Fashawn

OFF THE TOP: Where we team up with artists to create original music videos for never before released music, this time with Mass Appeal’s own Fashawn.

In an exclusive interview with VladTV, Fashawn speaks on hobbies outside of music like skateboarding. While the rapper hasn’t played as much as he did during his adolescent years, he says he was looked at strangely for taking part in skateboarding when it wasn’t popular in the black community. He says black skateboarders like Stevie Williams and Ray Barbee gave him the confidence to perfect his craft. He also praises Williams for being himself in his attire and his attitude, and for making it easier for himself and other people of color to emerge in the world of skateboarding.

Dart Adams sat down with Fashawn before his show at the Middle East in Cambridge to discuss his first album “Boy Meets World” and the part of his life he was in when he wrote and recorded it. Moving on Dart gets into the 5 year gap between the release of “Boy Meets World” and “The Ecology”. Moving on Dart gets into talking about “The Ode to Illmatic” and how Fashawn released his “Illmatic” inspired record before the Detroit rapper Elzhi. Fashawn also touches on his worries with rapping over the beats and what inspired him to do it in the first place. Fashawn goes on to talk about his hometown of Fresno and what it was like coming up in that city compared to other more notable locations for California hip hop. To close it out we hear about how he feels being acknowledged by Nas and his thoughts on being a part of Mass Appeal.

Fashawn while on his The Ecology tour visited the world famous Burnside Skatepark. A bittersweet moment as this is the same location his childhood friend Adam Birch who taught him how to skate passed away.

Fashawn details what makes Fresno, California an interesting place.