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Interview
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Master Fuol: The
Epidome Of Raw Animal Magnetism Interview |
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Hip-hop has had its fair
share of fools, but only one Master. Compared to none but only
the likes of the great late Ol' Dirty Bastard and Flava Flav due
to his unorthodox style, ODB saw so much of himself in Master
Fuol that prompted him to adopting the Master, formed a group
with him and passed him the torch. Master Fuol, who is most
recognized for his starring role on MTV’s ground breaking
“Lyricist Lounge Show,” can easily be considered the Richard
Pryor of hip-hop. Much like the legendary comedian, there’s no
telling what’s liable to come out of his mouth; but whatever it
is, you know it’s going to be wild. It was Master Fuol and his
ability to flip a comedic flow in a cipher with freestyle fiend
Wordsworth and a few others that brought the idea to Lyricist
Lounge co-founder Anthony Marshall to create the sketch comedy
show for MTV. Master Fuol’s crazy energy and flawless flows made
him the perfect candidate to star in the hip-hop variety show.
It was his offbeat characters, as well, that significantly
contributed to the “Lyricist Lounge Show” being one of MTV’s
highest rated shows during its two season stint. A master of
rhythmic flows, Fuol’s often explicit antics, both on and off
stage, has made Fuol’s live show an experience few will ever
forget.
A product of the borough of Brooklyn, Brownsville, New York,
finds comfort and creativity in the grimy streets where he’s
affectionately know as “Mayor Fuoliani.” Making light of life
situations most could find deplorable, Fuol finds solace in the
ghetto life that surrounded him as his life and paints a picture
through rhyme as only he can. Maybe it was Master Fuol’s love of
grit and grime that prompted the great late Ol’ Dirty Bastard of
the Wu-Tang Clan to invite Fuol to open for him on his 1998
tour, or maybe it was because outside of Flava Flav, no one else
in the music industry is as unpredictable on stage. The energy
and creative vibe made ODB form a group with Master Fuol while
on tour along side his brother 12 O' Clock and Poppa Chief of the
Brooklyn Zu fam called D.R.U.G.s (Dirty Rotten Underground
Grimmies).
Getting his feet wet in the gutters of the New York underground
scene, Fuol began doing shows at the infamous Lyricist Lounge
and his stand out performances on tracks like Thirsten Howl
III’s “I Still Live With My Moms” and his own anthems
“Drunkfist,” “Don’t Worr ‘Bout It,” and “Brownsville Kid” made
him a hot commodity locally. The growing buzz bought the pair a
ticket as the first unsigned acts to attend the “Lyricist
Lounge” tour in 1998. Master Fuol later returned to open for Mos
Def on the Lyricist Lounge’s second domestic tour. Fuol has
worked with some of the industry’s best from coast to coast
including the late Big Pun, Snoop Dog, Eminem, Wu-Syndicate, JT
Money, Pastor Troy, MJG, Killah Priest, DMX, Def Jef and many
more who were all enamoured by his style. It was the bite that
his animal magnetism packed that drew all of these artists, so
it’s only befitting that his debut effort entitled “ The
Epitome of Raw Animal Magnetism.” created such a buzz even
though he was not fully behind the release. The project
contained 18 of the of the most Uniquely produced and lyrically
delivered tracks that has hit the streets in years. Including
the pimped out “Master Fuol” which has Kokane sprinkling his
savory vocals over Fuol’s macadocious lyrics. Young Roscoe lends
his bravado to the syncopated high intensity beat stings' of
“Brownsville NY,” while Ol’ Dirty Bastard spits his signature
over the whimsical “Last Call.”
Although his style and show
is very comical, his skills are no laughing matter. Fuol’s
creativity and ability to capture an audience is mesmerizing and
brings a refreshing change to the face of hip-hop. Find out what
this rare talent has been up to since when Wu-International
caught up with him for one of the funniest, honest and
insightful interview exclusives, read about his beginnings, his
thoughts on Hip-hop, history with Ol Dirty Bastard, the group
D.R.U.G and more.. Enjoy! |
Thanks first and foremost for
taking the time to answer these interviews and I would like to
add on that nothing will be altered, edited or changed
when this is published online.
Wu-International: Peace Master Fuol, How are you?
Master Fuol: Ohh, I am
beautiful, Beautiful, can’ complain, won’t do no good...
Wu-International: Ok let’s get the name thing out of
the way, how is the name spelt, it’s been writing as Foul,
Fool, or simply as just master, which one is it?
Master Fuol: FUOL!
Wu-International: How did you come by that name or
rather why are you called Master Foul?
