We are pleased to debut our first interview as we kick off a New Year. Last month, [December 2012] I had the pleasure of interviewing rising artist rapper, Fred The Godson at his recording studio In 2012, Fred The Godson went from being an underground artist to a main stream artist. His radio hit song ‘Monique’s Room‘ sparked huge popularity; nabbing daily rotation spins at radio stations, and inside the clubs [including the strip clubs] across the states which ultimately resulted in Fred signing a single’s deal with E-One record label. So when when we caught up with the rapper – we asked him about his recent success, and mixtape “Gordo Frederico“, performing at Hot 97 Summer Jam Concert for the first time, and what fans can expect from him in 2013.
Sidebar: I’ve known Fred for several years now, and his personality was just the same [as it always been] during our interview. If you know Fred, then you know he is a “ jokester” and your bound to laugh when your in his presence. We laughed, joke, shared stories of being a parent, and listened to some of his new music throughout the interview session. Even when I kept referring to his mixtape as “Frederico Gordo” instead of its actual title [‘Gordo Frederico’], he was unbothered by it and continued on with the interview.
Here’s the full interview and few excerpts below:
On His Current Success Following His Radio Hit Song “Monique’s Room”:
Ah Man in 2012 I really cut the brake pads off and went full steam. I went to Japan, traveled across the country – and they accepted me very well. So me being from the bronx , and being from the block [the streets] and going to all these different places and everybody screaming “Fred The Godson” is a blessing.
On The E-One Deal And New Single “Work”:
With E-One, Yeah – I just signed a single deal with them. They were pushing the first single “Monique’s Room” and now we at the second single [they showed interest in that] – so were pushing that. The song is called “Work” which features my homie [rapper Young Berg] and he produced the track as well.
On Artist He’s Work With On Current Mixtape “Gordo Frederico”
Alot of features you see me collaborate with were people that was instrumental to me becoming a rapper and from listening to music. My big sis [Lil Kim] – I put her on the mixtape [and she don’t even come out to do things like this] I had my big homie rappers, Fat Joe, Vado, and Corey Gunz my homie, its was a big project for me and it was huge.
On Performing On Hot 97 Summer Jam Concert For The First Time:
It was big! I performed on the pre-stage, and then I was backstage on the big stage with all the big artists and they accepted me very well. Artist that I look up to and that I never met, I met that day and some of them telling me that they look up to me and that love keeps an artist going. Summer Jams was CRAZY! We rocked the stage, it was blessing, and there was alot of good energy there as well.
On When Fans Can Expect A New Album:
I think its premature for me to talk about an album because I just want to everything to be set up the right way. So I’ll be giving fans these mixtapes and they’ll sound like albums until the stars are lined up perfectly then I’ll drop an album. I’m in the studio everyday all day – I’m always working, and whenever I come across a song that I feel is special – I put it in the “Vault” and that will be for the album. Right now, were up to about 60 songs, and the hardest thing about the album is picking 15-16 songs out of the 60 because I love all 60 records.
On Choosing The Right Records:
Some days I sit and right down a writing some thing crazy [ill] and some days I’ll write something that is not crazy [to me] and that’s usually the song that the everybody’s like.
Fred also played our Fab 5 questionnaire shared some of his favorite things with us. [around the 7 min mark]
Click here to watch Fred’s new video “Slow Flow”