http://www.ballerstatus.com/article/features/2007/03/2322/
Published: Monday - March 19, 2007
Words by Ronnie Gamble & Jay Casteel
Oakland rapper Mistah FAB has come a long way in less than a year. Going from a regional independent star to garnering the attention of Atlantic Records for a label deal is nothing to make light of, but he's run into a few problems since.
After dropping his national single "Ghost Ride It" -- which showcases his area's ghost riding phenomenon -- the Bay Area rapper got some serious flack for exposing the fad to Middle America, as well as being blamed for the fatalities of two kids who lost their lives to it.
On top of the negative mass media exposure, Mistah FAB will have to wait on the release of his major label debut, Da Yellow Bus Rydah, until later this year or even early next as it sits on the shelf, but its nothing to Fabby. He's taking it with a grain of salt and heading back to his indie roots, as he preps a slew of new indie material in the form of various mixtapes and a forthcoming indie album, titled Da Baydestrian. So until his road to stardom is complete, Mistah FAB's is getting his hustle on.
In the music biz, you can wait on a major to do it for you, or you can get it yourself, and Mistah FAB ain't waiting on no one.
BallerStatus.com: The single "Ghost Ride It" is out, so tell us how it's been received so far.
Mistah FAB: Its one of them hit or miss singles. People love it and people hate. It's just been getting a lot of mixed emotions through the industry right now. A lot of people been talking about it; some people saying it's corny and some are saying its catchy, so it's just of those things where you take it as it is.
When I did it, I knew my intent of doing it. Whether people liked it or not, I still wanted to do it. It's been getting a lot recognition man. I done been on the cover of the Washington Post to everything, so it's promotion.
BallerStatus.com: As far as the Bay, how are they reacting to it?
Mistah FAB: Oh, they love it. Not to say that I'm supercilious or anything, but anything that I do I think they love it. People accept me for the things that I do. They like my music and the things that I bring to the game and the table. They support me; I'm like the people's champ.
BallerStatus.com: "Ghost Ride It" is the first single from your Atlantic Records debut, Da Yellow Bus Rydah, so how does that track reflect on the sound of the rest of the album?
Mistah FAB: I mean, don't go off that single feeling like my whole album is gonna be like that. The Atlantic album is gonna be crazy 'cause it's gonna be a nationwide album. I'm doing all type of different songs, like genres of music.
But, that album ain't coming out till November. We pushed it back, but I have an independent album coming out in May called Da Baydestrian that's really gonna be all Bay sh--. Like, if you ain't from the Bay, you ain't gonna really feel it... you gonna like it if you open to change, but I'm really just doing it for my Bay cats to show them, "This for ya'll." The Atlantic album is just gonna be so well-rounded musically, like I'm trying to do my musical thing on that album and make a well-rounded album. This other one, I'm just gonna be Bay'd out, that's why it's called Da Baydestrian.
BallerStatus.com: You mentioned the Atlantic album being pushed back. Now, is it done? Are you still working on it?
Mistah FAB: It's pretty much done. I think that these few months of networking will really help me open it up a little more to do some stuff... work with a few new producers. It does nothing but broaden my chances of winning, that's all that is. At the end of the day, it's about winning. You can make a million songs, have a thousand features, but if you not winning and your album ain't selling, then it's a wasted effort. I'm just trying to set myself up to be in the best position that I can be and that's to win.
BallerStatus.com: Ok, so the indie album is first. Is that something you plan to continue to do before the major debut? Drop indie albums and mixtapes?
Mistah FAB: What is it man is when you get to the major labels, a lot of them just want you to sit back and wait on them, you know? And they tell you, "Hey, your album's not dropping until January, so we need to just be cool" and expect you to be like "Alright cool, I'll sit back and I'll wait." Man, that's some bullsh--. I'm not finna to sit and mess my whole career off. Time goes fast; the industry changes every three months, so it's like, "I'm not gonna sit back and wait for ya'll to put this album out when ya'll wanna put it out." I mean, especially when I come from an independent background, so all I gotta is drop this album. I drop the album independent on ya'll and that's my whole hype.
