It started raining when Joey Fatts walked into HipHopDX HQ sometime early in the afternoon. He brings along his assistant and business manager and gives dap to the crew before firmly placing himself on the coach. Sitting in front of the camera, he’s relaxed, a tattoo emblazoned on his hand in the image of A$AP Yams, his mentor and his friend. Making careful career moves under Yams tutelage, the rapper/producer has caught a steady stream of buzz through three entries in his Chipper Jones Vol. 1 series.
On the producer side of things, the former street roamer has production credits that are pretty heavy themselves thanks to his work with A$AP Mob members A$AP Rocky and A$AP Nast among other notables. Getting encouragement from the late, great Yams, Fatts just released his Ill Street Blues EP. The seven track project features production solely handled by the outspoken artist and is sure to be remembered as his new creative pinnacle.
Alongside talking A$AP Yams, Fatts’ chats with DX about switching his production style, being transparent and formulating Cutthroat Records among other things.
Remembering A$AP Yams
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DX: How’s your day?
Joey Fatts: It’s good, a little rainy. A little cloudy outside but that’s about it.
DX: See you got some dope J’s on I see.
Joey Fatts: Yo thanks bro, appreciate it.
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DX: Also, dope Spice 1 shirt.
Joey Fatts: Thanks yo, my business manager just got it for me as a gift yesterday. He’s one of my favorite rappers.
DX: What’s your favorite Spice 1 joint?
Joey Fatts: Well the whole 187 album is one of my favorite albums, that’s why he got it for me. Yeah, my manager also gave me a Mac Dre and Tupac shirt too.
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DX: Yeah bruh, I’m a big fan of his verse on the “I Got 5 On It” remix. Having a good week?
Joey Fatts: The week is cool, I’m getting ready to drop a project so we’re just finalizing the tour and shooting videos. It’s been a little busy.
DX: Talk about the project for a moment.
Joey Fatts: It’s dope. It’s my best body of work. I locked myself in the condo, produced it, mixed and mastered it. I did everything myself. Basically, I wanted to show people that I could do it on my own. One of the things A$AP Yams told me was that I needed to start rapping more over my own beats. He was telling me that in October, even in 2013 he was telling me that but I told him that I didn’t think I was good enough. I just got better behind the scenes and he told me last year I should start rapping more over my own beats so I locked my self for about a month or month-and-a-half and did it.
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DX: With the news around A$AP Yam’s death. How exactly did the news hit you?
Joey Fatts: Tough. I came into the music industry with him basically. Especially life in general. He was the only one I had pretty much besides my mom and shit like that. Yams was really my support system. He was everything to me.
DX: Where were you when you heard the news?
Joey Fatts: I was smoking mad weed. I was finishing up the whole project and smoking mad weed just celebrating like I’ve finished. I think I fell asleep early and my girl was blowing up my phone. I woke up like five in the morning and I finally answer one of her calls and she was like cursing me out. She was like why you’re not answering your phone you must be with some girl. I was like naw I’m sleep and she told me that Yams had died. I was like wow and she calmed down and apologized. She just wanted to be there for me and it was crazy because it fucked me up. Me just waking up to that was like a movie or song where they wake up to bad news. It was horrible waking up to that news. I literally ran around the studio like nah, this isn’t real.
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DX: Who was the first one you got in contact with when you received the news?
Joey Fatts: My girl because she was close to Yams too. When she called me, she was already on her way. We were all close. Like man he took me off the streets when I was sleeping in cars yo. I was homeless. My girl is like my best friend so when I met him, I introduced them together and she was basically our assistant. She use to go with us everywhere. It was us three really. She started working and it was me and Yams thuggin it out. We were working for like three and a half years now and then this shit happens.
DX: What was your first meeting with Yams?
