Five Deez

A conversation with Fat Jon

(March 2006)

Interview by Adam McKibbin

Space isn't the final frontier for Cincinnati's Five Deez - instead, it's just another stop on a career-long adventure that pushes and pulls at the played-out conventions of hip-hop.  Kommunicator is a difficult album for comfort levels, packed tight with skittering beats, unorthodox timing, and a healthy dose of electronic ambience.  It's American hip-hop through and through, but it's also informed by European aesthetics and is intended to be shot straight into orbit and then reflected back to its listeners.  Voices echo and stutter from afar, while the beats and sound effects range from stargazing to sci-fi.  Oh, and there are some songs for the dance floor, too.

Five Deez producer and mic-rocker Fat Jon has never minded feeling a little ostracized from the industry norms.  In a conversation with The Red Alert, he explains the concepts behind Kommunicator, and the reasons why Five Deez will probably never storm the top of the charts.

Alright, let’s start with this:  what’s the deal with Cincinnati?  Two of the best hip-hop albums of the young year [Tanya Morgan’s Moonlighting being the other] are both out of Cincy.  Is this a coincidence or is the city’s profile on the rise?

Cincinnati’s always had good music.  People have just been sleeping on it.

The other geographical area I wanted to talk about is Japan, a country where I know you guys have found considerable success.  Do you have any ideas about why they are so receptive—not just to Five Deez but to an eclectic variety of Western bands?

I think the Japanese music fan is just a fan of music in general and is not concerned with hype or silly images.  If they like the music, they support it.

You bio starts off by saying “Five Deez are out there.”  Do you enjoy being “out there,” on the fringe, or do you wish that everyone in the mainstream would be doing the same sorts of things, valuing the same sorts of ideas?

Our whole point is to be different, and the fact that the mainstream may not include our beliefs only makes us more unique.

Kommunicator is a step away from the albums that preceded it.  Do you feel like it suggests a direction the group will continue to follow in the future, is it an isolated moment in time?

Each album is meant to be different from the last one, so it’s not a suggestion of where we’re headed musically.  It’s just a moment in time.

The tracks are all linked together by the distinct, spacey style.  Was there a concrete concept to the album, a storyline that ran throughout the writing and recording?

The concept is for the album to be a transmission.  What would a transmission sound like it was a hip-hop record?  It would be Kommunicator—an isolated transmission with no known origin or destination.

People get caught up in pretending that there are no rules or guidelines in music, but you’ve been straight up in saying that rap songs should include a few ingredients—including dirty, old-school production that sounds like loops are being used.  Who, in your mind, are the old-school masters of capturing that sound?

I don’t remember saying that, but I don’t totally disagree with it.  I think DJ Premier is a master of this sound.  Every record he’s put out captures that essence.

I get the impression that you feel like hip-hop at large has lost its way a little bit.  If that’s the case, who do you think has to pull the most weight in bringing it back?

Hip-hop won’t come back.  It will continue to change and it’s then up to the record execs.  Artists only make they see other people do.  Not too many people dare to be different.

Commercially speaking, though, hip-hop is doing pretty well.  Do you ever have a fleeting second where you wish that you had just sold out and written “Thong Song” or something?

I have a lot of songs like “Thong Song.”  If I released this stuff, I wouldn’t feel like I’m selling out because I like the stuff I’ve made.  I would feel like a sell-out if I had songs like “Thong Song” and I knew they were crappy and I released it anyway.

Some of the tracks on Kommunicator, like “When The Silence Is Gold,” felt especially spontaneous to me.  How much of the album is structured ahead of time?

The concept of the album was structured before the music, so I created the sound from the ground up.  The idea for the album was a spontaneous thing, but the execution was planned out.

What do you think are the biggest individual strengths for each member of Five Deez?

My strength is my production style because I can vary it without losing people.  Pase’s strength is his ability to see past the music into the performance aspects.  Kyle David’s strength is his potential because he’s still an untapped resource.  Sonic’s strength is his adaptability; he’s able to alter his production style to fit any concept of the group’s sound.

There’s obviously a heavy science-fiction element to the record—were there specific influences that were important?

Not really.  I just wanted the album to sound like it was coming from somewhere else and then being played out of the speaker.  That was the most important thing for me.

What kind of advice can you impart for up-and-comers?

I would suggest not signing to a label at all and doing as much as you can independently.