MISTAH FAB (March 2008) | Interview By: Nima Etminan

       Dubcnn hooked back up with Mr. Fabby Davis Jr. aka Mistah Fab aka F.A.B. for an interview, to catch up on everything the Prince of the Bay has going on right now. He tells us about getting on Snoop Dogg's new single "Life Of Da Party" and how it felt working with Too Short and Snoop. He tells us about his solo album and the situation over at Atlantic Records, the reasons for the hold up, him not getting played on his local radio stations and much more.

We also talk about his album with Glasses Malone that is done, as well as his upcoming album with Alchemist, amongst many of Fab's future projects.

As always we have both the transcript and the audio for you to check and please feel free to send any feedback regarding the interview to: nima@dubcnn.com

 

Interview was done by phone in March 2008

Questions Asked By : Nima Etminan

Mistah FAB Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Click Here

Full Interview In Audio : Here

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Let's get it popping, what's up West Coast!?


Dubcnn: What's up man, we're right here with Mistah FAB, what's going on with you?

Just sitting up, getting ready to make the West Coast get our buzz back, we got a lot of troops on the frontline right now, from the Glasses Malone's to the Jay Rock's to a lot of the new troops that's ready to resurrect the coast, so I'm just ready to play my part. It's looking good though for us right now.


Dubcnn: So what's that part that you wanna play?

Just being a new face that people can identify with, a personality, and to make good music and show people that it's not just about the stereotypes that the West Coast has been getting lately. It's different genres to our music, and everybody is putting together great music. It's a beautiful thing to be a part of the West Coast, it makes you feel good again to say "I'm from California", cause you're looking up and down the coast and you see different movements, a lot of different artists with different sounds, and I'm just playing my part as far as bringing my sound, my genre, my personality, my character, my representation of the area, to the coast.


Dubcnn: How much would you say that the whole controversy over your "Ghost Ride It" song helped you move forward with your career?

I've been through a lot of stuff, I've been through more than your average artist man, as far as obstacles and endeavours that may be stagnating to ones career. But I think in life we all go through things and we have to realize that certain things are put in front of us to constantly work over and get through, to see how hard and how serious it is for us. Some people would quit, and it's not meant for them to get there. I think everything worth having is worth going through something for.

I've been through a lot of controversy, from not being played on my local radio station for over a year and a half, but still being one of the most relevant artists, to getting my video banned and my song banned, all types of stuff. Or being on a major label and having your album held up, I've just been going through a lot of stuff but it only makes me stronger as an artist and as a person, cause it shows me that there must be something for me to have if I'm going through all this, so I just gotta keep at it.


Dubcnn: You're featured on Snoop's album, on the song with Too Short, "Life Of Da Party". Tell us about that song and how that song got created.

Oh that song was crazy man! We was at the house with Short, and he's like my god dad. We was at the house just chilling, lounging, and there was a knock on the door. We were like "Who knows we stay here? Who's that?" It was Snoop's crazy ass! He stayed upstairs, and he was like "Nephew, what's up with ya'll! Short, I need you to get on this album man. I'm ego trippin' man, I ain't putting nobody on the album." Short was like "Let's go upstairs Fab, come let's go!"

We went upstairs and we were just sitting up chilling, and I started freestyling, and Snoop's like "What's that?" I was like "I don't know!" and he was like "That sounds good, go lay that!" and I was like "You know it!!" So I just got on there man. Snoop is like a big brother to me man, he's like that big brother that shows you a lot of love and teaches you a lot of lessons. Short is like a father figure, cause he's been around so long, and it's just a wonderful thing to be in the middle of them two dudes! The Godfather and the Doggfather, I think a lot of artists go their whole career and never get the chance to work with those guys. Between those two dudes, that's the most history in music, that's gotta be like a trivia question, who got the most time in the game, I don't think nobody got more time than Too Short and Snoop Dogg - relevant time that is.


Dubcnn: Yeah that's crazy to see you right there with these two dudes on a song, and that's the song with the only features on the whole album!

Only features, that was crazy! I'm still shocked that I'm on the song, I saw the video and I'm like "Damn! Look I'm really between Snoop Dogg and Too Short!" Snoop is like Elvis man, people don't realize how big Snoop is!