That's what I'm gonna do -- drop this Baydestrian album in May and continue doing what I'm doing. Me and my dude, Dow Jones, got a series we doing on the mixtapes. We started with Recess, now we gonna knock out Lunchtime, the name of the next tape. I got something coming with DJ Skee. Then, Lunchtime is gonna set up Da Baydestrian and after that we doing the Homeroom mixtape, then Afterschool, then Da Yellow Bus Rydah.
My basis is the school thing 'cause I'm trying to keep these kids in school man. With the whole yellow bus thing, the chronicles is gonna be all off school things -- Recess, Lunchtime, Homeroom, Afterschool... you know? I'm just trying to set it up for the school stuff, then when the album come out, Da Yellow Bus Rydah, it's gonna be hot.
BallerStatus.com: It's just a process...
Mistah FAB: Yea man, just setting it up. That's what life is about -- setting up steps. When you chess player, you make one move, but you've already been thinking three or four steps ahead. If you are familiar with chess you already planning your moves out, you're like, "Ok, if he move here, I'm moving here..." It's not checkers man, it's chess, so I'm just playing it ahead.
BallerStatus.com: You touched on your whole school theme, so tell me about your intention behind it and why you felt it was necessary.
Mistah FAB: For one, in my city alone, Oakland, they done closed done eight schools. What that does is forces kids who not from certain neighborhoods to go to school in neighborhoods they not comfortable in and may have street rivalries with. It's not safe and these kids just ain't going to school. They concerns with school is no longer there. It's up to us as rappers, athletes who have powers of influence to keep these kids in school. Education is everything, so subliminally, around the edges, I wanna be able to hit them with my musical influence and let them know, "Go to school man." That's why my whole thing is based around the yellow bus. It's cool to go to school, that's what the movement is all about; I'm making it cool to go to school. That's why I hit them with Da Yellow Bus Rydah, Recess and Lunchtime, things that just make them think school.
BallerStatus.com: What kind of reaction have you gotten from the kids to your movement?
Mistah FAB: They love it because it's like you learn something and subconsciously don't even realize you learning. There was an episode on "The Wire" where the teacher let the kids shoot dice, but he was teaching them numbers and odds. All they felt like they was doing was shooting dice and having fun, but at the end of the day, they realized they actually learned from it. So a lot of times, you learn stuff and don't even realize you're learning it.
BallerStatus.com: A lot of the artists from the Bay are getting deals now, as well as receiving recognition they haven't been just a couple years ago. So, do you feel that will help with how you are received for your major label debut?
Mistah FAB: I think it can only help because what's going on right now with the Bay is everybody's looking to see, what are we doing. Cats is like, "What's going on? What is the Bay Area doing? People's talking about ghost riding, they talking about the hyphy, what's hyphy?" Everybody's checking for us to see what it is. So what that is doing is giving me the opportunity to say, "Look, I'm from the Bay and here's the 101 on what the movement is about." Me and my people are the epitome of what the hyphy movement is. I'm a voice for it, as well as one of the people out here doing a lot of stuff. People see that and they wanna hear the album and be like, "Ok, what's this about?" I'mma let em know.
BallerStatus.com: Ghost riding has gotten a lot of negative press as of late, regarding how dangerous it is and people are beginning to shut it down. Tell us your thoughts on that.
Mistah FAB: Publicity in the music industry, good or bad, is great because they gonna keep talking about you. They gonna keep having me amidst everything. My momma always told me when they stop talking about you, that's when you get worried.
BallerStatus.com: So, the cops are really trying to shut it down huh?
Mistah FAB: Yea, they're trying to stop it. They giving out big citation for doing it and stuff like that, but they ain't gonna stop it. The more you wanna stop it, it's gonna make people wanna do it more.
BallerStatus.com: Your video is about ghost riding, it's teaching people how to do it. Are you getting flack for that?
Mistah FAB: I'm getting flack for it. People are saying what they wanna say, but it is what it is. Like for my video, I had to edit hella stuff. I edited the video like crazy. People always gonna stop something. When you infiltrate pop culture and cross over to other areas and other demographics, they like, "Woah." The reason why a lot of people are trying to stop it is because they kids is doing it now. It ain't no longer the black kids in the community doing it, it's the white kids, the Filipinos, the Chinese... everybody's doing it.
It's a cultural shock right now. If you not a part of it, you're trying to stop it. That's what you call a movement, and I'm just happy to be at the forefront of it. People just gotta be responsible for what they doing and how they do it. It's not safe, so you gotta be responsible.
