Mistah F.A.B. article talking about Atlantic, Federation, Big Von, & Yellow Bus Rider
Also featured in the first issue of STASH Magazine:
Under the Hood of the Yellow Bus
Words: Evan Kidera
Photography: Vivian Chen
Mistah F.A.B. AKA Fabby Davis, has shaped his image and reputation around “going dumb”. F.A.B. has rode the Hyphy horse to unprecedented success in the Bay Area and now has his sights set on multiplying what he has built to the highest power. As the unofficial spokesperson of the Hyphy Movement, F.A.B. saw his hard work pay off recently by landing a major label deal with Atlantic Records. STASH was able to catch up with the Bay’s newest celebrity to ultimately reveal that this yellow bus rider is also about “going smart”.
So you got that Atlantic Deal?
Mistah FAB: Atlantic deal, label deal. Basically this is going to put me in all the stores nationwide and give me proper backing. We just taking what we’ve been doing in the Bay Area to all the other markets and trying to do the same there.
So it’s a major distribution deal?
Definitely, they main thing is to handle that. Got my own label deal with Faeva Afta and Thizz as well.
Does Atlantic have any say on what goes on during production of the product?
They got a part in it when we putting the album together cause we do a lot of label access with Atlantic artists. Basically just coming together as a partnership and doing
what we doing already. That’s really my main reason why we wanted to get a major deal anyway, cause if not, we could stay independent and have local commercial success. Selling a hundred thousand on a major label is the same equivalence as 20-30 thousand independent, plus its really worse because you ain’t going to see as much money as you would on an independent. By teaming up with Atlantic, hopefully we can just duplicate the same success that we’ve had in this demographic and every other market we try to target.
So you’re working on the new album?
Definitely, the new album, Yellow Bus Rider. Its crazy!
Is it done?
Almost done. It could be done if I needed it to be, but me personally, I just like creating new work. I’m doing a lot of songs, traveling every state and city I hit and just trying to do songs with different producers and hook up wit a lot of the main DJ’s.
As far as artist and producers, who you got featuring on Yellow Bus Rider?
I got a lot of in-house stuff going on right now. My producer Rob E is tremendous and he’s definitely going to be a problem. I got production from Traxamillion, Sean T, Jazzy Phae, Bed Rock, and Jim Johnson who did a lot of the Trick Daddy and Pretty Ricky stuff, he’s huge in Miami. The production’s hot though man. As far as artists, I got my boy Paul Wall, Chamillionaire, Too $hort, Snoop, and a few other names, but that’s the core of it. I want to do features that make sense. What I mean by that is, features with a reason behind it, not just cause I can. Just work with cats that I like.
I heard you got your own skateboard wheel?
Yeah I just dropped the Yellow Bus Wheel, one of the first rappers ever to have a skateboard wheel. The wheel is manufactured through Hubba Wheels, which is one of the top manufacturers of skateboard wheels. My homeboy Tone from Thrasher Magazine gave me the opportunity to put together the wheel. We went out and got this young dude named Apollo Cuts who is the Lebron James of skateboarding. He’s so dope. I was just riding by the skate park and recruiting some more cats because I got a skateboard team called the Yellow Team. I really enjoy just watching the dare devil stunts that them dudes be doing. I support the whole skateboard movement, which is not only a lucrative avenue but is also a sport that hasn’t been tapped into yet, and they love Hip Hop. I’m just thankful that a lot of the skaters are allowing me to even be a part of their culture.
What else you got moving?
The clothing line. Everybody got they clothing line, but we are trying to do something from a different point of view with the Yellow Bus line. It’s real bright clothing with a lot of colors. I also got the upscale line called Forever, which is for when you getting your grown and sexy on. I got a lot of big designers in the wood works that’s putting stuff together. The highline jewelry is really going good for us. A lot of people are going to get they diamonds and they pieces from there. I’m just trying to dibble and dabble in everything man. Not trying spread myself thin but at the same time build for a career after music, cause it’s bigger than music.
Like Yellow Bus Radio.
I forgot about the radio show, how could I do that. The radio show is doing great right now, its number one for its time slot. We are getting a lot of attention and I have been able to help a lot of people by playing the underground music. The shows about to get syndicated, which means it’s going to be on hundreds of different stations. I was joking around when I said I wanted my own show.