Joey Fatts: It was like the day before the “Curfew” video. He hit me up on Twitter around the fourth or fifth song I dropped and was like yo, I wanna manage you. Then he basically flew out to L.A. the next week, linked up with me as soon as he landed. It was funny because he reminded me of this boyfriend my sister had named AJ. He was real short and funny as hell; like always joked a lot. Yams was that same dude. He would play fight a lot and it was just fun. That was my first time meeting him. The thing about it is that where I’m from in Long Beach, he had a lot of tattoos that represented my gang. He had the A for the Artesia Boys, he had the NY on his throat and then he got the CutThroat over his eye. Man was too lit.
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DX: Can you describe one of the more entertaining or best turn up moments with him?
Joey Fatts: London. Definitely London. Our first night out there. Yams was a fucking creep yo. We was drinking mad Hennessy. It was this girl that A$AP Nast was fucking with after the show I think. They did whatever they did and Nast kicked her off the bus. Yams is faded off the Hennessy, next thing you know, we’re getting ready to go back inside the venue to go shower and head to the next town; Yams is tongue kissing the bitch outside of the bus. He gets back on the bus to his bunk, dude was so faded he falls out his bed. The next morning he was like this was our first night in London, we had to get lit. This was my first time in London or Europe in general so it was mad turned up.
DX: What exactly did you learn from him in terms of the music business?
Joey Fatts: He taught me everything I know. That’s the reason I don’t have a label right now. 2013, I made six figures because of him. I did ninety shows. He taught me the business aspect of everything. Dude was a genius. He knows how to roll-out projects and was a genius A&R. If you’re looking for like the best A&R of 2014 or 2015, it was Yams. He did everything, even the dirty work and going on the internet looking for the next hot shit. He was a genius bruh.
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DX: Was there a breakout moment or thing that he did for you that really made you fuck with him? Joey Fatts: It wasn’t a business deal, it was more like a brotherhood. Before I was making money in the rap game, I was already getting money. He made sure I was getting money from somewhere just because he fucked with me as a little bro. [Pauses] Man he held me down. I was staying in Beverly Hills before I dropped a project.
Joey Fatts Talks Being Transparent
DX: What was the most caring thing Yams did for you?
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Joey Fatts: That. I was on the streets sleeping in my car and in 2013, I made six figures and was only rapping for a year. I went to London, Copenhagen, Paris and everywhere because of him. This is the most giving thing he’s done; gave me my career. I was in the streets gang-banging before this shit so I didn’t have much to live for. [And] He did it right before he left. It was like he knew he was almost about to die and that’s the crazy thing about it. Just thinking about it, he was helping mad people. If you look on the internet people were like why is he hanging with this dude but that’s just who he was. He liked helping people. He was helping people in the streets that didn’t have no luck at rapping. Dude was like if you want to do it, I’ll fuck with you. Just by giving people pointers all the time, he just helped people.
DX: Any thoughts on the speculations and allegations regarding Yams’ death regarding drug overdose?
Joey Fatts: I don’t pay attention to them. I know how my brother gets down. I know he had sleep apnea. I know the truth. I know my bro. I don’t feed into that shit, that’s internet stuff.
DX: Is it tough dealing with situations like this considering social media culture?
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Joey Fatts: I’ll still pour up a fourth of lean for my man cause that’s what he’d want. He’d do that. It’s the internet, I don’t get bothered by it. I’ll drop a project on the internet but it’s nothing. I’m trying to be somebody in the real world. When you see me in the real world, you’ll say Joey is an honest man in person. I don’t give a fuck about the internet. I’ll tweet and close the laptop. I just get everybody number; that’s when I pay attention. I take phone and email seriously. You can’t take tweets seriously. You got fans threatening you like they’ll kill you just to get a reaction and tell you that they loved your last project. Can’t take the internet seriously. I just laugh at it.
DX: I see you got the Yams tattoo on your right hand.
Joey Fatts: Yeah, it’s healing right now.
DX: When’d you get it?
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Joey Fatts: Probably like four days ago?
DX: What inspired you to get that tattoo specifically in paying homage to Yams?
