FATMAN SCOOP: Friday Jams Sessions
An interview by Sarah Kidd.
He’s one of the most iconic voices in the world. He’s a hype man, a hip hop promoter and a radio personality and he has finally made it down to New Zealand with one of the biggest line-ups of RnB artists that this country has ever seen!
Known by many for the song “Be Faithful’, the larger than life personality that is Fatman Scoop is no way, shape or form a one hit wonder or heritage act; constantly creating – even while on tour – he has promised not only to get up-close and personal with New Zealand fans but to soon surprise the music world with some new material that is “gonna catch everybody off guard”
I had the chance to sit down with Scoop shortly before he was due to appear on stage to talk about the tour, his latest musical endeavors and just what RnB means to him…
You are the voice, you are the icon, you are the ring leader of this Friday Jams – just how much fun do you have being that persona?
“I like being the glue, I mean you know when I was just a performer last year I did my part and then I left. I had experiences with people but it’s a little deeper, more heightened now because I’m here for everybody, so I see everybody every day; where as opposed to last year I did something and then maybe one day I stayed and watched everybody. Now I see everybody cause’ I’m hosting, so it’s a deeper connection. It’s actually really, really fun, it’s good!”
It’s always hard choosing a favourite, but who is the one artist that has just blown you away each and every night?
“Ne-Yo. Give it to me every night! I said it on stage last night in Brisbane, he really brought it together on this one and there’s been some really amazing performers! But I think he really put his foot in it as we say in America; as a great icon Busta Rhymes once said – “He put his foot in the ass of that situation”. He did, he really did his thing”
Being an integral artist of Friday Jams what part have you enjoyed the most so far?
“Just the people; you know for me, I like being with the people. So my favourite part is when I do my thing, just going out in the crowd and being with people I love, that I enjoy. I live for that, that’s how I’ve lost teeth [Scoop unfortunately had several teeth knocked out the night before when an enthusiastic fan accidentally knocked his microphone back into his mouth] because I have been out there!
Like I actually want to be closer to the people, the further away I am from the people it annoys me. So when there is a barrier and you can’t be near the people, that really annoys me! I like getting out there, so my thing is just sometimes, when the show is going on and somebody else is on, just going and sitting in the crowd. And I tell people “Look, look you can’t take pictures right now. Let’s just sit here and watch it as people, let’s enjoy the show just as people, I’ll take pictures later, let’s just enjoy the fact that I’m here sitting with you taking it in just like you”
You like to make a human connection…
“Exactly”
That desire to make a connection comes through so strongly in your persona and it is part of what makes it so exciting for the fans that you are finally here in New Zealand.
“I was supposed to come to New Zealand earlier this year but I had a problem medically and I had to go home. So this is the first time that I am touching down in New Zealand; never been here, always saw it, always heard about it, but never had the opportunity to experience it. So this is very exciting for me”
So in your own words – what does Fatman Scoop bring to the party?
“Love, excitement, fun, energy, unity, Did I say love already? Friendship, memories those are all the things that I could kind of put down that I bring to the table. That’s where I’m really, really good. I want you to come to my party and feel like you got memories – you walked away with memories. ‘Oh Man – when he played this, this happened! Oh Man – you know, when he said this, this is what happened’; if you don’t walk away from it like that, then it doesn’t mean anything to me”
Best crowd so far – and keep in mind you haven’t seen us Kiwi’s go wild yet!
“I’m waiting to see the Kiwi’s! But I’m gonna put Brisbane ahead of everybody else because they went berserk in the rain. It’s easy to go mental in the dark, in an arena. It’s easy to go mental on a nice day. But when you go mental in the rain – you know for a lot of people the rain is depressing, not me! That’s like my thing! But when you go mental in the rain that’s a whole different level, so I give it to them!”
Now you released a recent single this year with Jillionaire and Fuse ODG entitled ‘Sunrise’ which is an absolute banger – how did that collaboration come about?
“The way that ‘Sunrise’ came about was that I was in Trinidad with Machel Montano who is a big soca artist, and while I was down there – I was doing a show for him – I met Jillionaire, cause’ Jillionaire is Trinidadian. So I met him and we always talked back and forth like ‘When are we going to do something’ and one day we were together in England, in London and we just went to the studio. We were just playing a bunch of records and stuff like that and that came on and then Jillionaire called Fuse ODG; because Jillionaire is in Major Lazer he can pick up the phone at any time and call anyone and they’re comin down you understand?
When you’re that hot and on top of the world like that, you can call anybody! You can call the Queen of England like ‘Yo get down here, I need you to get on the beginning of this record!’ ‘No problem we can have a cup of tea, I’ll be there in an hour!’ So we had a bunch of different people come through that night, there were so many artists that came through that night; but Fuse came through, he wrote his verse and that’s just how ‘Sunrise’ happened. Then we put it out and we were able to do a tour of Australia, we never got over here – that’s actually when I was supposed to finish the Sunrise tour over here, but I messed myself up medically so I had to go back – but it was a great experience working with him. We’re gonna do more records because we’re actually friends, so we’re gonna do more records in the future”
The video for the track is beautiful – talking about love; there is a lot of love, light, joy and celebration contained within it.
