By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer
Chicago’s hip hop scene is bursting at the seams with new talent and it is simply hard to ignore the city. Today is another big day for Chicago hip hop, as F.Stokes released his new album, Fearless Beauty. In the months leading up to the release of the album, he released a few songs off the album.
Fearless Beauty details F.Stokes’ life growing up in Chicago. He is a Chicago native, but the rest of F.Stokes’ family is from Arkansas and they migrated to the second city. This journey is referenced on the album. F.Stokes continues this trend of lyricism returning to the rap game.
Delivering one of the biggest releases of the month, Hip Hop Vibe talked to F.Stakes about his new moves. During the interview, F.Stokes talked about his Fearless Beauty album and how he came up with the concept for the album. F.Stokes also talked about being a lyrical emcee, and his influences.
Read the entire interview below:
How excited are you to release Fearless Beauty today? Really excited. I feel like I just had a child. I feel wonderful, really wonderful.
With this album being a concept album, were you afraid of going over people’s heads with this project? No, not at all. I think people do not give the listeners much credit. I expect my listeners to be looking for a cohesive body of work, similar to reading a complete book. Thinking people will get confused by the album is limiting, we should assume the people are smart. No one grows from that type of thinking.
Did you feel as if you had to show your lyrical gerth on Fearless Beauty? No. This is not a competition. I am here to state my message and state it as clear as possible. Hip hop is simply the platform I use and my job is to give them the message. I am fortunate to have hip hop as my outlet. But, it will be lyrical by default because the message is so potent.
What is the best way to describe the tone of this album? This album is the blues. It is the blues intertwined with a tribal undertone.
A lot of people are bumping that “Carpe Diem” single, can you tell us more about it? “Carpe Diem” is some shit like rider music, when people want to get in that zone and get the confidence up, they listen to that song. I knew people would kind of dig it and I wanted to give people that extra dope and this song is perfect for that. This is my ode to the Chicago hip hop sound and also sounds from other regions, that is where it is at. I am fortunate and honored to know that people are feeling this track.
Being an independent artist, you released your album on your own terms, can you talk about the freedom of being an independent artist? It is freedom, but it is also work. It is beautiful because I do not have to compromise for anybody. This is how I feel from my heart to the listeners and being straightforward is the only way I know how to operate. Being independent means there is no one to censor and filter your music, which I like. Now, I am becoming a star on my own and working with a team will enhance this album’s overall awareness. But, what I wanted to do with Fearless Beauty was dedicate this to Chicago and I could only do that by playing by my own rules.
There is you and a lot of other newer artists that are very lyrical, how do you feel about the return of lyricism to the forefront of hip hop? I think it is awesome, excellent. We are back to celebrating the guys who are clever with the pen and I am glad to be considered a part of that movement.
On Fearless Beauty, you shout out Southern hip hop and you name Pimp C as an influence, who are some other hip hop legends who influence you? Oh man. That’s a lot of people. Obviously Do or Die, Twista, Koo Koo Kal from Milwaukee, Ice Cube, my man Killa, there are so many to name. Silkk The Shocker, C-Murder, No Limit made hard ass raps. These are the guys we listened to growing up. Pastor Troy is also among them.
What type of influence do you see Fearless Beauty having on hip hop and future rappers in the next few years? Well, hopefully, it will inspire artists and people to be themselves and hone their skills. Do not be afraid to put it out there. I am not expecting to change the world, but I feel this will influence people to take pride in themselves and I hope that it will also inspire people to not compromise themselves. If I compromise that, then mission accomplished.
Where can people go to get their copy of Fearless Beauty and how can we connect with you online? www.fdotstokes.com is the place to go and see what I have done and where I am at.