"With the Hyphy Movement, I've been able to infiltrate the radio politics and once I'm in, I give them a different side."
Yeah, how did that all come together?
Jazzy Jim man, he is like a big brother to me, a mentor. He was over at Wild and
actually put out my first album, the Niglatin record. I had been telling him for years that I wanted to be an on-air personality. When he came back to Wild, he was like “FAB, you still want to do the on air stuff” and I was like “Yeah.” He allowed that to happen for me, which was a blessing and now it’s been on for almost four months. I’ve been given the opportunity to help, not only with the music, but also by voicing a lot of the stuff that goes on in the community. Giving Bay Area artists opportunity to get on the radio and voice they opinion on how they feel about, not only the Hyphy movement, but where the Bay Area is going and the politics involved.
Having the opportunity to voice opinion on the radio is a huge responsibility that needs to be taken seriously.
Definitely. You got to take it seriously because you rarely get a chance to hear how the artists feel. You hear their music, but the music and the artists is two different people. I may do some songs that are hyphy, hyphy, hyphy, but I’m not always hyphy. There is a lighter side to me as well as a more intellectual side that you won’t be able to hear in a radio song. Being that voice and personality on the radio, gives you the ability to reach a lot of the people and give them a different side of you. People generally gain a lot more respect for you when they see the other side cause they like “I didn’t even know you were able to take it there”. You can help people and save lives if you put it in a proper perspective, but you can also make people do a lot of ignorant stuff. The main thing is to set a positive example through all the negligence and negativity, for the up and coming kids and artists.
I personally peeped the two avenues you are speaking on. In some of your songs it’s all about going dumb and stupid but on your show you encourage the kids to go to the library and read them books.
Yeah if you listen to my last album Son Of A Pimp it’s only three considerably
hyphy songs and the rest of the songs are retrospective, introspective, conscious, politically aware songs, but the radio won’t allow you to play those songs. The main thing with radio is to keep people as uninformed as you can, just keep them dancing and partying so that they want to listen. The radio is the same as the government, in that, the less you know the easier it is for them. You don’t hear a lot of the Dead Prez and Zion I on the radio because they informing people and giving awareness with what they say in their music. You have to disguise it. With the Hyphy Movement, I’ve been able to infiltrate the radio politics and once I’m in, I give them a different side. You have to learn how to play your cards right. Once you get them willing and listening, you can make things happen.
When you travel, how do people react to Hyphy when they see it for the first time?
They’re in awe. Some people like it and some don’t because they don’t understand it. It’s human nature not to be receptive to change; we have to embrace change with gradual growth. That’s how the music industry and the fans are. A lot of people didn’t like Mac Dre for his involvement in the Hyphy Movement. They was like “we like the old Dre, we don’t like this Dre”, and then there where fans who loved this Dre. It’s going to grow on people, we just have to continue to make good music and give people something that they want to embrace.
How long do you think Hyphy is going to last?
I’m not sure. I think it will go as far as people will allow it to go. What I mean by that is, you see artists like E-40 taking it to a different level. He recently was on shows like Wild ‘N Out and on Punked. These are all things that sprouted from this movement. It’s to each individual and what level will they allow themselves to rise to. Will you allow Hyphy to keep you stagnated in your own area or will you use this as a stepping stone to grow to a different demographic? Hyphy has allowed me to go around the world. I would love it to gain us the nationwide attention, but if it died tomorrow, I wouldn’t be worried because I’m not banking all my chips on that. I’m an artist, I have ability to transform to any genre of music that’s going to be current while at the same time bring my point of view to it. It’s really on each individual artist, how will you make Hyphy work for you?
How was the Power Summit?
Beautiful. I wish a lot more Bay Area artists would have been out there. Federation came, the Pack came, couple DJ’s, and me. That’s unfortunate cause at events like that, you want to be able to have everybody there so you can show the versatility of the movement. There’s so much diversity in the Hyphy Movement because you have the San Francisco cats like Messy Marv, Quinn, and Ya Boy, who represent a different side of it. It’s definitely key to display the diversity at a big event like the Power Summit, but when everybody isn’t there, people get the wrong perception.
The word is that you and the Federation are not on the same page.