Dubcnn: Ya'll shot the video for it in Las Vegas right?

Yeah we did it big in a casino. One of the homeboys that works for the Malouf's, his name is Jay Jay, he could get you anything you need in Vegas, and no other casino was gonna give us the casino. Jay Jay hooked it up, we got the casino in Vegas at the Palms, the video is crazy, it's bananas! We're gonna take it to TRL like next week, doing VH1... It's Snoop Dogg, so he's gonna do it big!


Dubcnn: That's a good look for the Bay too!

It's not even the Bay, this is California! For so long, people have been saying "I'm Bay" or "I'm L.A.", and that's where the difference has been. We've been loosing like that, because if unite the soldiers in California, then you're unstoppable! People be like "I'm from the Bay" and I ain't gonna lie, I've been guilty of it myself, not realizing the power of numbers. As of lately man, I've been going down to L.A. working with a lot of cats and just being in the streets out there, and I realize the power in numbers.

We're pushing this California movement, it's called One West, and it's just One West! The Bishop Lamont's to the Damani's to the Jay Rock's to the Roccett's to Glasses Malone's, a lot of the younger guys, we're uniting and putting the One West together. It's spearheaded by the Snoop Dogg's, the Mack 10's, the Too Short's and the E-40's, and we're getting a lot of love, it's a beautiful thing for California.


Dubcnn: Definitely. So what's next for you though, musically?

I got an album with Glasses Malone called "The Sideshow".


Dubcnn: Hold up, you got an album with Glasses Malone?

Yeah! Me and Glasses Malone got an album together!


Dubcnn: When did that happen?

We did it about 7-8 months ago! I've been fuckin' with Glasses for a minute, that's my big brother. If you look at any of the magazines that we've been in, we've usually appeared together. Like if I was in the XXL About To Blow section, he would be right there. We've always been next to each other from the Source to XXL to a lot of different stuff. Realizing that, we just hooked up like "Man we need to come together and put it together."


Dubcnn: So the album is done?

Whole album! It's called "The Sideshow". It's crazy. We've been done with that, we're just waiting on our projects to really bubble and get our buzz around us, and then just drop it. But in the meantime, individually, I've been working on my album man, I got the single with Rick Ross and Glasses Malone, it's called "Fat Boy".


Dubcnn: When is that coming out?

I'm not sure, I'm riding the wave right now. I'ma ride this wave and see what this Snoop Dogg shit do for me, I'm happy to be a part of it, and Snoop said it himself, he's gonna help me put together some songs cause it's a lot of attention on me right now. But I got the single with Rick Ross and Glasses, and I 'm doing a Houston/Bay single with Bun B, Paul Wall and Chamillionaire. That's already done. I've just been working, networking, going out to different markets and areas. My production team is phenomenal, I've been working with DJ Toomp, he said he got me I was out in Atlanta last week working with him. My in-house production team Tha Bizness, that's Dow Jones and J-Hen, they got R. Kelly's new single and they've got about 4-5 on my new album.

I'm just working bro and staying busy, I'm on tour with Zion I, we've been doing a little underground Hip-Hop tour. It's been a beautiful thing. I got a lot of street ties, a lot of industry ties, but at the same time I'm still able to fit the bill with a group like Zion I and The Grouch, which is preferably Hip-Hop Underground music, and I've been accepted in their circle, in their cipher, and it's a beautiful thing to be embraced from those guys, cause they sell a crazy amount of records and the mainstream doesn't even know who they are! They're very talented and they make great music and they've allowed me to go on tour with them with this "Fresh Coast" tour, and every venue that we've had so far has been sold out, it's been a great gathering of fans, being able to merge both genres, Hip-Hop and the.. uhh.


Dubcnn: The whatever it is you do, huh? *laughs*

*laughs* Yeah I don't even have a name for it! However they wanna categorize me! I can fit in with any group, I can be in there with Glasses and a lot of the gangstas, and still hold my own by just being a stand up guy. Or I can get in the Hip-Hop area and still do what I do from the freestyling to the conceptual things. I'm just working my way around the game, just trying to be able to fit in wherever.


