{"title":"Fat Tony","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"exotica-3","title":"Exotica","description":"\u003cp\u003eStorytelling isn’t merely a vehicle for self-expression, it’s a mode of transportation. A two-way mirror in which we process gilded dreams and grotesque nightmares, the transgression of cultural taboos and the upholding of ancient tradition. It’s also the animating idea behind much of the greatest popular music ever made. Consider Exotica, the new album from Houston iconoclast, Fat Tony, the latest brilliant entry in that fabled tradition, what Outkast once described as “shooting game in the form of story rapping.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile hip-hop supplies the foundation of the Third Ward native’s assault on genre, his futuristic soundclash encompasses seductive velour soul, lecherous French chansons, fluorescent new wave, and even splashes of African pop and reggae; the latter two being the residual effect of Tony’s Nigerian heritage and a sojourn to Jamaica to record the Carpark Records-released album with engineer, Abijah Livingston, son of Bunny Wailer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This album is an ode to the art of storytelling through music,” the polymath born Anthony Lawson Jude Ifeanyichukwu Obiawunaotu says, distilling Exotica’s essence. “Picture records like The Great Adventures of Slick Rick. Artists like Neil Young, Bob Dylan, or Bob Marley. Every lyric was carefully considered to make sure we properly conveyed each character’s narrative and motivations. I wanted to create a world of unique stories with room for each to be interpreted in distinct ways.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAssembling a Manhattan Project-style team of experts, the atom-splitting production came via Tony and his longtime collaborator, GLDNEYE (aka Tom Cruz), and engineering via Livingston and Brooklyn’s Steel Tipped Dove. To make the Third Coast cypher complete, Bun B pops up on \u003ci\u003eWhat Wake You Up\u003c\/i\u003e, courtesy of a cross-island dash where Tony paid visit to the legendary underground king, then vacationing in Montego Bay.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach song is a rich and compact iteration of rap short fiction: Biggie’s\u003ci\u003e I Got a Story to Tell\u003c\/i\u003e channeled through John Cheever. Take lead single\u003ci\u003e Feeling Groovy,\u003c\/i\u003e a frantic meditation on lust, desire, and the notion of throwing it all away while puffing on a Black and Mild. Picture something like if Fat Pat fronted Scritti Politti. Or \u003ci\u003eGambling Man\u003c\/i\u003e, where Tony one-ups the late great Kenny Rogers to tell the story of a ne’er-do-well schemer named Johnny, obsessed with the thrill of the roller coaster emotions before he discovers whether he’ll win or lose. If the Tom Tom Club knew every word to DJ Screw’s Wineberry Over Gold, it would probably sound like this.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBob Dylan once famously said that an artist should “always be in the state of becoming.” And in the case of Fat Tony, Exotica is the latest stage in an evolution that has included everything from a bravura turn on the first A$AP Rocky mixtape to co-hosting a TV show on Viceland, founding a DIY Houston culture magazine to subversively expanding the parameters of experimentally-minded rap. Here is Exotica, nine new stories, more untrodden ground on the left hand path, a novel strain ready to be unpacked.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Carpark","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50474065658187,"sku":"1101778","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50474067755339,"sku":"1101777","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/cc4fa7d5-4cde-46e1-b104-65f32eec2cd1_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727433442"},{"product_id":"smart-ass-black-boy-redux","title":"Smart Ass Black Boy: Redux","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSmart Ass Black Boy: Redux\u003c\/i\u003e is the 10th Anniversary remixed and remastered edition of Houston rapper Fat Tony's second studio album and first for Young One Records (an early Partisan imprint).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSmart Ass Black Boy\u003c\/i\u003e was one of the most acclaimed hip-hop records of 2013, ultimately becoming one of the most beloved Houston rap records of the 2010’s. The album landed on year-end lists at Complex and VICE, with Noisey and Pitchfork premiering the videos for \"BKNY\" and \"Hood Party\" respectively. It was featured in NPR’s First Listen series where they described it as \"refreshing\" and \"promising,\" while Pitchfork said it \"absolutely knocks.\" Robert Christgau gave the record an A- review (“homespun and imaginative”), and Rolling Stone called it a “thoroughly enjoyable batch of smart-ass raps.” Fat Tony has since released records with Don Giovanni and Carpark, most recently this year’s ‘I Will Make a Baby in this Damn Economy’.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSmart Ass Black Boy: Redux is released on opaque red vinyl on Partisan. The album features a never before released “BKNY (Remix),” featuring new verses from Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Melo-X, and GLDNEYE.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Partisan Records","offers":[{"title":"Red LP","offer_id":50490173129035,"sku":"2058630","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/UP1ZpZ2f_db70ff81_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727653984"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/fat-tony.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}