Fatlip
In the midst of Los Angeles’ early 1990s gangster rap takeover, the Pharcyde presented another slice of Southern California living. The Cali quartet delivered imaginative story raps about people’s mothers and unfulfilled love, and rhymed over a diverse collection of jazz-influenced beats that were as creative and trailblazing as they were catchy. Even though the quartet shared equal time on the mic, one member stood out because his stories were the best, his delivery was the most captivating and his sense of humor was the most biting. His name is Fatlip.
After leaving the Pharcyde in the mid-1990s, recording a number of hit underground singles throughout the last several years and delivering a scene-stealing cameo in Ludacris’ recent “Get Back” video, Fatlip is ready to release his debut album, the humorously titled TheLoneliest Punk.
“I’ve gone through different titles and I found that to be the most fitting,” Fatlip explains with a smile. “I wanted to make a strong solo debut. If I may say so, it’s highly anticipated, so I wanted to try to give people a taste of what I’ve been going through since I got out the group.”
Fatlip left the Pharcyde about a decade ago, so believe that his album has been a labor of love—something that hasn’t always been easy to work on. He cleverly examines his artistic impediments on the snide “Writer’s Block.”
“A lot of MCs, they’re always talking about what they’ve got, bragging on things, talking about what a dope lyricist they are, how much money they’ve got and how hard they are,” he says. “I just wanted to come at it from a different angle. And, at the time, I couldn’t think of anything else to write and ‘Writer’s Block’ was all I could think of. So I said, ‘Hey, why not make a song about it?’”
But don’t think that Fatlip has lost his creative touch. On “Freaky Pumps,” Fatlip teams with Volume 10 and Digital Underground’s Shock G and Humpty Hump for a playful romp about strip club culture. By taking a humorous approach to the topic, Fatlip turns a familiar rap subject into a hilarious lyrical adventure. “It just ended up that way,” Fatlip explains. “Whatever I do, it’s always going to have a comedic feel to it. It’s just my perspective on life. I always see the humor in things and I guess it comes out in the music.”
Fatlip revisits the festive Pharcyde sound with producer J-Sw!ft on “Joe’s Turkey,” details his tumultuous post-Pharcyde life on “First Heat” and joins Chali 2Na for a lyrical free-for-all on lead single “Today’s Your Day (WhachagoneDu?).”
Then, on “The Story of Us” Fatlip gives listeners an intimate look into his personal life. “That’s when I was going through some trials and tribulations with my baby’s mom,” Fatlip reveals. “I was living in Hollywood, just all depressed and knew that I had to do something about it. The writing was actually therapy for my situation.”
Fatlip also found solice in his burgeoning beatmaking skills. In addition to the production work from J-Sw!ft and Squeak E Clean, Fatlip himself got behind the boards for several TheLoneliest Punk songs. “It was something that I’ve always had a passion for,” Fatlip says. “In the Pharcyde, we were looking for a certain sound from certain producers and we were never really satisfied with what we were given. From the beats to the lyrics, it all has to coincide with the same expression, the same vision and a lot of times, cats would just give us beats because we asked for them and were paying for them.”
That’s no longer a worry. With TheLoneliest Punk, the legendary rapper delivers a powerful collection that takes rap to new and exciting lyrical and sonic directions. Sure, it’s the next level of artistry, but that’s simply modus operandi for Fatlip’s musical output.
“I’m trying to come up with something new, something I haven’t come up with before,” he says. “I try to make something hot, something current. That’s my motivation, because I love seeing people bob their head to some music in a car that’s passing by and they may not even be familiar with the artist that created the track. They’re just responding to the music itself. That’s what I want people to people to do with my music.”