Dubcnn: Sounds like you got a lot going on right now! Are you still on Atlantic Records?

Yes I am. I'm actually still on Atlantic Records. I've been actually in a lot of talks with different people, but I can't put it out there like that. But I've been talking about doing some big shit, hopefully it goes through. The Atlantic situation, it's not that I'm unhappy with the Atlantic situation, it's just that I'm unhappy with the state of how they work. Another unfortunate situation is me not having the regional radio play. I'm caught up in a political scheme of things in regional radio, so I don't get played on radio up here.

It's crazy, I'ma forward you a document and when you read it, you're gonna be like "Wow..." [Editor's note: Click Here to read the aforementioned document] So the major labels, they don't understand that. When I signed with Atlantic, I had seven songs on the radio! So to go from seven songs to no songs is kind of like "Yo, what happened?" It's hard for the major labels to really get behind a record and push it, if you're not getting played in your backyard.


Dubcnn: What's going on though, what's going on with that?

I'll forward you the jumpoff thing so you can read it yourself cause I don't wanna be biased. There was an article last week that was wrote up in the SF Weekly, which is like the LA Times, and it really elaborates on the situation, the friction between me and one of the program directors out here on the radio. It all started with me having a radio show on an opposite station. My main reason for doing that was to help people out, but what it looked like was that I was trying to be competition, and infringe on someone elses timeslot on an opposite station. A competitive urge took over, and it is what it is. I've been somewhat the sacrifitial lamp of this Bay Area music, but I'm willing to take that loss if they play everybody elses music. I'm like "It's whatever, it's just another one of those obstacles that we spoke about earlier."

I'm not really worried about it, I'll just continue to build my buzz. But to reiterate on what we were talking about, major labels don't understand that! I can't go to them and be like "This shit is politics." Cause they don't understand that, they only understand numbers. Unfortunately, it's been a hold up on my project. But it hasn't stopped me from going out working and gaining alliances and friendships everywhere else! I went out and put together about 80% of my new album, and that 80% includes Rick Ross, Glasses Malone, Paul Wall, Chamillionaire, Bun B, man! We're working with R. Kelly right now, [Tha Bizness] are doing R. Kelly's new single, so you never know if we could sneak up something on that! That would be beautiful.

But I've been working with a lot of cats in the industry, and it's a beautiful look for me, because to go from being just a local star or whatever, to gaining nationwide and worldwide exposure, with no radio play, with no major song, it's a beautiful thing! Rick Ross told me some real shit, he was like "I fuck with you, but I don't even know one of your songs!" If you look at it, that's big! Cause you got some artists who got big songs but no one knows who they are. I'm glad that people know who I am, cause that will make it easier for them when I come with a song.


Dubcnn: Before we go I wanna get a few words on that Royce Da 5'9" situation, what's the deal there right now?

That's over with man, me and Royce talked, and we view it as great promotion for both of us, whatever it was, however it was. We talked before it went too far and got out of hand, and we came to a common understanding, it was for the love of Hip-Hop, and nothing more. There is no personal friction between me and that guy, I don' know him personally. So everything is good, it was great promotion and excitement.


Dubcnn: That's beautiful. Is there anything else that you'd like to let everybody know?

Check out the "Life Of Da Party" video, go support Snoop Dogg's new album "Ego Trippin", Glasses Malone's record, and embrace the West Coast! We've been out putting good music together, and we're just trying to make this new thing pop for us! And I also still got the album coming out with Alchemist!


Dubcnn: Hold on, what?

Oh you never heard about that?


Dubcnn: Nah! You got a album with Alchemist?

Yeah, we got the album coming! I'm just waiting on him to finish up Prodigy's album, he's wrapping up that album. Me and Alchemist, that's the homie, we got about four or five songs done for it, we'll get finished with it as soon as he wraps up the prior commitments that he has, like the Koch album that he has to do, but me and him talk on a regular basis and we're definitely gonna finish up that album, just some eye opening stuff. I'm hitting them from all angles, just letting them know I can do the Hip-Hop, the mainstream commercial, the underground, the super underground, just a mix of all! Alchemist has been a big brother in my corner, through his verbal support and him just looking at my situation and understanding. I just need people to understand the situation.