Master Fuol: It started
cuz I had no control, I was the fuol before the master, I
was known as the wildest one, Dirty used to have me watch
over the zoo, and had the master over the fuols. There was a
group called fool proof, and dirty had the master watch over
the fuols, and that’s how it came together, my boy gave me
the name when we started the group, Master fuol came out of
the group, at first it was going to be the three fools.
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Wu-International: You are called the self
proclaimed Rudy Ray More of the rap game, why is
that?
Master Fuol: Cuz I’m funny as hell,
instead of Dolomite I’m dynamite like JJ from
Goodtimes, instead of dolomite I’m JJ, cuz I’m only
62 pounds soakin wet in with a brick in my back
pocket, and I still only way 62 pounds…
Wu-International: Any other names or titles you
go by that you might want to share with us?
Master Fuol: Shit I got 99+1 attributes,
but the Epidome of Raw Animal Magnetism would be a
good start, beyond, we need a separate interview.. |
Wu-International:
LOL, crazy, thanks, so tell us,
where are you originally from and where are you
currently situated?
Master Fuol: Originally from
Brownsville BK, NYC, aka, Brownsville berute, right
now in the dirty, dirty, ATL, on Cleaveland Ave…
Wu-International: How did you fall into your
respective craft (emceeing)?
Answer:
I think the craft fell on me, I never wanted to be
an entertainer or anything like that, everybody
around me was making me aware of my talents,
basically Dirty passed the torch on to me, Dirty
told me he used to be just like me
Wu-International: Who would you say are your
influences as far as emceeing goes?
Master Fuol: Where do I start? First and
foremost, taking it old school, GMF, Kurtis Blow,
Furious 5, Melle Mel, Craig G, Russel Simmons, the
whole hip hop empire from the east to the west and
from down south…
Wu-International: You have got a very unique
style, how would you describe your style?
Master Fuol: Unorthodox, but very
effective, my style is relentless, level raising,
freaky, self reflective, self dime droppin, truth
telling, Controlled Screaming, uninhibited…
Wu-International: In an article I read
about you, you were described as one of MTV's
Lyricist Lounge alumni, how did you get involved
with MTV’s Lounge?
Master Fuol: Me and Thirstin’ Howl used to go
in and do freestyle nights and they saw our
performance a couple times, Thirstin, Words, Punch,
AL, and Quest the Mad Ladd. Wendy Day put together
the rap Olympics (like a east vs. west thing98-99)
with mnm, Thirstin, Craig G, Co Flow, with all the
names above, and they had a night called that. A
lady from MTV saw the show and we killed it for the
her and she choose the people that were there. There
was another audition, and the only peoples that got
picked were me, words, and power, and everyone else
was added throughout the season.
Wu-International: A lot of Wu-Tang fans are
aware of you due to your affiliation and maybe
similarity (as in styles and energy) to Ol’ Dirty
Bastard, can you please tell us how you met?
Master Fuol: Wow, well, um, ODB’s Aunt
(Barbara) lived under me in the same building on the
13th floor, and I used to see him come through, and
before I started doing music, domingo and dom, used
come through this little studio they had downstairs
on the 2nd floor. That’s when Wu started doing their
thing, and he was taking me through to the studio
with him and when he had a tour coming up he asked
me to open up for him and everything was on since
then, but I’ve known dirty for a long time. I knew
him when he was selling 25 cent firecrackers, jumpin
jacks, and bottle rockets on the block
Wu-International: Right before the great ODB was
incarcerated, there were talks of a group he formed
with you, 12 O’clock, Poppa Chief and himself called
D.R.U.G. (Dirty Rotten Underground Grimmies) is
there any truth to this and if so could you please
shed some light on the formation, and current
status, thanks?
Master Fuol: Very True, we started that group
in on the 98’ Dirty Tour, we did about 5-6 track, I
don’t know what happened with that really, but then
Dirty got incarcerated and it went out the window,
and once he got incarcerated it seemed like he never
got out, it was true though. The group was
definitely true, fucking bitches on the bus, that
was us…
Wu-International: You worked with ODB on your
album as well as other ventures, what was it like
working with him and what was your last memory of
ODB?
Master Fuol: Wow, WOW (laughs, working with
ODB, wow), it was like working with a… wow, (it’s
hard to word some times), who was the mad man?
Beethoven? He was the one who would get mad and
couldn’t hear and shit? It was basically his way or
the highway, I learned a lot about, as he would call
it: fucking the track…) My last memory was; I got a
phone call and I was in Denver, and he just escaped
and he was telling me to come get him, I don’t know
what he just escaped from, but he was telling me
that he wanted to come out to Wyoming and ride
horses and shoot guns and shit… He got locked up on
his way out in Philly trying to drive out, that's
when they put him in the crazy bin….
