Fatt Sosa has some of the biggest cosigns in the game, and he’s not stopping until he gets to the top.
Dubbed the King of North Carolina, the rapper and singer hails from the small town of Angier. To date, he’s worked with everyone from Jim Jones to 2 Chainz.
Describing himself as a “country fat artist,“ Sosa states, “It’s the country, not too much to do here. Either you’re in school doing what you’re supposed to do or you’re getting in trouble, one of the two.”
Sosa’s unique sound blends the likes of R&B and hip-hop, turning trap music into his own soulful sound. Injecting real-life experiences and emotions into his lyrics and pairing it with his Southern twang, Sosa hopes to bring listeners into his universe. Recently tapping the MMG boss Rick Ross on his newest single “Pimpin,” the 28-year-old fully brings his fantasies to life in the cinematic visual.
AllHipHop: What did you need to come into play for you?
Fatt Sosa: I was raised in the church. I started singing in the church at 11 or 12, when I found out I could really sing. From there, it went to doing little talent shows in school. At 15, I was doing little competitions on the radio. I won 100 times straight, so I became a household name on the radio. I started actually going into the studio around 16 and recording. I was going in actually as a rapper, that didn’t work out too good.
AllHipHop: Really, why?
Fatt Sosa: I could freestyle real good, but I couldn’t actually rap. It was my first time going to the studio, but naturally I could sing. Going into the studio, it’s hard to record all of this stuff anyway. It’s very hard to record. Going in there trying to rap, it’s more harder than going in there trying to sing.
AllHipHop: That’s interesting.
Fatt Sosa: I could sing real, real good so going in there doing that was pretty cool. Even that was actually horrible. If I think back now to all my music back then, very horrible now that I think about it. Harmonies all over the place, total rig. Around 16, I started recording not even in a real studio, but in one of my uncle’s friend’s barn. It went from there. I met Soulja Boy’s road manager, his name’s Juice. I met him, he was doing parties in Fairview, North Carolina. I started going there, opening up. Doing summer jams for the radio stations I was singing on. I landed on 106 & Park, I won that. Song that I had recorded that I won on 106 & Park, became big in the South region: Virginia, North Carolina, a bit of South Carolina.
I did Apollo, I won Apollo as well the same year. Mind you, I was 16 then. I’m 28 now. In between those gaps, me finding myself. Me being hard-headed, not listening. It didn’t go the way I wanted it to go. It did good for the 2 years on the radio and doing 106 & Park. Everything was going good but me not being focused and listening, me finding myself in between that time. I did a couple records with Jim Jones, shot 2 videos with him. Did a song with 2 Chainz, a couple other artists.
AllHipHop: Talk about changing your name from Pooh Bear.
Fatt Sosa: 2 or 3 years ago, that’s when I actually started doing rap and R&B. That’s when I perfected my craft of rapping. I couldn’t be a 25 year-old rapper calling myself Pooh Bear, so I changed it to Fatt Sosa. That’s what this type of music comes in at with me mixing, merging both of my talents together. Me rapping and singing, rapping and putting R&B harmonies behind it, doing my own hooks and singing. The style of music I do is different.
AllHipHop: Big Marvin EP is out now, how are you feeling?
Fatt Sosa: I feel good, I’m in a good space. This is my first EP dropped on a major. I’m very excited for the opportunity that my label, Reckless Republic and Island/Universal, have given me. It’s all new for me, but I’m very excited. I’m getting a lot of good feedback: a lot of blogs, a lot of fans. I’m blessed.
AllHipHop: What was the creative process of putting this album together during quarantine?
Fatt Sosa: It was so confusing for me. I know I had to get the business done as far as getting in my creative mode and recording, but still I wanted to be safe. I have kids, I have a grandmother I go visit. With Corona, it’s so messy. You have to really be up on it, me traveling the way I do. It was new for me adapting, but it still worked out for the better. When I did get to get into the studio, me and my producer Sleaze or my other producer Mike Mixer, we come in with my engineer Julio and catch a vibe. We wanted to put together something ready for the folks before we have it for the album. Something real nice and decent, good quality music. Process was 50/50, being very cautious with the COVID thing going on now and still trying to get in the creative mode. Still do what we came to do.
AllHipHop: Linking with Rick Ross on “Pimpin,” how did that happen?
