Twenty-Two Years After His First Major Record, FatBoi is Still Making Hits For A New Generation.
Music helps us capture moments in history when the composer, artist, and fan felt a flush of emotions that seemed important to both sides. When done properly, the song and projects leave both people with successful memories and careers that ensure they can live on. Producer FatBoi from Savannah, Georgia, has done that more times than he can count. Crafting classic songs such as “Cut Friends” for Savannah legend Camoflauge to “Wasted” and Vette Pass By” for Gucci Mane, FatBoi has comfortably cemented his name in the annals of trap music legend. Older and wiser, he’s now on a mission to show his skill in as many genres and fields as possible.
Savannah’s picturesque landscape and history as one of the US’s early cities are what typically come to mind when people think of the town. But for Fat Boi, born LaDamon Douglas, the gritty and violent energy of crime and over-policing is what comes to mind immediately.
“The 90s in Savannah were rough. Coming off the Ricky Jivens era, that was like any gangster story you read anywhere. A lot of corruption, but it was a memorable time as well musically. We had our own style and sound that wasn’t Atlanta and it was coming up.”
FatBoi describes the Savannah sound as a mix of elements of Georgia and Florida music. Originally, he moved to Atlanta seeking to establish himself there as a producer, but fate pulled him back to the 912 where he ran into the burgeoning powerhouse label, Pure Pain Records.
”Pure Pain, we really put the music scene on the map in lower Georgia. Pure Pain was the first to plant that flag and showed people we were really making quality music. It gave hope to anyone in that area that they could make music” says Douglas.
Gary Cope, the president of Pure Pain Records, was the head of the indie rap label and its brightest star, Camouflage. Fat Boi met him in the studio after booking time for his brother’s rap group, Heartless Hustlers, whom he was producing for. Impressed by his skills, Camouflage sought out FatBoi who helped Camoflauge produce his first album, I Represent.
“The song, Y’all Don’t Want No Drama, made Ski, as we called Camoflauge,(short for J Ski), a club sensation.”
When asked about what he remembers from his time working with Camoflauge, FatBoi says,
“It was an exciting time. That was my first opportunity to produce for a label and show what I can do. We went in every day like what can we come up with? It became a friendly competition all over the building between all the in-house producers. We were the Death Row of the South in my eyes. The atmosphere felt dope”.
Their time together led to his major commercial single, “Cut Friends”, which helped him broker a deal with Universal Records shortly after.
“I knew it was something special from the time I made the beat. I locked all the doors in the studio when I made it which I made in about ten to fifteen minutes. Camouflage heard it and wanted to spit some gangster shit. He just got out of jail after three months of being falsely accused of murder. I told him naw. We need something else. What came out next I said stay there.”
Camouflage’s music came right before the rise of trap music and its more popular artists like T.I., Jeezy, and Lil Boosie, whose focus on the drug game influenced what we know as trap music. FatBoi credits him as one of the earliest trap rappers to come out.
“Camoflauge is the first trap rapper I ever worked with. We were in the middle of the bounce era before trap and he was spitting street poetry over club type and hard beats. His range was so wide. Camouflage, Lil Wayne and T.I. were the three everyone was talking about at that time. He would been in the Billboard top 50 if he was still alive,” says FatBoi.
His untimely murder on May 19, 2003, left everyone in turmoil and the ensuing drama eventually forced him to leave his hometown for Atlanta.
Once he arrived in Atlanta, FatBoi ran into Jeezy and members of his newly formed label, Corporate Thugz Entertainment, including Kinky B. Already an accomplished producer, he still knew he had to hustle to recreate the momentum he had and so he presented Kinky B with a beat cd hoping to get an opportunity. Ultimately, he decided to walk away from the chance to work as an in-house producer in spite of their momentum, opting to wait for the chance he felt he needed.
Once he got proper management, he met producer extraordinaire Shawty Redd, whose work with everyone from Drama to Jeezy made him a person to know. FatBoi’s relationship with Shawty Redd helped reignite his flame and also expand his professional network.
“He took me around and helped people put a face to the music. I met Gucci through Shawty Redd as a matter of fact. We did some beats right on the spot and from there Gucci and I became thick as thieves. The second beat we made together was Vette Pass By”.
Vette Pass By, which was recently sampled by Latto, remains one of Gucci Mane’s most recognizable songs. But nothing raised both men’s personal banners higher than the 2009 single, “Wasted” featuring Plies.
“I knew Wasted was going to be big especially when Plies got on it. I leaked the record actually because the label was going to release another record, says FatBoi.
Peaking at #36 on the Billboard Hot 100, Wasted became his first top 40 hit, his first top-five Hot R&B and Hip Hop song, and helped propel his next album to even higher commercial success. Over the course of the last decade, FatBoi’s collaborated with a range of artists from next-generation rappers like Flo Milli and street rappers like Rocko, OJ Da Juiceman, and 2 Chainz to singers like Monica and now more recently Ella Mai with the song, “This Is”.
Twenty-plus years into the game, FatBoi looks at everything now as part of the third act of his career. Owner of his own label, Family Business, his goal is to make “timeless music that twenty years later will still bring you back to a place in time”.
“I want my legacy to be someone who put timeless music into the world. That way I can live forever.”
Wright World 