C, Scarface, Lil Kim, Nelly and so on and so on. Too Short was on Jay-Z’s first album. No rapper in the game has done what he’s done. People don’t give him credit for it and he won’t take it because he’s so cool about it, thats just the type of person he is.
illRoots.com: With hip-hop your longevity and sustainability is key and if you can’t talk directly to those teachers and janitors and regular ass people then your lost. There is more struggling lower class people then there are these rich rappers. If you can’t relate you are assed out.
MF: For real and thats why we hold him to such a high standard because he did it when nobody was doing it. He went platinum and he only sold 800 records on the whole east coast. When he was on Jive with EPMD and the first time he met Erick Sermon in the office “He was like You got a platinum plaque?” Its so hard for most to believe that he sold 2 million on a record that only sold 800 on the East coast. The times and the days are much different but the reality is the industry doesn’t give him credit because they say his lyrics arent up to par. He carved his own lane and now its a highway.
Shout out to Dow Jones and J for setting this up and look out for much more from Mistah FAB as his album is sure to fire.