I don’t have no problems with nobody that don’t have no problem with me.
Why won’t Scotty Fox or Big Von give you spins?
Politics man. I don’t even know.
So was there a confrontation?
Yeah it was, but I’m not mad at them. I’m going to continue to push on my grind. If anybody got a problem with the things that I got going on, then that’s to them. At the end of the day, all I can do is worry about staying focus and working hard on what I have to do to open up opportunity for the people in my circle. People misuse their power and if I’m the sacrificial lamb for some egomaniacs, then so be it. I wish them the best and hopefully we can set aside our differences and bring the Bay Area back. If they feeding their family, then that’s a beautiful thing and however you do it is up to you, even if it counteracts what I’m doing.
Who are your influences?
Tupac, Jay Z, Mac Dre, E-40, Eminem, Black Buddah, those are my musical influences. My life and my livelihood is influenced by my mom. She’s my hero, I’ve seen her go through so much. She’s a role model and a beautiful person who’s full of motivation. Nothing I ever come across in this music business can ever amount to the things that she has been through in life.
Do you read a lot?
Definitely, reading is something that shapes you. When you reflect upon other opinions and how they look at shit then match it with yours, you come back with a stronger opinion. I’m able to talk about anything from history, to psychology, to whatever. When I was young I never wanted to be left out of a conversation, so I would read about all types of stuff, so that if it ever presented itself, I would have enough knowledge to sustain a conversation.
Lastly how do you plan to help prevent the youth in our communities from continuing to kill each other?
Just talk to a lot of cats, but sometimes what will be, will be. Murder, homicide, suicide, and genocide have been happening since the beginning of time and right now the crime is definitely irate. You really have to attack the root of the problem, which is the youth. We are in a violent society and it doesn’t help that every time you turn on the T.V. you see murder and death. You got to reach the youth and show them a different way and hopefully open up some opportunity for them, give them outlets. No outlet definitely cries for attention. The artists, political leaders, and police, we all have to give opportunity and show the kids that they can make it. My position as an artist is to address the problem. A lot of people got the mentality that it don’t got nothing to do with them, so they don’t care. That’s a fucked up type of mentality to have because it all has something to do with us, we got to raise our kids in this community. STASH
Also featured in the first issue of STASH Magazine:
Under the Hood of the Yellow Bus
Words: Evan Kidera
Photography: Vivian Chen
Mistah F.A.B. AKA Fabby Davis, has shaped his image and reputation around “going dumb”. F.A.B. has rode the Hyphy horse to unprecedented success in the Bay Area and now has his sights set on multiplying what he has built to the highest power. As the unofficial spokesperson of the Hyphy Movement, F.A.B. saw his hard work pay off recently by landing a major label deal with Atlantic Records. STASH was able to catch up with the Bay’s newest celebrity to ultimately reveal that this yellow bus rider is also about “going smart”.
So you got that Atlantic Deal?
Mistah FAB: Atlantic deal, label deal. Basically this is going to put me in all the stores nationwide and give me proper backing. We just taking what we’ve been doing in the Bay Area to all the other markets and trying to do the same there.
So it’s a major distribution deal?
Definitely, they main thing is to handle that. Got my own label deal with Faeva Afta and Thizz as well.
Does Atlantic have any say on what goes on during production of the product?
They got a part in it when we putting the album together cause we do a lot of label access with Atlantic artists. Basically just coming together as a partnership and doing
what we doing already. That’s really my main reason why we wanted to get a major deal anyway, cause if not, we could stay independent and have local commercial success. Selling a hundred thousand on a major label is the same equivalence as 20-30 thousand independent, plus its really worse because you ain’t going to see as much money as you would on an independent. By teaming up with Atlantic, hopefully we can just duplicate the same success that we’ve had in this demographic and every other market we try to target.
So you’re working on the new album?
Definitely, the new album, Yellow Bus Rider. Its crazy!
Is it done?
Almost done. It could be done if I needed it to be, but me personally, I just like creating new work. I’m doing a lot of songs, traveling every state and city I hit and just trying to do songs with different producers and hook up wit a lot of the main DJ’s.
As far as artist and producers, who you got featuring on Yellow Bus Rider?