Joey Fatts: Cause when he was alive, I always use to tell him I was going to get my neck tatted up, my hands and face. He would respond like ‘you stupid’ and was like you gotta be an actor because it’s a lot of money out here. But he would also tell me if I wanted to do it then he’d support me like fuck it, we gettin money anyway. I told him nah, I wouldn’t do it but that’s why I got it on my right hand because he was my right hand man. That’s another reason why I got it right there. I don’t see this rap shit ending sometime soon. It’s a marathon right now.
DX: Did you take anything from Yams that you’re applying to your project now?
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Joey Fatts: It’s just not me taking that into the project. It’s so much fake shit in the game yo. When you’re a genuine nigga and be 100 with people, just like I was telling you my honest schedule and how I couldn’t make it at first. It’s about being as transparent as possible. I ain’t the best rapper, I ain’t the best producer but I keep it 100. I’m just honest. There’s nothing that I tell you is a fib when I tell people in the streets. It’s never he ain’t got time for such and such. Everybody fucks with me cause I’m an honest dude. That’s what Yams taught me. Dude kept it 100. There were times where he was transparent from the jump and you can see right through him. That’s a good thing. I want to be like that as well. I don’t want to put on a front or facade for people to think I’m some millionaire cause that’s when those directors start hitting you up for 15 thousand to shoot this because they hear you make money. He just told me just to be you. If they don’t fuck with it, they don’t fuck with it as long as you’re happy. This rap shit ain’t nothing. If you’re not happy, what’s the point of being a rapper?
DX: Why is it difficult for that level of transparency in Hip Hop?
Joey Fatts: That’s a good question. The gatekeepers to the game or rappers who have the leverage to put an artist on or DJs who have leverage to break a record won’t do it. They play stubborn and keep things to themselves to where people feel like they have to put on this image to get these people’s attention. Like Trinidad James. He wasn’t “All Gold Everything” and the nigga got some good music but he felt like he had to make himself look like Jerome from Martin just to get people’s attention which it did. Now since he doesn’t want to rap about “All Gold Everything,” people like don’t want to mess with him. The game wants something eye catching with a missing tooth, blond streak in his hair and ear missing. Gotta be something that catches the eye, it’s weird man. That’s what it’s becoming about because the game has changed.
DX: Has there been a situation regarding the lack of transparency that’s blown your mind?
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Joey Fatts: Do I have to talk about this situation? It just happened yesterday. Yo look, I got homies that I just try to help out period. I had a homie who said he wanted to produce. I’ve been producing for three years now. You know I got tracks with A$AP Rocky, Schoolboy Q and everybody. Everybody knows I produce. This nigga didn’t know how to produce at all. I moved this nigga into my condo in Laguna and he told me he wanted to get out of the streets and I was like fa sho. He didn’t have a laptop but he had a hard drive. I was like go ahead, use my laptop. Nigga made a beat on my laptop, saved it and came back the next week. Then he was like I need some pointers and I was like fa sho, I’ll teach you this time. My publicist ends up calling so I get on the phone with my PR and he throw the loop on. I’m like that loop is hard as fuck. I tell my PR that I was going to call her back and I show him how to make a beat out of that loop. I told him I was going to save it and to go home, examine it and learn. He basically had the cheat sheet in front of him. He goes home and sends it to some rappers and of course Joey Fatts produced it so they were going to pick up on it. The first day it dropped, it was a throwaway record, he was my boy. Then he started doing some weird shit and I was like nah that’s not cool anymore. I produced that record and you know that. Then the nigga started doing some weird shit talking about he was going to sue me for defamation of character. I’m like bro, what character do you have? You have like one hundred Instagram followers. Like bro, you did not make the record. It was like, I didn’t even want anybody in the studio with me anymore. That’s how I feel about the whole situation. This is like the second time that’s happened and I told the nigga, I had a nigga just like you. I took the dude under my wing and he took my whole sound. I had to switch my whole sound up because I met this nigga. He went around to different producers giving away my sound. That Joey sound with all the computer game samples, I started that, yo. Nobody was using the lower pitch of computer game samples until Joey Fatts came around. Niggas started biting and chewing it up. Moved on, met this guy who tried to do the same shit and had to boot him up out the way real quick. He got that, I’ll let him live with that.