Wu-International: May his soul rest in peace,
do you have materials you have done with him that
are yet to be released, and if so will these songs
ever see the light of day?
Master Fuol: That’s a good question….?
Yeah, I’m sure the songs we recorded are out there
somewhere, but we were so drunk, weeded, and high
that we don’t know what the fuck we did, or what
even happened to half of the songs out there. I
heard some of the songs that we did on the last
album they put out after he died, but everybody was
cut out, they took all our verses out and just put a
bunch of his verses in place and basically made a
whole album that way…
Wu-International: You released an album
around 2002 Brownsville Kid E.R.A.M. (Epidome of Raw
Animal Magnetism), how well was this album received?
Master Fuol: I never knew, I was
never behind it as such, see; Thirstin put that out
trying to put skillionaire hustle on, he called me
and asked and I was like yeah, nigga, shit do your
thing, I was in Wyoming at the time riding horses,
and bulls, shooting coyote’s and shit, but I never
saw no money off it or anything, so I don’t really
know how well it was receive! This album was never
properly released.
|
Wu-International: Interesting, we will get back
to that in a minute, tell me about the title, why
did you call it ERAM?
Master Fuol: Because I am the Epidome of
Raw Animal Magnetism.
Wu-International: I have heard 2 different
versions of that song ERAM, I own a copy of the
album in question, and I must say it’s a solid
effort, also quite rare to get a hold of especially
here in Europe, do you know if it was released in
limited amount or has it just sold out?
Master Fuol: I don’t know Dark 7, Thirstin was
out on the streets sellin em and they was up on
Sandbox, but I don’t really know? But be sure to
look forward to a Real Master Fuol album real soon. |
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Wu-International: Think its sold out on Sandbox,
anyway, another interesting thing I noted from that
album was that Scott Storch produced “El Fuego”
joint for you, this was way before he became big or
even made a name for himself, how did you two link
up and are you still in touch with him?
Master Fuol: Woooooooowwwwww, you know
quite a lot, ummm, yeah, I’m still in touch, we
linked up in Philly, he was still workin with Jill
Scott, the roots, I got linked up through old dirty,
see me and dirty had the same managers, we drove out
to Philly and linked up with Scott, we did like 4
tracks that never really did anything, we still
link. I’m looking forward to doing something with
him in the near future.
Wu-International: Well Scott is very big now,
ERAM was released on Skillionaire entertainment with
Thirstin Howl III, are you still in touch with
Thirstin or still under Skillionaire?
Master Fuol: No, not under skillionaire,
haven’t spoken to Thirstin for a long time since
I’ve been in the south, see I’m a nomad a travelling
man, I gotta reap the fruits of the land, I can’t
stay in spot with no plan, I gots to reap the fruits
of the land!! I’m on Fist records, doing my own
thing right now, something like that, [laughsss…..] |
Wu-International: After 2002 and a number of
guest spots on mostly skillionaire albums, nothing
much was heard from you, what have you been up to
since then?
Master Fuol: I’ve been in Wyoming,
ridin bulls, breaking horses, shootin coyotes,
drinking at the bar and fucking all the white women.
Wu-International: So is it safe to assume
that an album from you will be dropping anytime
soon?
Master Fuol: Hell’s to the
Mothafucking yeah!!!
Wu-International: Cool, so can you kindly
give us more details as in the title, featured
guests and producers, etc?
Master Fuol: The album is self titled
“Master Fuol”, we are not announcing any features as
of yet, but we have some real unknown, and well
known involved.
Wu-International: Well I know you did a joint
with Killah Priest, anyways when do you hope to
release the album and will you be doing it
independently or going for a major?
Master Fuol: Right now we have
independent distribution through Caroline, TRC,
Traffic, Stokyo, etc… We might start it as an
independent and push it to a major once we gain some
momentum, and we’ll most definitely be talking with
our old friend Wendy Day.
Wu-International: Can one expect the same
amount of humour displayed on your first album?
Master Fuol: If not, more, there should be
more in this one than the first.
Wu-International: Not sure the year, but you
dropped a Japan only 12” vinyl release, “It’s on”,
what made you release it in Japan and will it be
available in US and other countries soon?
Master Fuol: It was only released in Japan as
they asked for it. I know more Asians than yao
ming,. Yeah it will be available here in the US if
the demand is here,
Wu-International: Is Drunkfist entertainment
your company?
Master Fuol: Yes, one of many
companies…
Wu-International: In 2003 there were a number
of artists under Drunkfist entertainment such as
Black Christ, King Goldie Loc , Corleone, Leaky
Leak, BVZ etc, is this movement still on?
Master Fuol: Yeah, they still waitin,
they on deck…
Wu-International: You have been working
closely with Fanbass recordings and Illnaughty
lately, how did you meet?