I got a lot of in-house stuff going on right now. My producer Rob E is tremendous and he’s definitely going to be a problem. I got production from Traxamillion, Sean T, Jazzy Phae, Bed Rock, and Jim Johnson who did a lot of the Trick Daddy and Pretty Ricky stuff, he’s huge in Miami. The production’s hot though man. As far as artists, I got my boy Paul Wall, Chamillionaire, Too $hort, Snoop, and a few other names, but that’s the core of it. I want to do features that make sense. What I mean by that is, features with a reason behind it, not just cause I can. Just work with cats that I like.
I heard you got your own skateboard wheel?
Yeah I just dropped the Yellow Bus Wheel, one of the first rappers ever to have a skateboard wheel. The wheel is manufactured through Hubba Wheels, which is one of the top manufacturers of skateboard wheels. My homeboy Tone from Thrasher Magazine gave me the opportunity to put together the wheel. We went out and got this young dude named Apollo Cuts who is the Lebron James of skateboarding. He’s so dope. I was just riding by the skate park and recruiting some more cats because I got a skateboard team called the Yellow Team. I really enjoy just watching the dare devil stunts that them dudes be doing. I support the whole skateboard movement, which is not only a lucrative avenue but is also a sport that hasn’t been tapped into yet, and they love Hip Hop. I’m just thankful that a lot of the skaters are allowing me to even be a part of their culture.
What else you got moving?
The clothing line. Everybody got they clothing line, but we are trying to do something from a different point of view with the Yellow Bus line. It’s real bright clothing with a lot of colors. I also got the upscale line called Forever, which is for when you getting your grown and sexy on. I got a lot of big designers in the wood works that’s putting stuff together. The highline jewelry is really going good for us. A lot of people are going to get they diamonds and they pieces from there. I’m just trying to dibble and dabble in everything man. Not trying spread myself thin but at the same time build for a career after music, cause it’s bigger than music.
Like Yellow Bus Radio.
I forgot about the radio show, how could I do that. The radio show is doing great right now, its number one for its time slot. We are getting a lot of attention and I have been able to help a lot of people by playing the underground music. The shows about to get syndicated, which means it’s going to be on hundreds of different stations. I was joking around when I said I wanted my own show.
"With the Hyphy Movement, I've been able to infiltrate the radio politics and once I'm in, I give them a different side."
Yeah, how did that all come together?
Jazzy Jim man, he is like a big brother to me, a mentor. He was over at Wild and
actually put out my first album, the Niglatin record. I had been telling him for years that I wanted to be an on-air personality. When he came back to Wild, he was like “FAB, you still want to do the on air stuff” and I was like “Yeah.” He allowed that to happen for me, which was a blessing and now it’s been on for almost four months. I’ve been given the opportunity to help, not only with the music, but also by voicing a lot of the stuff that goes on in the community. Giving Bay Area artists opportunity to get on the radio and voice they opinion on how they feel about, not only the Hyphy movement, but where the Bay Area is going and the politics involved.
Having the opportunity to voice opinion on the radio is a huge responsibility that needs to be taken seriously.
Definitely. You got to take it seriously because you rarely get a chance to hear how the artists feel. You hear their music, but the music and the artists is two different people. I may do some songs that are hyphy, hyphy, hyphy, but I’m not always hyphy. There is a lighter side to me as well as a more intellectual side that you won’t be able to hear in a radio song. Being that voice and personality on the radio, gives you the ability to reach a lot of the people and give them a different side of you. People generally gain a lot more respect for you when they see the other side cause they like “I didn’t even know you were able to take it there”. You can help people and save lives if you put it in a proper perspective, but you can also make people do a lot of ignorant stuff. The main thing is to set a positive example through all the negligence and negativity, for the up and coming kids and artists.
I personally peeped the two avenues you are speaking on. In some of your songs it’s all about going dumb and stupid but on your show you encourage the kids to go to the library and read them books.
Yeah if you listen to my last album Son Of A Pimp it’s only three considerably
hyphy songs and the rest of the songs are retrospective, introspective, conscious, politically aware songs, but the radio won’t allow you to play those songs. The main thing with radio is to keep people as uninformed as you can, just keep them dancing and partying so that they want to listen. The radio is the same as the government, in that, the less you know the easier it is for them. You don’t hear a lot of the Dead Prez and Zion I on the radio because they informing people and giving awareness with what they say in their music. You have to disguise it. With the Hyphy Movement, I’ve been able to infiltrate the radio politics and once I’m in, I give them a different side. You have to learn how to play your cards right. Once you get them willing and listening, you can make things happen.