“Yes, right. It’s a really strong video, it gives you that African flavour, you feel that. And the thing about Jillionaire is that he’s extremely creative, and that was like, that was his expression of what he felt and it actually made sense to me. It was more of a story than a video to me, so that was the thing that you know, stood out to me”
So we can expect to hear a lot more new music from you in the future?
“Yes, yes, I got a record with Sean Paul that I just did actually on this tour, we went to the studio and just did a song and had a good time. I have a record with his artist Chi Ching Ching that you’re going to see tonight [Chi Ching Ching made a surprise special guest appearance] that’s a good record, ‘Rock The World’ remix that I did.
I have my own songs, five to ten new songs that I’ve done on my own, and then I have a song that I’m putting out that again is going to be so different, and so from the left, it’s gonna catch everybody off guard! Now this record is either going to be the biggest thing that I’ve ever done or it’s going to be the biggest flop, but that’s the risk you take when you do this business. It’s not like food and water, it can win or it can lose, but the thing about it is you have to have the guts to put it on the line to see if it wins or loses.”
Well it’s the evolution of an artist isn’t it – you can’t just stay in one place!
“No you can’t, you can’t. So my thing is I’m at a place now, I just wanna produce and you know I don’t even have to talk on the record, or yell on the record, we’re not in 1997. I can just put a record out, say Fatman Scoop on it almost like DJ Khaled. Khaled happens to be a really good friend of mine for many years; I’ve known Khaled for over twenty years, I mean we started in the business together, so I love him you know?
I love what he does, I love how he brings it to the table, and even though I’m a contemporary I aspire to be like him you know he’s my guy. I’m doing stuff like that now, every day doesn’t have to be me yelling on a record thirty-six times over and over, it can just be as simple as me producing a record and doing what I feel artistically.”
With tonight’s show, will we see you perform or is it just hosting duties for you?
“I’m gonna play the hits tonight. I’m gonna do a little hybrid; I’m gonna host and I’m gonna do a quick set – I’m gonna play the hits and [quickly claps hands together] shhhooo! Then I’ll go back to doing my hosting duties, so you’ll hear a little bit of every little thing I do, it should be fun!”
Now we all know that you have a bit of a propensity for taking your shirt off …
“Yes! It’s the All Blacks; it’s the land of the All Blacks! I think I have to do that, I think I have to do a little bit of that!”
How did that all come about that you ended up becoming known for it?
“It was just one thing and I got known for it you know? Doug E. Fresh my mentor, always taught me – do something that’s memorable. I’m gonna learn to do a back flip but I think I gotta lose about 30-40 pounds, but eventually I’m gonna do a back flip! And that will be my new thing.”
Speaking of things you are known for, just how did that iconic voice of yours develop?
“It didn’t, no it didn’t! I didn’t know until I was under pressure to put my brother through school; I didn’t even know I had this voice, I never yelled at anything! I did it because I had no choice, because I was trying to find a way.
I didn’t know I had it, God put that on me and I didn’t even know! Like I didn’t know until the first day I met Crooklyn Clan, I didn’t know anything. And then the next thing you know here we are!”
Did it take you by surprise when it became so iconic though?
“No, because it wasn’t iconic in the beginning. It was like, did Fat Joe know what he was doing when he went in the studio and did ‘Lean Back’ no … Did Dr. Dre know what he did when he did ‘The Next Episode’ … nah he just made a record, they didn’t know what they were doing! Did Ice Cube know what he was doing when he made his first album [AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted]. Did NWA know, no they just went in … nobody knows what it is until it happens!
So I didn’t even know that I was iconic; I became iconic because I did it over and over again. But I didn’t know, I was just a guy trying to make a song that I could make $300 a show off and if I did one hundred and twenty-five shows to one hundred and forty shows, I would have enough to put my brother through school the first year, that was my only goal. And it wound up being here and I make way more than $300 a show now, so I’m blessed.”
Lastly Scoop, what is RnB music to you?
“It’s my heritage, it’s where I come from, it’s what I grew up listening to. It’s everything that I was about. It’s what my mother and my father played on a record player; not a DVD, not a CD not an iPod, on vinyl! It’s everything, it’s a feelin, its energy, the memories that I grew up with. That’s all that RnB means to me.”
Recently Auckland’s Spark Arena was host to the absolutely massive ‘Friday Jams’ Festival (you can check out our review of the day here). Sarah Kidd was there backstage to chat with a few of the artists, which we will be rolling out this short work week to get you hyped for Friday all over again! Be sure to tune in to ZM every Friday between 9am & 3pm for ZM’s Friday Jams to kick off that weekend party feeling…