For years, GLDNEYE and I would discuss the ideas we developed on Exotica. In 2015, he moved with his wife and daughter to Jamaica from New York City. This distance limited our collaborations for years because we’ve always worked best when in the same room together. I decided to bring him to Brooklyn in October for songwriting sessions, and in turn, I journeyed to Jamaica in December to record the album.
We spent each session meticulously crafting the characters, storylines, and concepts you hear throughout. We’d talk for hours about the details of each character’s life. What would Johnny from Gambling Man wear daily? What truly motivated a young Jeremy Bixby to run for office? We asked this about each person mentioned on the album, even if they were nameless. GLDNEYE composed the melodies and beats from scratch. After a week of collaboration in Brooklyn, I spent the next 2 months adding lyrics and finalising the writing. When I arrived in Jamaica to finish the album, I was fully ready. We took 2 weeks to record every vocal in a studio atop the cloud-ridden hills of Kingston.

We wrote each song together in the studio. Only a few ideas came to us while we were apart, such as my opening lyric on What Wake You Up, the intro song featuring Bun B. “I don’t wonder why I just wake up, and I wipe the crust from my eye,” popped in my head one morning around dawn, and it came back to me while we worked on this song.
The melody for Je Ne Sais Quoi came to GLDNEYE as he rode the subway on the way to one of our Brooklyn sessions. I like to start fresh when making a new album instead of pulling songs out of the vault and hoping they work well together.

The concept and storyline for the video came from me and GLDNEYE but the 360º idea comes from the director Ryan Muir. Ryan also directed my videos BKNY, Hood Party, and MacGregor Park. The 360 angle camera matches the anxiety of the main character. The guy is battling his desire for a woman he doesn’t even know and thoughts of leaving his family. Little does he know, the woman he wants is dating the bartender and isn't answering her texts either. No one is getting what they want.

It’s been a great time to understand myself. Before Exotica came out, I had months to think about how I wanted to present my music moving forward. I had many long talks with GLDNEYE about my identity, what I’ve done in music, and where I want to go next. We had some revelations while dissecting Fat Tony's music, and now we’re more confident than ever about how we want the world to understand our music.

My mantra is: “nothing comes before the art.” I make heartfelt music for intelligent, curious people. I am an eternal student of music, and I’ve been this way since I was young. As a teenager, I wanted to learn as much as I could about being a genuine artist. I often read about the songwriters, producers, engineers, record labels, and behind-the-scenes stories of my favourite albums, songs, and artists. That studious approach is at the core of Fat Tony music. I’m an everyman who wants to be excellent. I believe aspiring to be great is how you improve your life as an artist.
I’m a patron of the arts and humanities. That’s why organising concerts was as important as making my own music when I began this journey. When I was 15 years old, I organised shows for at least a year until my own group performed. My concerts were always diverse with a mixed genre bill. If I booked the show, you could expect to hear rap, reggae, and punk all in the same night. Even today, I curate the lineup at my shows any time I get the chance. I need to share the music of artists I love, as well as my own work.

In 2006, I was in my final year of high school and obsessed with music. I was regularly booking shows and making music with friends. I read online that my favourite rapper, Murs was, working with a group from Atlanta called Supreeme. Their website listed influences from Neil Young to Three 6 Mafia, David Bowie, Nas, UGK, Mac Dre, My Bloody Valentine, and more. At the time, they were unique because music felt much more segregated by taste than it is now. I was excited to meet people as interested in a wide variety of genres as I was, and I loved their music too. Over the next year, I’d message and talk to them while they were in Los Angeles recording their major-label debut album.
In December 2007, I finally had a chance to meet Shaka, aka Tom Cruz, now known as GLDNEYE, the producer in Supreeme. He was coming to Houston to work with the legendary engineer/producer Mike Dean, well-known for working with Scarface, Z-Ro, and Kanye West. Shortly before GLDNEYE arrived in Houston, Pimp C from the group UGK passed away. Mike Dean cancelled all of his appointments that month while mourning his friend, leaving GLDNEYE with tons of free time. We used that free time to hang out more often than we expected. We went to some of my earliest recording sessions together and spent nights talking about music and songwriting. At the end of that December 2007 trip, we decided to work together.
From 2007 to 2010, we continued working together across Houston, Atlanta, and New York City. That era birthed my debut album, RABDARGAB, released in October 2010. And we’ve been writing songs ever since.

Definitely! I am blessed to spread Houston music worldwide through my travels. I feel lucky. Mexico City is a sacred place for me. It’s a uniquely extraordinary city that opened my eyes to the rest of the world when I lived there in 2016. The culture, the history, the people, and their love of the arts fill me with wonder. As Paris was a place to write for the American genius James Baldwin, Mexico City is my second home as an artist.

I dedicate my time these days to planning. I’m still dreaming and plotting on what’s next. That mindset keeps me happy and on my toes. I'll be writing a new album this Fall 2021. I'll be recording in Jamaica again and working with my close friend. I know myself more than ever now, and I'm excited to continue this groove.

It was incredible, both shows nearly sold out, and the love was immense. People were just overjoyed to hear live music and be outside again. Everyone kept it safe, distanced, and masked up. I don’t know if people are approaching concerts differently, but I am. I’ve now crafted a live show that encompasses more measured dialogue, theatrics, and song explanations when appropriate. We have fun and cover a range of emotions in the setlist, but now the focus is on presenting a show. This concert aims to entertain you, even if you’re sitting down and on a date. You don’t need to mosh at the Fat Tony concert. This mode feels appropriate now that social distancing is second nature for us.

It better be. We need to value music and musicians more. We need to pay everyone involved in this business fairly, especially the artists. We should all hope for a new world of music as the pandemic continues changing everything.

I miss travelling often and being face to face with new and old friends. I live for the interactions that come from being an artist. I miss that companionship every day.

“Fuck being hard, Posdnuos is complicated,” “In this house of suffering / I gotta let some joy in,” and “Mourn ya ‘til I join ya / Ball ‘till I fall / We’re gonna miss you, dog.”