Published: Monday - March 19, 2007
Words by Ronnie Gamble & Jay Casteel
Oakland rapper Mistah FAB has come a long way in less than a year. Going from a regional independent star to garnering the attention of Atlantic Records for a label deal is nothing to make light of, but he's run into a few problems since.
After dropping his national single "Ghost Ride It" -- which showcases his area's ghost riding phenomenon -- the Bay Area rapper got some serious flack for exposing the fad to Middle America, as well as being blamed for the fatalities of two kids who lost their lives to it.
On top of the negative mass media exposure, Mistah FAB will have to wait on the release of his major label debut, Da Yellow Bus Rydah, until later this year or even early next as it sits on the shelf, but its nothing to Fabby. He's taking it with a grain of salt and heading back to his indie roots, as he preps a slew of new indie material in the form of various mixtapes and a forthcoming indie album, titled Da Baydestrian. So until his road to stardom is complete, Mistah FAB's is getting his hustle on.
In the music biz, you can wait on a major to do it for you, or you can get it yourself, and Mistah FAB ain't waiting on no one.
BallerStatus.com: The single "Ghost Ride It" is out, so tell us how it's been received so far.
Mistah FAB: Its one of them hit or miss singles. People love it and people hate. It's just been getting a lot of mixed emotions through the industry right now. A lot of people been talking about it; some people saying it's corny and some are saying its catchy, so it's just of those things where you take it as it is.
When I did it, I knew my intent of doing it. Whether people liked it or not, I still wanted to do it. It's been getting a lot recognition man. I done been on the cover of the Washington Post to everything, so it's promotion.
BallerStatus.com: As far as the Bay, how are they reacting to it?
Mistah FAB: Oh, they love it. Not to say that I'm supercilious or anything, but anything that I do I think they love it. People accept me for the things that I do. They like my music and the things that I bring to the game and the table. They support me; I'm like the people's champ.
BallerStatus.com: "Ghost Ride It" is the first single from your Atlantic Records debut, Da Yellow Bus Rydah, so how does that track reflect on the sound of the rest of the album?
Mistah FAB: I mean, don't go off that single feeling like my whole album is gonna be like that. The Atlantic album is gonna be crazy 'cause it's gonna be a nationwide album. I'm doing all type of different songs, like genres of music.
But, that album ain't coming out till November. We pushed it back, but I have an independent album coming out in May called Da Baydestrian that's really gonna be all Bay sh--. Like, if you ain't from the Bay, you ain't gonna really feel it... you gonna like it if you open to change, but I'm really just doing it for my Bay cats to show them, "This for ya'll." The Atlantic album is just gonna be so well-rounded musically, like I'm trying to do my musical thing on that album and make a well-rounded album. This other one, I'm just gonna be Bay'd out, that's why it's called Da Baydestrian.
BallerStatus.com: You mentioned the Atlantic album being pushed back. Now, is it done? Are you still working on it?
Mistah FAB: It's pretty much done. I think that these few months of networking will really help me open it up a little more to do some stuff... work with a few new producers. It does nothing but broaden my chances of winning, that's all that is. At the end of the day, it's about winning. You can make a million songs, have a thousand features, but if you not winning and your album ain't selling, then it's a wasted effort. I'm just trying to set myself up to be in the best position that I can be and that's to win.
BallerStatus.com: Ok, so the indie album is first. Is that something you plan to continue to do before the major debut? Drop indie albums and mixtapes?
Mistah FAB: What is it man is when you get to the major labels, a lot of them just want you to sit back and wait on them, you know? And they tell you, "Hey, your album's not dropping until January, so we need to just be cool" and expect you to be like "Alright cool, I'll sit back and I'll wait." Man, that's some bullsh--. I'm not finna to sit and mess my whole career off. Time goes fast; the industry changes every three months, so it's like, "I'm not gonna sit back and wait for ya'll to put this album out when ya'll wanna put it out." I mean, especially when I come from an independent background, so all I gotta is drop this album. I drop the album independent on ya'll and that's my whole hype.
That's what I'm gonna do -- drop this Baydestrian album in May and continue doing what I'm doing. Me and my dude, Dow Jones, got a series we doing on the mixtapes. We started with Recess, now we gonna knock out Lunchtime, the name of the next tape. I got something coming with DJ Skee. Then, Lunchtime is gonna set up Da Baydestrian and after that we doing the Homeroom mixtape, then Afterschool, then Da Yellow Bus Rydah.
