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Meet the producer/rapper from Toronto who is putting a new flavor to golden age hip-hop.

At 19, Toronto's Raz Fresco could be the youngest veteran in hip-hop. Having already released six projects and produced for some of the industry's biggest names including Wale, B.o.B, Tyga and Mac Miller, Raz gathered a cult following in both Canada and the States over the last few years.

Building a relationship with DJ Holiday when he was only 15 years old brought young Raz from Toronto to Atlanta, swimming through some of the city’s biggest nightclubs and observing how the industry works at a very young age. And it shows in how he releases his music. Perhaps what makes Raz Fresco most intriguing is his zeal for golden era hip-hop. After all, he was born a year after Illmatic came out.

Raz’s affinity for the hustle has recently created opportunities for himself as he signed to Duckdown Records though a distribution deal in May of this year. Raekwon has also show him love and is scheduled to make an appearance on his upcoming debut album, Pablo Frescobar.

Raz Fresco’s music doesn’t sound forced. Think of Joey Bada$$ before there was even such a thing. The raw, up-tempo drums and funky synths laid out behind Raz’ young, semi high-pitched voice in 2012’s Cakey Pocket$ is a prime example of what he offers. On the song "Motive$," Raz describes the temptations of premature opportunities ruining his chances for long-run success–something he’s always analyzed. And it has always helped him see the bigger picture.

Raz Fresco was featured in XXL’s The Break last year, but the anticipation for his forthcoming LP is too big to ignore. We caught up with Raz to speak about being affiliated with Duck Down, life in Toronto,  old school New York rap and more. Get to know Raz Fresco in The Come Up.—Paul Meara

Previously: The Come Up: GoldLink
The Come Up: Bandman Kevo

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XXL: Where did the name Raz Fresco come from?
Raz Fresco: My name is Rasquiz and I got my birth name from my mom because she got it in a dream when she was pregnant and she said [in the dream] a lady came to her and said, “You’re going to have a son and his name is going to be,” and she spelled my name out. When she woke up, she told my dad and he was like, “Ok yeah, we’re using that name.” I remember my old rap name used to be J. Soldier. I remember one time I was chilling and someone was cracking jokes about me and someone was like, “Why is that you’re name?” And he said that Obie Trice line, “Obie Trice, real name, no gimmicks.” And I remember going home and being like, “Damn yo, it’s almost like a gimmick.” So I was like, “Man, it has to be just Raz, man.” I felt like it was kind of too short so I put the Fresco on the end ‘cause it was fresh.

Tell me about growing up in Canada, Toronto in particular.
Basically I’ve lived all over the Greater Toronto Area. I used to live in a couple areas in Toronto when I was younger like Mount Olive and some of the more rougher neighborhoods and that was when my dad was out here but after he got deported after a certain period we moved to Brampton so right now I’m in Brampton. I’ve grown up in a lot of different areas and as far as how it is, more recently there’s a lot of pride because of the whole Drake stuff. When I was coming up it wasn’t cool, there wasn’t a lot of local pride. The local scene was way far less developed than it is now and now it’s not even developed. This was before Drake came out. The only person that was really blowing was Kardinal [Offishall].

I was just so focused on East Coast hip-hop. That was where I was getting the culture from and being a student of that. The thing about growing up over here is I’m Jamaican and there’s a whole lot of Jamaican that came to Toronto so a lot of my friends were first generation, which means a lot of people in my age group–we came from parents that came from other Caribbean islands. A lot of kids out here, we’re coming from a different type of culture as far as very Jamaican households but at the same time it’s a blend with Canadian culture, which is basically American culture, which is hip-hop. It’s a blend of Hip-Hop and Caribbean.

Do you feel it’s getting easier to get noticed in Canada with people like Drake, PARTYNEXTDOOR and others making a lot of noise in hip-hop?
Well that’s how things work. Before hip-hop even got to be where it is in Canada, it wasn’t even on the radio so everything that one generation does, it helps everybody from the next generation. Drake being a little older for me, going hard, putting out projects and stuff, it’s going to make the lane easier for me when I come ‘cause they have something to reference like, “Okay, Canada boom–Drake.”

With [Drake] being one of the biggest artists in the game right now [it] definitely helps because there’s that reference. Drake is obviously in a lot of people’s minds and he’s from Toronto. Toronto is in a lot of people’s minds right now just from him being the hottest artist in the game. When I start that conversation, Toronto’s already relevant.

You got notice at a young age with The Commission (Don Cannon), and started dropping mixtapes at 15. Tell me about that start.
Much peace to [The Commission] because I got mad experience from all those situations. When I was 15 I was going to Atlanta and me and my Dad drove out there and we did a management deal with Sticks Malone who was working with DJ Holiday and doing management for him. From there, that foraged my relationship with him and Holiday and Holiday just kind of took me under his wing and was just showing me mad love and just taking me around. I remember when I met Jermaine Dupri, did a meeting with him and he said I cussed too much [laughs]. I did a meeting with Shaka Zulu and Ludacris. I just did mad meetings all over the place. I was mad young, going all over the place and meeting everybody. I’m going to clubs and being the youngest in the club.