DX: Are you able to discern between people you know honestly want to work and those looking to steal from you?
Joey Fatts: I’m not no-more, I’m not reaching out anymore. I’m just done. I just fuck with genuine people. I’m not fucking with rappers and producers on that level. If I genuinely fuck with genuine people. If I fuck with you from jump, then I fuck with you. But some random nigga come up to me, nah. I’m pass that point now. I don’t want to do it no more. It’s just a lot of wasted time with me but it was other stuff. I fed him every time he came to my house and smoked him out an ounce. My rent 3K and he didn’t even pay rent and had his own room. I paid the nigga just to learn. That’s besides the point of this beautiful interview. Got me all worked up and sweating. [Laughter]
DX: It’s all good bruh. Do you find yourself having a hard time dealing with people considering where you’re at now?
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Joey Fatts: Not really, because I’m transparent. I stay transparent. You have to stay transparent through everything. Even when my money is low, I tell mu-fuckas my money is low. When you stay transparent, people don’t expect nothing. People already know and things go smoothly. However, you don’t have to be transparent and let everyone know your business. It’s just rolling you out on a table and letting people know what you go for or what you don’t go for. Basically, just being a genuine guy. Just being you. When you see me, I’m just being me. For instance, if you saw Bill Gates walking down the street, you wouldn’t act like you were someone important to shake his hand and say what’s up? You wouldn’t try to get his number and contact. That’s a real connect. If I saw him I’d put tens on my speech but sooner or later he’s going to find out about who you are. Even if someone doesn’t meet the qualifications of being the homie, so what?
Joey Fatts Explains His Newly Minted Sound
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DX: Talk about the Joey Fatts sound for a moment considering you ran into the problem of switching things up.
Joey Fatts: It’s a slow G-Funk sound. I’m saying this on record because so everyone can know what the fuck I’m talking about. I go down A4 in my notes. I pitch everything down and every sample even my drums. Then I add some funky synths and hard drums. So I use trap high hats and heavy 808s. It’s sort of like trap music over classical samples. Some natural bass and a little funk. I met this dude named J. LBS which is like my mentor. It’s kind of like the moment when Kanye met No ID. That’s how I went from the “Jodie” records with A$AP to the “Million Dollar Dreams” records. I didn’t meet J. LBS when I made “Million Dollar Dreams” but I always had interest in really playing the keys. I didn’t just want to be a dude just flipping samples. “Million Dollar Dreams” was the first time me playing keys and if you notice a lot of those keys are out of note but it sounds good. I was going on the feel but J. LBS taught me music theory. He’s teaching me the keys right now so this new project is crazy. Then I got him playing a lot of live instruments which is pretty dope. We got some good shit coming yo.
DX: Do you see your new sound fitting in with today or something far out there?
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Joey Fatts: I’m just having fun man. It seems like yall fuck with it. Long as yall fuck with it and think I’m doing something right, then it’s good. I don’t need to change nothing. Yall fuck with it right? I don’t need to Diddy Bop nowhere or keep up with no trends.
DX: What’s been the most interesting moment in creating the project?
Joey Fatts: Just knowing what I can do. Just pushing myself. When you hear these beats you’re going to be like damn, this some other shit. Not even gassing myself. It’s probably not going to be the Hit Boys or big shit but it’s going to be good. Some real good shit. I’m a very modest dude.
DX: What’s been the most challenging aspect in creating the new project?
