In a world full of rappers, it’s not hard to find those who are talented. If you sort through those rappers, you may find only a certain level of those who have genuinely created their own sound. It’s refreshing to hear an artist that makes you stop and question what you are listening to. You may not like it at first, and it may be hard to understand something new. When I heard Fatboi Sharif rap, I immediately smiled a wide grin, like a kid getting excited about something. His spoken word flow builds a captivating presence, and his sound is often more akin to a horror movie than most hip hop. His adventurous sound strays away from what rap is “supposed to be” and reminds us to take risks with our own decisions.

Fatboi Sharif became a student of music at an early age. He grew up in New Jersey surrounded by music from different influences. With his grandparents introducing him to 70’s soul, his uncle showing him the Prince’s and Michael Jackson’s, and his parents showing him different varieties of hip hop, Fatboi learned an appreciation for the world of music. He gravitated towards heavy metal and grunge rock, which may seem shocking for a rapper, but makes sense if you’ve heard any of his music. He started writing lyrics as a fourth grader in the late 90’s, and knew early on he wanted to make music. Over the next ten years, Fatboi would continue to write songs and sharpen his sound, waiting until he felt like he was ready to record. The years of building his skillset and waiting paid off, because he learned how to be critical of himself and how to be more analytical about his music. He mastered his flow, and was sure that his sound was unique.

Fatboi Sharif approaches music from a reverent and artistic stance. His creative process often starts in his sleep, with him playing beats on loop by his pillow and waking up knowing what to write. Nothing is rushed, even once the song is recorded he’ll listen to it on an endless repeat to make sure it sounds how he wants. “I definitely like to sit with ideas, to build on them and build around them. Even now, there’s a track that I’ve been writing for about five months, and I’ve got nine bars to it so far. I’m being super particular about what I’m saying.” You can see how much Fatboi cares about the state of music, through his efforts to ensure there is thoughtful music being released.

His first solo project ‘Ape Twin’ released in 2018 and helped establish his sound. This would help build him a local cult following in New Jersey and get him noticed in the hip hop zine world. The two music videos that followed the album continued to build his presence. His second album, ‘Gandhi Loves Children’ released in 2020 with Roper Williams really brought Fatboi’s name to everyone’s attention. Roper’s dusty production, coupled with Fatboi’s skilled lyricism made for an amazing album with lyrics about the dirty truth of the world around us. His bars speak on topics like the AIDS epidemic, nuclear warfare, plane crashes, mass shootings, Halloween movies, celebrity death, honestly the list goes on and on. I once read a Stereogum review of Fatboi Sharif that described his music as “somewhere between Cee-Lo Green and an episode of Twin Peaks” and I have to agree. He’s clearly afraid of nothing, and is supremely confident in his ability to rap and tell his story. His following run of EP’s and albums would continue to institute his storytelling ability. Each project is a new collaboration with a different producer, and a new vision installed. This ever-building work flow leads to what I consider his best work yet, ‘Decay’ released with Steel Tipped Dove on Backwoodz Records earlier this year. The album stretches over 17 songs with no features, and paints a picture of a dark eerie world of uncertainty. There is an entire environment created from the sound of the album, and each track feels like you’re turning a corner in a haunted house. One of the most unique albums of the year, songs like East Hollywood, Prisoner of Jesus, and Scarhead remind us what a risk taker he is, and how skilled of a writer he has become.

“For me, its elevation and evolution. On to the next. I never like to make the same project or song over. With each project I was like ‘Ok this is dope, where can I take you next?’ I never want to give the listener just one side of me, I want to give you an experience you can talk about or remember. It might connect with you after the first listen, but sometimes you might have to go back three or four times to be like ‘Oh, I get it now.’ To me, that’s how the movies influence came in, because I’ll watch Minority Report, or The Shining, or 2001: A Space Odyssey, and just think ‘Wow. They really created a world. A whole world right here, that exists outside of our world. And you can revisit it and create your own world watching that world, just thinking about what’s bigger and what’s happening. To me, that’s what I try to do, I always aim for my music to do that to the highest level”

To classify Fatboi Sharif would be impossible. I like to describe him with a quote from our conversation. “Its amazing, it's great, and it's dope to be different. You don’t gotta do art that people say you should make.” He looks at the weird and unknown as a challenge he can overcome. He’s a musician of passion, and raps to tell his story and express his vision; not to fit in a box and do what the music world wants. Even when I asked who was on his bucket list for collaborations, he named Trent Reznor and David Lynch rather than rappers or producers. He knows he’s not your typical rapper, but taking risks like he does will always pay off in the long run. People tire of hearing the same thing over and over again, and will gravitate towards artists they don’t yet understand like Fatboi. The music scene has been put on notice, with publications like Rolling Stone, Complex, and Stereogum adding him to their ‘hot new artists’ list. With his drive to continue surprising people, and his skill set constantly being enhanced, I’m excited for what’s to come. Fatboi Sharif’s new project , “Insomniac Missile Launcher” with Bigg Jus drops tomorrow on Halloween! What I’ve heard so far consists of heavy drums on electronic beats, more similar to cybergrind than hip hop, accompanied by grimy lyrics from both Jus and Sharif. I couldn’t be more excited, look out for the official release tomorrow!

As an avid film lover myself, I asked Faboi Sharif to recommend 10 movies to the fans of Club Tekac. He gave me 11. Here are his picks:

• 1: Jacob's Ladder (1990)
• 2: Se7en (1995)
• 3: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
• 4: The Basketball Diaries (1995)
• 5: Candyman (1992)
• 6: Holy Mountain (1973)
• 7: Fantastic Planet (1973)
• 8: The Lighthouse (2019)
• 9: The Shining (1980)
• 10: Bad Lieutenant (1992)
• 11: Ganja and Hess (1973)