Fatt Sosa: Super dope. When you think about player, pimpin, fly, talking about females, something for the club, in that category, who else but Rick Ross? It was a perfect fit. I look up to him, he’s a legend in the game. Biggie my favorite rapper. What closer you gon’ get to Biggie Smalls? It’s Rick Ross. It made sense. As we see and hear, he killed the song. He killed his verse. He did his thing in the video, it’s a blessing to even be on a record with him.
AllHipHop: Best memory from the video shoot?
Fatt Sosa: It’s business at the end of the day. You don’t want to overstep your boundaries, even though you a fan at the end of the day. You’re in the music industry now so the people you grew up listening to, you’re right here with him doing a song. You created the song, he got on it. It was dope, he liked it. During the video shoot, he came up to me and said “yo this video real dope, I f### with the song.” He really laid it out. “Normally you get cars, money, it’s the typical videos.” He said “this video fire.” It meant a lot to me.
Talk about finding your way to Reckless Republic, the Atlanta label founded by Kerry Carter. How did that all happen? My brother is a good friend of Shawn’s who’s a good friend of Keri’s, they put it together. My brother, he’s the biggest party promoter over here on the East Coast. He does a lot of parties. Shawn and Keri have a bunch of artists there so he built a lot of relationships, from him booking their artists, coming down and doing parties with us. Shawn introduced us to Keri because we was trying to find a situation. Keri heard the music, he loved it. It was dope. He loved it, then he took it to Island/Universal. They loved it. Now we’re all a big happy family.
AllHipHop: 3 things you need in the studio?
Fatt Sosa: As sad as it might be, I need my Backwoods.
AllHipHop: When you come to LA, I got gas for you.
Fatt Sosa: Oh yeah, I’ma be in LA. I’m shooting my music video with my bro Toosi in Malibu. I’ma be in LA for a few days recording. I’m actually supposed to be going to Vegas today, I missed my flight. I hate Vegas anyway. I gotta have my Backwoods, I gotta have my Fiji water, and I have to have my snacks.
AllHipHop: What snacks do you like?
Fatt Sosa: Fruit snacks. Maybe something sweet, Reese’s cups or Snickers. Salt and vinegar chips, because you have to mix with that balance. When I’m eating my fruit snacks, while I’m going through pacing. I’ma smoke a little bit, then I want something sweet, then I want something salty. That’s how that goes. If you really want to be honest, I got to have my Backwoods and Fiji.
AllHipHop: Goals for yourself as an artist at this point in your career?
Fatt Sosa: What artist doesn’t want to do real good, sell Platinum, sold out tours? I started my own label, I have an artist who’s coming out. I want to build a YMCA down there where I’m from in Angier, North Carolina, so I can bring some NBA and NFL friends. Give the kids hope because there’s a lot of talent, but not a lot of resources to help them get where they want to go. Me being on a platform where I can do that, I want to do the YMCA. Invite a couple people: free sneakers, free jerseys for the kids. Give them more hope, that’s going to be big for them, them seeing me coming down from where I’m from.
I’m going to open up a restaurant and franchise a cookout down here while I’m here in North Carolina. Some land, some high-rises, rebuild them, sell them. I’m shooting my own movie starting tonight, the 3 of us. Every year I’m about to start an annual Turkey Drive and Christmas Drive. I was going to do it in North Carolina and LA. I actually lived in LA years ago, I lived in downtown LA. I was recording, shooting videos. I’d go to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills to shop, for it to be so expensive there and all those expensive clothes, there’s so many homeless people staying on those corners. So many. Go over there, give all those people clothes, socks, boxes of shirts, pants. Even if they’re still standing on the street, you’re giving them fresh clothes and food baskets. People go spend so much money on jewelry, people spend so much money on cars. We can take $10K, even $5K and go crazy over there. That’s what I’m on. When you bless other people, God keeps blessing you. That’s how I feel.
AllHipHop: What can we expect next? I know you got your film, which is dope.
Fatt Sosa: I have a couple songs I’m about to drop. A couple videos: something with Gucci Mane, something with Young Scooter, something with Cam’ron from Dipset. I’m about to shoot my video for “Takel,” the first single off my EP. I got an album dropping at the top of the year.
AllHipHop: What can we expect from the album?
Fatt Sosa: 15 tracks. I’ve got a lot of dope features on there, a lot of dope visuals. I’m excited about it.