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Joey Fatts: The game yo. The game, it’s bullshit. It’s so much politics involved. Like niggas won’t fuck with you because of what they hear. Even if yo co-worker was like I don’t like that dude, I would still see what he was about at least because I would feel like a fuck nigga for letting the next man tell me how you get down. I have to see who you’re about myself. That’s how the game is and why the game is so segregated. That’s not what happening in my case it’s too much segregation and politics in the game to where you really can’t move like that. It’s so much shit to gone on with it but all in all, I do everything myself and get 100 percent profit. I’m good. I just booked my own tour and everything. I’m having fun with my homies. The reason why I’m having fun is because I’m not looking to reach out. Whoever is open to work, I’m all for it.
DX: Was there a moment when things weren’t fun for you?
Joey Fatts: That’s the thing. In the moment, it may have not seemed fun but the essence of the struggle make it feel good. You be missing the struggle sometimes when you start living good. You start missing when you use to grind. Like I be saying that I miss getting it like I use to get it. Then you start thinking maybe I shouldn’t be living like I’m living. Now that I look back at it, there aren’t any bad times. Even when me and Yams were sharing Subway sandwiches, those were some of the best times still. We appreciated it that much more. We grinded and payed attention to things that much more. When you start getting comfortable in the game, you pay attention to less shit and not interested in more shit because it’s not about money. I think that’s why people fall out of touch. I don’t think I’ve had any bad moments.
DX: How bad did it get?
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Joey Fatts: With Yams? Bruh. We was bad. When I met him, we was down. It was living for both of us at first. He didn’t want me to be out in the streets which I respect. I use to tell him, I gotta go because I feel like a burden. Then he use to be like bro, I’m good. Just make music. He’d go say just make some beats. Flocko needs some beats; stay busy. He just kept telling me to stay busy. Even with food, niggas didn’t have nothing. Once niggas started to take off, then we started to eat good.
DX: How is the whole mob taking the death from your perspective?
Joey Fatts: I talk to A$AP Rocky a lot, that’s my bro. We’re all close; even Nast. Everyone is taking it hard. Everybody deals with shit in different ways. I was talking over Facetime with Nast and we both really broke down. Look man that was my bro. You gotta understand, he made a way for all of us. All of us wasn’t shit, even Rocky. Not taking nothing from nobody cause everyone did their own shit and is a great talent. Yams played a good part in everyone’s career.
DX: Some said A$AP Yams was on his way to becoming the next Diddy?
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Joey Fatts: No disrespect to Diddy but he was better. I don’t know any type of dude who would empty his pockets for someone who doesn’t even come from the same momma as him. He was emptying his pockets for us. SXSW, my last night there last year, we were getting taxed so I had to leave my hotel. We were about to book another night and Yams was like don’t do that, just come to my hotel room. He got up and left. I’m talking about some plush five star shit. We had extra rooms and some more shit. He would just do shit like that. I’m not saying that just because my bro passed away either. Even if you see my social networks, you can see that I was showing the exact same kind of love. That was just honestly who he was. If you’re a genuine dude, you’ll show it and that’s how Yams was. He was the type of dude to where you feel bad for how much he showed love to people because you wish you could do something in return. I didn’t know what A.P.C. Jeans were until I met Yams. I was just wearing 504 Levis and he’d say that shit looks like cardboard wear some designer. This is what I have on right now.
Cutthroat Records And Life Before Music According To Joey Fatts
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DX: How did you go about formulating your own team?
Joey Fatts: The Cutthroat Records came from back in the day when my brother use to call themselves Cutthroat Runway Boyz so that all stuck to me. What I didn’t know was that Soulja Slim and Mac Dre had their own Cutthroat thing but then later on I started getting into both of them and I was like Cutthroat just sounded fire. Then just the people who did it before me was dope with it so I might as well do it. My brothers had started it, so I might as well carry it on. I turned it into an entertainment business. Then I met Aston Matthews and Vince Staples is like my little cousin so he was already doing his own thing. When he came out, it wasn’t anything better than being with his cousin. Everybody just gravitated together like Vince wanted to be with me and Aston was my right hand man at the time. All of us were just with each other and then Yams came and put the whole shit together. He kept telling us we could really do this. That was the type of cat Yams was, he should me the game. Why would you give a label 15 or 20 percent of your shit for a small ass advance when you could just hold out, build a project and get a good video going because all it takes now a days is one good video. Pay for a good video and have a proper roll-out plan and drop it. Then you get all that money off touring. Yams really understood how to finesse the game. He was really the Yoda of the rap game.
