Joey Fatts Says Freddie Gibbs Stopped Him From Killing Someone

In today's hip-hop landscape, the general commentary would suggest that it's all about drugs, money and girls, and has been for a while now. But the artists that have succeeded in transcending the usual have mostly done it by connecting with the fans on a personal level, sharing their story as a means to either teach the listener a lesson or to simply vent.

Joey Fatts is ready to make that connection. The 22-year-old Long Beach, Calif. native is still relatively new to the game, with only about three years under his belt in music, but he already recognizes that to survive he'll have to keep it completely real with his listeners. His favorite album is 2Pac's All Eyez On Me and he credits Nas for inspiring his writing style. His blend of West Coast funk and 1990s New York-style storytelling make Fatts one of the artist-slash-producers to keep an eye, or ear, on in 2015. Fatts has produced for some great artists like A$AP Rocky and Curren$y and has made waves with his own music, namely his Chipper Jones mixtape series, cultivating a rapidly growing fan base along with his Cutthroat Records cohorts Vince Staples and A$ton Matthews.

XXL recently spoke with Joey Fatts about a range of topics, from his living situation before his career took off to the time Freddie Gibbs stopped him from going away on a state-enforced vacation. With his entirely self-produced Ill Street Blues EP dropping Feb. 23, Fatts is ready to take off. —Duke London