now playing: Fat Jon - Tell Me
He is probably most famous for his work as a member of Cincinnati's Five Deez. This collective burst onto the scene with their Bluelight Special 12" sometime ago. Since then they have clocked up more than 40 single releases. Jon has his fingers in all the pies with this group, and has contributed to their output as an emcee, producer and DJ. Their debut album, Koolmotor, was released on Counterflow in 2001.
He is also a member of the 3582 crew, the other half being J Rawls. With 3582, Jon has been able to showcase his excellence as a vocalist as his solo material has gained much press acclaim for his unique productions that flirt with electronica, downtempo, and dub sounds.
Sometimes referred to as Fat Jon the Ample Soul Physician, Jon started out as a rapper in his home town Cincinnati. There weren't mant beat-makers, so Jon learned to make his own beats, working with a set of analog equipment that fit perfectly with his old school-loving, throwback style. As time went on, he became more forward-looking, but the analog equipment stuck around, creating a unique style that was both familiar and strange.
Fat Jon's debut album, Humanoid Erotica, was released in 2001. The laid-back and lounge-ish release, credited to him as Maurice Galactica, was Jon's first foray into the world of evocative instrumental grooves. Both listeners and critics were immediately drawn into his style. Some have said that he has a unique ability to transform life and emotions into music "...with a barrage of emotive instrumental hip-hop skits -- each so gentle the album is over before you know it" (allmusic).
His debut as Fat Jon appeared in 2002. Wave Motion (Mush Records) explores the deeper side of instrumental hip-hop with mature production and seductive jazz samples. The album got high praises - every single review I've found has been positive. Among other things it is said that Fat Jon is "a salve to all of us that have been exhausted by waiting for true instrumental hip-hop.." and that great things should be expected from him (Pitchfork). The album was credited as "the love-making album of the year" thanks to its sensuality by Absorb.
In Wave Motion, Jon crafted a release that chooses understated melodies and chord changes over cheap thrill loops and scratches and, therefore, the album slowly reveals itself with every listen. The more you play it, the more sophisticated and satisfying it gets.
Two years after, Fat Jon came out with another long play called Lightweight Heavy. While no Wave Motion, Lightweight Heavy is a very unique downtempo album full of wonderful blunted beats and hearty melodies. It reflects the artist’s ability to induce feelings and evoke moods, as well as a flair for creating cuts to get toes tapping and move the dancefloor.
In a BBC rewiev of Lightweight Heavy by Andrew McGregor, it is said that Jon has his own lucid, light-heavy sound that, regardless of the glut of beatz in the world today, occupies a special and necessary place. I couldn't agree more. So, once again, it is pointed out that in the almost endless stream of instrumental hip-hop Fat Jon succeeds to stand out and bring something new to the table whereas many others fail to do that.
Buy Afterthought on Amazon / CDuniverse
The next LP, Afterthought, came out in 2006. Instrumental hip-hop as the foundation, Fat Jon continued to push the genre with influences from orchestral to electronic and the album and, so, the album is much more than instrumental hip-hop.
Later in the same year after only a couple of weeks of recording, his collaborative album The Same Channel with Styrofoam, a Belgian indie producer/musician/vocalist, came out. The release presented a new kind of a sound - less funky and more fractured. Once again, Jon seemed to have hit the spot and the album got very good reviews, although not quite as praising as some of Jon's solo works.
Hundred Eight Stars was Fat Jon's next album that came out in 2007. It is a carefully selected collection of his previously released tracks.
So far his latest release came out in 2008. Repaint Tomorrow is an amazing album, guaranteed Fat Jon quality. Emotional, subtle, beautiful, soulful... One of his best.
In addition to his solo works mentioned above, Fat Jon worked both with Pole and Nujabes. He contributed to the Samurai Champloo anime (or manga - sorry, I really don't know the difference...) series which is well known for its unique soundtrack. There are four main soundtracks of the series and Fat Jon has produced on three of them; Departure, Impression and Playlist. The music goes with the series perfectly, even though it goes perfectly on its own, too.
Currently, Fat Jon is residing in Berlin. He deejays and produces. I don't know that much about his current and upcoming works but I really hope we will be blessed with his beautiful music in the future.
all the links are down except for RT 2008, but a nice little write up on a great mc and producer
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