Master Fuol: That’s my brother from another
mother, we met in Wyoming way back, back like car
seats go, he was with me when I got hit and ran over
by a truck…
Wu-International: You got hit by a truck? It
seems Fanbass is going to re-release your album
ERAM?
Master Fuol: Yep…
Wu-International: I know there is also a
compilation coming out soon on Fanbass featuring
you, and the likes of KRS-one, Killah priest and co;
can you tell us more about Fanbass recordings and
your involvement?
Master Fuol: I was there from the beginning,
I’m one of the co founders with Illnaughty of
fanbass, I was there from the birth, I’m one of the
parents, that was a me and illnaughty nut, we
combined that and put those genes together, Fanbass
is Master Fuol and Illnaughty. Fanbass is still a
studio in Miami, and still the home of Master Fuol..
Illnaughty is currently working with a Grammy award
winning producer and engineer, so our collaborations
are going to be unprecedented.
Wu-International: Looking forward to that,
what would you say sets you aside from the rest of
the emcees out there right now?
Master Fuol: I’m completely uninhibited, I’m
open minded cuz my influences are so diverse. I come
from the old school, we dance, we aint scared to
dance, I’ll get on the floor and do the cabbage
patch, funky chicken, running man, whatever, I aint
scared to dance, I’m taking it back like George
Clinton, with Love, My costumes set me apart too, I
got masks, caps, I got a monkey purse, and a Winnie
the pooh costumes, I’m big on looney tunes and Walt
Disney and stuff, so I like all that crazy shit.
Anything different I love, I love anything
different.
|
Wu-International: What’s your creative process
like when writing a song?
Master Fuol: A blunt, a brew, a red or blue
pen, a pencil, some paper, and a bunch of porno
magazines. And my personal engineer.
Wu-International: Not sure if you are
aware of this, but the Wu fans see you as part of
the Wu-tang family tree mainly due to your
affiliation with ODB and the group he formed with
you D.R.U.G.s, what is your take on this and do you
think being Wu affiliated helps your career or put a
lot of pressure on you to live up to the name?
Master Fuol: I say that’s a blessing to be
affiliated with Wu, they are one of the greatest
crews ever. I don’t feel no pressure, if anything
I’m part of a new breed of WU. |
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Wu-International: Are you still in touch with
a number of Wu-Tang Clan members and affiliates, if
so who?
Master Fuol: Yeah, Priest, Prodigal Sun,
Razah, 12 o clock (dirt's lil’ bro)
Wu-International: There was an unreleased
song “From the grip” you did with Wu-Syndicate some
time back, that song is a classic, always getting
requested on our site, are you still in touch with
The Syndicates and any plans of future
collaborations?
Master Fuol: No I haven’t spoke to the
Syndicates in years, damn, ya’ll done dug up my
past, huh? Ya’ll did your research huh?
Wu-International: It’s the fans man, I am a
fan also (LOL), so tell us, are there any artist you
are feeling at this moment in time, hip-hop and non
hip-hop?
Master Fuol: Gnarls Barkley, that’s
the closest thing to Fuol a nigga gonna get right
now.
Wu-International: You are respected and have
collaborated amongst some of hip-hops heavy weights
such as Snoop Dogg, Eminem, JT Taylor, Kokane, DJ
Greyboy and many more, do you feel like you have
gotten your respect due in hip-hop to date?
Master Fuol: No. Not at all. Wait till they
get a load of me now, they only got a taste of me,
ya know what I mean.
Wu-International: Yes I do, what's the most
rewarding aspect of being Master Fuol?
Master Fuol: [Laugh’s], oh, shit… I get
love. I can go amongst the masters, I can go amongst
the fools.
Wu-International: Is there anything else you
have been working on outside of music?
Master Fuol: Yeah, movies, I’ve been writing
scripts and working on some pilots.
Wu-International: Give us a run down for
what’s next for the rest of 2007 and beyond for
Master Fuol?
Master Fuol: Videos, Albums, and Movies… 2007
mixtape by Illnaughty April fools day..or somewhere
around there…
Wu-International: Thanks Master, appreciate
the answers, any last words?
Master Fuol: Wait till you get a load of me
now.. shit got damn motha fuckaaaaaa, thank you very
much Dark 7 and Wu-International....
Thanks very much and good luck with your endeavours,
looking forward to your album and other good things
you would be involved in. |
Catch up with Master Fuol at
his official site
www.masterfuol.com or check him on myspace at
www.myspace.com/masterfuol also visit Illnaughty at
Fanbass recordings (www.myspace.com/Fanbassrecordings)
for some exclusives and stay with Wu-international for more
updates.
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