My basis is the school thing 'cause I'm trying to keep these kids in school man. With the whole yellow bus thing, the chronicles is gonna be all off school things -- Recess, Lunchtime, Homeroom, Afterschool... you know? I'm just trying to set it up for the school stuff, then when the album come out, Da Yellow Bus Rydah, it's gonna be hot.
BallerStatus.com: It's just a process...
Mistah FAB: Yea man, just setting it up. That's what life is about -- setting up steps. When you chess player, you make one move, but you've already been thinking three or four steps ahead. If you are familiar with chess you already planning your moves out, you're like, "Ok, if he move here, I'm moving here..." It's not checkers man, it's chess, so I'm just playing it ahead.
BallerStatus.com: You touched on your whole school theme, so tell me about your intention behind it and why you felt it was necessary.
Mistah FAB: For one, in my city alone, Oakland, they done closed done eight schools. What that does is forces kids who not from certain neighborhoods to go to school in neighborhoods they not comfortable in and may have street rivalries with. It's not safe and these kids just ain't going to school. They concerns with school is no longer there. It's up to us as rappers, athletes who have powers of influence to keep these kids in school. Education is everything, so subliminally, around the edges, I wanna be able to hit them with my musical influence and let them know, "Go to school man." That's why my whole thing is based around the yellow bus. It's cool to go to school, that's what the movement is all about; I'm making it cool to go to school. That's why I hit them with Da Yellow Bus Rydah, Recess and Lunchtime, things that just make them think school.
BallerStatus.com: What kind of reaction have you gotten from the kids to your movement?
Mistah FAB: They love it because it's like you learn something and subconsciously don't even realize you learning. There was an episode on "The Wire" where the teacher let the kids shoot dice, but he was teaching them numbers and odds. All they felt like they was doing was shooting dice and having fun, but at the end of the day, they realized they actually learned from it. So a lot of times, you learn stuff and don't even realize you're learning it.
BallerStatus.com: A lot of the artists from the Bay are getting deals now, as well as receiving recognition they haven't been just a couple years ago. So, do you feel that will help with how you are received for your major label debut?
Mistah FAB: I think it can only help because what's going on right now with the Bay is everybody's looking to see, what are we doing. Cats is like, "What's going on? What is the Bay Area doing? People's talking about ghost riding, they talking about the hyphy, what's hyphy?" Everybody's checking for us to see what it is. So what that is doing is giving me the opportunity to say, "Look, I'm from the Bay and here's the 101 on what the movement is about." Me and my people are the epitome of what the hyphy movement is. I'm a voice for it, as well as one of the people out here doing a lot of stuff. People see that and they wanna hear the album and be like, "Ok, what's this about?" I'mma let em know.
BallerStatus.com: Ghost riding has gotten a lot of negative press as of late, regarding how dangerous it is and people are beginning to shut it down. Tell us your thoughts on that.
Mistah FAB: Publicity in the music industry, good or bad, is great because they gonna keep talking about you. They gonna keep having me amidst everything. My momma always told me when they stop talking about you, that's when you get worried.
BallerStatus.com: So, the cops are really trying to shut it down huh?
Mistah FAB: Yea, they're trying to stop it. They giving out big citation for doing it and stuff like that, but they ain't gonna stop it. The more you wanna stop it, it's gonna make people wanna do it more.
BallerStatus.com: Your video is about ghost riding, it's teaching people how to do it. Are you getting flack for that?
Mistah FAB: I'm getting flack for it. People are saying what they wanna say, but it is what it is. Like for my video, I had to edit hella stuff. I edited the video like crazy. People always gonna stop something. When you infiltrate pop culture and cross over to other areas and other demographics, they like, "Woah." The reason why a lot of people are trying to stop it is because they kids is doing it now. It ain't no longer the black kids in the community doing it, it's the white kids, the Filipinos, the Chinese... everybody's doing it.
It's a cultural shock right now. If you not a part of it, you're trying to stop it. That's what you call a movement, and I'm just happy to be at the forefront of it. People just gotta be responsible for what they doing and how they do it. It's not safe, so you gotta be responsible.