When you travel, how do people react to Hyphy when they see it for the first time?
They’re in awe. Some people like it and some don’t because they don’t understand it. It’s human nature not to be receptive to change; we have to embrace change with gradual growth. That’s how the music industry and the fans are. A lot of people didn’t like Mac Dre for his involvement in the Hyphy Movement. They was like “we like the old Dre, we don’t like this Dre”, and then there where fans who loved this Dre. It’s going to grow on people, we just have to continue to make good music and give people something that they want to embrace.
How long do you think Hyphy is going to last?
I’m not sure. I think it will go as far as people will allow it to go. What I mean by that is, you see artists like E-40 taking it to a different level. He recently was on shows like Wild ‘N Out and on Punked. These are all things that sprouted from this movement. It’s to each individual and what level will they allow themselves to rise to. Will you allow Hyphy to keep you stagnated in your own area or will you use this as a stepping stone to grow to a different demographic? Hyphy has allowed me to go around the world. I would love it to gain us the nationwide attention, but if it died tomorrow, I wouldn’t be worried because I’m not banking all my chips on that. I’m an artist, I have ability to transform to any genre of music that’s going to be current while at the same time bring my point of view to it. It’s really on each individual artist, how will you make Hyphy work for you?
How was the Power Summit?
Beautiful. I wish a lot more Bay Area artists would have been out there. Federation came, the Pack came, couple DJ’s, and me. That’s unfortunate cause at events like that, you want to be able to have everybody there so you can show the versatility of the movement. There’s so much diversity in the Hyphy Movement because you have the San Francisco cats like Messy Marv, Quinn, and Ya Boy, who represent a different side of it. It’s definitely key to display the diversity at a big event like the Power Summit, but when everybody isn’t there, people get the wrong perception.
The word is that you and the Federation are not on the same page.
I don’t have no problems with nobody that don’t have no problem with me.
Why won’t Scotty Fox or Big Von give you spins?
Politics man. I don’t even know.
So was there a confrontation?
Yeah it was, but I’m not mad at them. I’m going to continue to push on my grind. If anybody got a problem with the things that I got going on, then that’s to them. At the end of the day, all I can do is worry about staying focus and working hard on what I have to do to open up opportunity for the people in my circle. People misuse their power and if I’m the sacrificial lamb for some egomaniacs, then so be it. I wish them the best and hopefully we can set aside our differences and bring the Bay Area back. If they feeding their family, then that’s a beautiful thing and however you do it is up to you, even if it counteracts what I’m doing.
Who are your influences?
Tupac, Jay Z, Mac Dre, E-40, Eminem, Black Buddah, those are my musical influences. My life and my livelihood is influenced by my mom. She’s my hero, I’ve seen her go through so much. She’s a role model and a beautiful person who’s full of motivation. Nothing I ever come across in this music business can ever amount to the things that she has been through in life.
Do you read a lot?
Definitely, reading is something that shapes you. When you reflect upon other opinions and how they look at shit then match it with yours, you come back with a stronger opinion. I’m able to talk about anything from history, to psychology, to whatever. When I was young I never wanted to be left out of a conversation, so I would read about all types of stuff, so that if it ever presented itself, I would have enough knowledge to sustain a conversation.
Lastly how do you plan to help prevent the youth in our communities from continuing to kill each other?
Just talk to a lot of cats, but sometimes what will be, will be. Murder, homicide, suicide, and genocide have been happening since the beginning of time and right now the crime is definitely irate. You really have to attack the root of the problem, which is the youth. We are in a violent society and it doesn’t help that every time you turn on the T.V. you see murder and death. You got to reach the youth and show them a different way and hopefully open up some opportunity for them, give them outlets. No outlet definitely cries for attention. The artists, political leaders, and police, we all have to give opportunity and show the kids that they can make it. My position as an artist is to address the problem. A lot of people got the mentality that it don’t got nothing to do with them, so they don’t care. That’s a fucked up type of mentality to have because it all has something to do with us, we got to raise our kids in this community. STASH
