As a kid your interest and hobbies are just starting to develop, for instance with rap, but not many are actively pursuing these interest just enjoying them. In Femdot's case you can say 'he jumped off he porch' early. By teenage years he dropped one of his first mixtape "A Tribe Called Fresh" and continues to work toward notoriety as a rapper.
He's dropped many projects since them, including "King Dilla", a collaborative effort with lasko "inSIGHT", and a album "Femdelacreme", to name a few. What standouts about Femdot is his rapping ability, combined with the energy he brings, but he's not bringing random bars he has something to say. Chicago artist seem to gain buzz in waves, a continuous waves that calms but never dies. The new year is right around the corner, and this city continues to produced great music, so its time to get in-tune with a up and comer and get ahead of the wave.
Checkout our Q&A with Femdot below.
- What side of Chicago did you grow on?
First of all, thanks for reaching out. I appreciate you guys and the support as well. That's super cool. I just wanted to mention that. Well, I was born up North, but moved to the South Burbs, and found myself constantly between the suburbs and different parts of the city, mostly North and South. I love it though, I have seen life from hella different perspectives. Helps to understand.
- How did your upbringing influence the music you create?
My brother and sisters all were involved in music in some sort of way. My oldest brother rapped, and thus got the whole family into a whole hardcore, rap scholar thing that kinda stuck with us all. My sister and other brother sang in choirs and things of that sort, and they really instilled that love of music, especially rap and R&B for me. Plus being in a Muslim house hold we had to learn to read the Quran. However, Arabic is a very melodic language and it helped think in melodies, which was cool.
- Been nearly 2 years since dropping "Femdelacreme". You're working on something new, will the upcoming project be be a continuation of that?
Yeah man, it's crazy hearing that project now, I was in a entire different place in life then. But yeah, I am working on a part two, which is pretty exciting. It is a continuation in sense, they all are connected actually Femdelacreme, King Dilla, and this Delacreme II. The new project is really just explaining everything I couldn't elaborate on then, as well catch the listeners up from the gaps in my life from when the first one dropped.
- Has the creating process change any? Does what inspire "Femdelacreme" inspire part two?
Not much, I write on my phone more now, but still do all the important songs in my notebook. I am a bit more particular with what I make and put out. When I younger, if I liked it and it was recorded it and dropped it. But now I am a bit of a perfectionist with the songs, I have hundreds of songs that I will never drop now, but I feel like they aren't qualified to be out. But 17 year old would have flooded the streets. haha. In regards to part two, the inspiration is the same as the first, I just want to tell my story and the stories of the people around me. Bring a feeling of nostalgia to music without skipping out on content.
-what was your mindset when recording "Body bags"?
Haha. Chi (Charles Lauste) sent that over a while ago, like "you gotta body this joint, it's a little trappy, but you gotta do it" So I just wrote it with that in mind, I am competitor when it comes to rapping. So when I wrote it damn near as wake up call to everyone, that I am coming for EVERYONE. Literally. No shade, no disrespect, but when I get on songs my intent is to body you.
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- You have a pretty intense style of rapping. Full of energy. What influence your rapping style?
That actually came out of nowhere, I didn't used to rap like that and it's funny that this intense and energetic tag has been tagged on my style of rapping. It really came from a mix of working on King Dilla and then my love for performance. With King Dilla I tapped into this other part of me , I didn't know I had, and it leveled up the rap delivery. And then I feel like no matter whether you are in the booth or not, you need to perform your heart out. So as I became more comfortable performing, I wanted to be the best, I still do. But in order to be the best, you must demand attention, so once I seen that more energy captivated people longer I began to incorporate it in my delivery. Plus as a student of the game, I study a lot rappers, and one's who delivery really stuck was DMX's. So I would try to match his level of energy as well.
- You brought out your alter ego "King Dilla" for a EP. Where does this second self come from?
It's always been there. I am naturally a very humble person, very calm, and collected person. It's just kinda my thing. I am very self-critical and sometimes self conscious or whatever. But in order to balance that out I have a small part of me that overly confident, super aggressive, impulsive , that would come out from time to time to level me out I guess. Probably the factor, behind some questionable things I did as a child. Haha. But the EP was a form of therapy. I lost a bit of confidence, so instead of writing about what I was going through at the time, I wrote from this alter ego, in order to remind myself of how confident and strong I could be, to kinda get me back on my feet.
- What do you think of Chicago's current rap scene?
I love it, from drill to alternative. I love it all, I am excited to see it keep growing and see what happens next. We are much more diverse than people think. I stayed a year out on the East Coast and it's like they think your either Keef or Chance. And there is actually such a large spectrum of rap music in the city, but I feel like it's starting to show and very excited about that. The only thing that was keeping us from being powerhouses, like Atlanta and LA, was the support of others. It has always been every man for themselves, but I think that starting to change.
- You're very vocal about police brutality, specifically the murder of Laquan McDonald. What do you think needs to happen to correct the current system in Chicago/country?
Man, look. The entire culture of policing needs to change. The police currently are not here to protect and serve everyone, specifically Black and other minority communities. they are here to enhance and protect the possessive investment of whiteness. Nothing else matters, no other lives matter. And as long as that is the basis of the police, cases like Laquan will continue to happen. We need to shift the infrastructure of this entire judicial system, I am not saying right away. But priority must be changed from white lives to all lives, from white property to all property. This starts with getting these people currently in power, out of there and replacing with people we can trust. In Chicago, specifically, McCarthy gotta go, Alvarez gotta go, Rahm gotta go. That's not the definite solution, but it is the start of making a shift.
- What could the local rap scene do more of to help push forward change in black communities?
Local rap scene just needs to be vocal, we have the ability to reach a lot of people and really influence a lot minds by just leading by example. Be the change you want to be. Your fans will follow.
Question by Curtis "rewind it DJ" Carey --- Follow Femdot on twitter @femdotdotcom
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