DX: When did you exactly realize you could do it yourself?
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Joey Fatts: Running into so many niggaz who try to run off air, selling you these dreams. The thing is, that’s what I tell you about being transparent. When you’re not transparent, people feel like they got to talk so much to win you over because they know they’re not this person. So they have to tell you what they can do for you. People were telling me shit too early. They’ll run their mouth and start telling me about PR and how much I need it and stuff. I was in the streets when I first started so why not sell a couple of ounces of weed to get some PR. Management, PR, not needed. I don’t need a manager to come manage my day-to-day. All I need is a business manager, you see that little Indian nigga over there? That’s my right hand man. I don’t need a manager, I just need someone who is going to tell me about these finances. That’s all I need.
DX: Coming from the streets, where does your story begin?
Joey Fatts: My brother and them; I started gangbanging in 99. I was eight-years-old or turning eight around the summer of 99. My brother started gangbanging in 91, 92. It was Long Beach, in the projects. Like you got to look at the pictures, they were like on some Hot Boys shit. It was nothing more that they wanted then their little bro, and I was short as a mutha fucka, then to gangbang. I was the little nigga that was with it. When they getting into it with a nigga older brother and his little brother talking all that shit, they’d come around the corner and get me. That’s why I got all these marks on me. They just made me fight all the time and that’s what I use to do. I got into the streets like in 99, so like in high school around 17 or 18-years-old, I was ready to get out. I had already seen a lot of shit and had gotten stabbed. I was ready to get out. In middle school, I was doing shit niggaz who are 27-years-old was trying to do. It was a past-time with me. I was beefing with niggaz my brothers were beefing with. Back when I was in fifth grade, one of my brothers went to jail and in eighth grade, my other brother went to jail. I was pretty much by myself in eighth grade. I remember getting run up on at the park, them asking me like Fatts your brother?
They use to be pressing me and I be damned if I don’t gangbang. Why not, niggaz pressing me already? You mean I can go out, handle my stuff and get some credibility to me and have some niggaz who are going to ride for me? I was like, I’d be damned if I didn’t. When I couldn’t hold my own in certain situations and niggas were pulling guns on me when I was in the eleventh grade. Niggaz were pulling guns on me in fifth grade because of things my brothers were doing. My brothers were bad, terrible; the devil themselves. Then again, they taught me a lot of shit. If I didn’t come from the streets, I wouldn’t have been able to hold up through the struggles I was going through. Like the bum you see homeless, walking the street, I was that dude until it got light outside because I didn’t know where to sleep. I met my girl and she was housing me my twelfth grade year and after that when I turned like twenty, I started rapping and shit. So seventeen or eighteen, I was already ready to get out of the streets. I was gang-banging for like ten years.
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DX: Was there an exact turning point?
Joey Fatts: My little brother man, he’s wild. My oldest brother got shot twelve times. It goes my oldest brother who is the one that started, then it’s Fatts my big homie, then me and I have two younger brothers. My youngest brother is wild and seeing how we was living was effecting them. Niggas had to turn the tide. Say for example, I take somebody’s life. That person can’t be jealous, he can’t envy you no more, you can’t shit on that person no more. So basically, that’s the end of the feud. Basically, I want to shit on a nigga everyday I see them and what better way than to get money. To look good, constantly have shit that’s better than them. That’s how I look at it now and that changed my whole mentality when I was going through twelfth grade and seeing my mom only making $12,000 dollars a year. I’m wasting my time riding around with my homies and niggas aint getting no money? I’m a gang member for the rest of my life. I don’t gang bang but I’m a gang member. I’ll never turn my back on the hood. It’s just for a greater cause now. I’m about the money and unity. It’s not about no colors no more. It’s not like that.
