Along with DJ Clue, Fatman Scoop was an original DJ yelling on tracks. When you hear the mighty “Mixdrop!” you know who’s mixing. In his downtime from being a staple radio host at Hot 97, Scoop has grown internationally known through his productions and label work.
Scoop recently hosted and co-produced the “Inside Hip Hop” debut DVD. The first disc features superb interviews with hip-hop power movers like Lyor Cohen, Dame Dash, Steve Rifkind, Fat Joe and others. Somewhere between his radio show, his DVDs, and even hosting AllHipHop’s own “True Grit Volume 2” mix, Scoop sits down to catch up on things, discuss the movie, and reflect on his career as one of the best known radio personalities of our time.
AllHipHop.com: So besides hosting, what is your role behind the scenes on “Inside Hip Hop”?
Fatman Scoop: Something like Associate Producer. My thing is like I don’t credit for something I really don’t know about. Like saying that being a director is so easy and hands on. What I did was let [the directors] take the lead, so to speak, and I watched them. I’m an Associate Director, Associate Producer. By the third go round with this project, I should be able to take the reigns myself.
AllHipHop: Were there executives that you thought should of gone on the first volume, that didn’t?
FMS: Sure, sure! I give you the list right now: Puffy, Steve Stout, who else? Jimmy Iovine, a couple people I didn’t get to on this trip because it was so tough reaching out to them. Now Puffy, I’ve known for many years. I had to contend with his schedule. He’s a work horse. He’s doin’ thirty different things at forty different times. So I just have to wait on him. Jimmy Iovine, I’ll probably be going to the West Coast sometime [soon]. Dre, the good doctor, [we’ll] get him on there, and a couple other people. But there are people missing.
AllHipHop: And that’s what leaves the viewer looking for number two.
FMS: Exactly. So I didn’t have to go for the entire gusto right away. [Because on this there’s] executives who have done things that have changed Hip-hop. Look at Steve Rifkind! That man created the street team. My grand-mother has a street team. Your uncle has a street team. Paul Rosenberg, that’s Eminem. What’s bigger than that? Mona Scott, Violator. Busta Bus, LL, anybody that’s had some power, has been on Violator. Craig Cowman, the man runs Atlantic. Jesus Christ, Atlantic Records. That’s Sean Paul, that’s Lil’ Kim, that’s household names. Baby from Cash Money, [Fat] Joe from Terror Squad. I got Joe because I wanted to show that unique situation where the artist is the CEO. Same thing with Baby [Williams], the artist is actually the executive, and I wanted to show that side of it too.
AllHipHop: Was there any point in the making, and I realize you’re a Hip-hop veteran and authority, but were you at all intimidated or humbled?
FMS: Not intimidated because I know all these people personally, so it could be looked at as maybe more of a situation where I’m learning something. Just talking to Damon Dash. Now I’ve known Damon Dash for many years. Damon Dash is actually from my neighborhood in Harlem. Just listening to him talk was really great for me. It’s not an intimidation factor, it’s more like, “Wow, I didn’t know this about you.”
AllHipHop: Changing up, just wanted to thank you for hosting our last mixtape.
FMS: AllHipHop, and just having a connection with them, that’s a connection that happened organically. It’s not a connection where we had to pay for it or something like that. I genuinely like your site. I genuinely like the email alerts I get everyday. So what I did was, I sat down and figured out a way that we could both get together. And that will continue in the future! Because I love you guys. So, just that, and basically the fact that I’m about to own part of AV8 [Records] and be an owner in that. That’s where I come from. I come from being a record executive. I worked for Tommy Boy for two years so I understand what it’s like to be an executive and run a company.
AllHipHop: Looking at your career, can you cite a big break that was instrumental in who you’ve become today?
FMS: I can give two. One of my biggest breaks was being involved with a gentleman by the name of Alby Regusso. A guy named Daryl Rockhart was my original mentor. He taught me how to do things and do promotion. But my big break was when I met Alby Regusso, who at the time was the Don of Tommy Boy Records. He put me on with Tom Silverman and Monica Lynch. That’s where I took off with the pictures on the back of The Source, and all that type of stuff. The next big break was when I got involved with Hot 97. Those are the two big breaks. The final is just recently, a milestone in my career, [was] scoring a number one single in the United Kingdom over people like Liberty X and Suger Babes and Brittney Spears and groups that had millions of dollars in promotion and I didn’t have [that]. To see that triumph over giant monsters like [them], it was just a major thing for me.
AllHipHop: Just like GURU says, “It’s mostly the voice.” Your voice is so much what we know you by best. What can you say about that.
FMS: The voice is everything man. But the voice is one part of it. God is another part of it. And for God to put you in a position where you can have your voice out there as a platform, that in itself is another thing you got to thank God for. And I do every morning. And I don’t care if anybody thinks that I’m corny or wack or whatever, but thanking God – I do that. Number two is it’s also having the determination to get your voice out there. In the big picture, your voice is important. If I had to say something to anybody, it’d be work hard. It doesn’t matter what you have, it’s how you put it out there. At the end of the day, it’s about developing your own style too. At the end of the day, if you pick five people who are on Hot 97 now, I guarantee you that none alike: Erykah Badu, Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Ja Rule. They do their own thing.