I remember this one time we was in the club and this guy made me jump on top of the bar and start rapping and I remember J. Cole was there and I think Teyana Taylor was there, Wale and from those events, as far as industry experience and meeting different people and I also peeped how they handled projects like organizing mixtapes and seeing that whole side of the game as far as the business. Messing with them at an early age, it was like an insider view of what goes on in the game. It also gave me a bigger U.S. fan base at first ‘cause I was more popping in the states than I was in Toronto.

You have a special affinity for the '90s. You’re a big Nas, Mobb Deep and Wu-Tang fan especially. You also love rocking Tommy Hilfiger. Being someone so young, where did that come from?
It came from me just growing up and loving hip-hop and NY is the source and nucleus of hip-hop. I don’t know when I first started liking hip-hop because it was so early on in my life or maybe it’s ‘cause I smoke so much or something but I don’t remember my first instance of being introduced to hip-hop. Certain people have their stories like, “I heard this song…” or something. My earliest memories are in like second grade and just writing raps so I’ve always just been drawn towards it and from there it’s just a real connection so that means I’m going to want to learn everything about it, so I studied it. If you play basketball and you’re like “Damn, that’s how it feels,” you’re going to go home and study great basketball players, great moves, great championships, etc. I did that when I was young. I remember being in the sixth or seventh grade and I was on this phase where I didn’t want to listen to any new music. I just want to go and listen to all that classic shit.

Even Mobb Deep, I came up on Mobb Deep mad late. I was already onto mad other things and it was really Big Soze, my manager who really got me into Mobb Deep too. Once I find out about them, I just learn everything about it and I just love Hip-Hop so much and I’m continuing to keep learning. I learned back then like, “This was ill…” and plus with the whole hear and Tommy [Hilfiger] stuff–I remember having this one hand-me-down shirt that my dad had and I just remember seeing it in certain photos and I was like, “Yo, what they hell is this?” And I just Googled it and saw mad other designs so I was like, “Yo, I should start rocking this.” I would just naturally just be drawn to it because I loved the feel to it. It’s the essence of hip-hop. 

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When did you start to want to take rap seriously?
Technically, it was in the ninth grade when I put out the Welcome To The Baker’s Club mixtape but even the year before that, I actually put out three mixtapes or a series called The Demonstration [laughs] and those will never be heard. I’ve always actually been going hard but it was just when I dropped Welcome To The Baker’s Club and I put out those videos and the videos got attention–from there it really started to kick-start. I remember being in elementary school and people would ask me what I wanted to do and I would feel bad because I wanted to say “a rapper” or something but back then I didn’t have enough knowledge of myself. I didn’t know that it wasn’t a stupid thing but I thought people would think I’m stupid or not as smart as I was. For myself, this is what I always wanted to do.

You got a lot of notice initially because of your production and you’ve produced for some big names in hip-hop. Tell me about a few of those experiences.
So basically, so far I’ve produced for French Montana, Mac Miller, B.o.B, Wale, Tyga, Raekwon, Chuck Inglish, Sir Michael Rocks. With the French thing, that was DJ Holiday. He did the Casino Life mixtape with him and I just submitted production for it and that was just dope because I’ve always been a huge Max B fan and just being that close to the wave I just wanted to contribute something to the wave. I had so many beats that would be perfect for Max so I always wanted to do something like that.

Mac Miller, that was just something for me, I hit him up when he wasn’t that big as an artist and I’m always looking for new artists and stuff. That was before he dropped the K.I.D.S. mixtape and all that. He would hit me up for beats sometimes too like, “What’s up, send me some beats.” One of him he picked was the “Tripping Out” beat. I remember when he did the first Smoker’s Club show and he was telling me how he played the director that song and it was supposed to be on K.I.D.S. but it didn’t fit kind of and he said they were supposed to shoot a video for it but they never ended up doing it. But yeah, that would have been crazy.

With the Tyga, Wale and B.o.B joint, that was again something DJ Holiday was working on and it got leaked, “First Class.” But it was dope though.

You mentioned The Baker’s Club earlier. You created The Baker’s Club a few years ago and it has seen its changes over the years too. Tell me a little about it and what made you want to make this group.
The Baker’s Club is a collective of artists and it’s a social movement we represent. It started with me and my love for music and I’m always trying to connect with new artists and people would hit me up for production. ChillxWill hit me up for production and LoThraxx and The 6Th Letter all hit me up for production at the same time and I was already doing music with Brandon Chey. When they hit me up for production we just continued to build a relationship and with every single person I was like, “I’m going to start this thing called Baker’s Club, come join, you’re ill, we can make ill music.” Chill was down, Thraxx was down. I remember hitting P up about it, P. Blackk. He wasn’t really down at first but then he was down. I linked up with Briskinthehouse when I was recording MCMXCV because that’s Brandon Chey’s older cousin. And that’s kind of how we all came together.

Pablo Frescobar is your next album release and it’s been in the works for a minute. What can fans expect on that one?
Pablo is like… Pablo… Man I’m trying to find the right words for it. All I can say is everybody who I’ve played it for, I’ve seen people’s tears fall out people’s eyes–not just females but males. I’ve seen legends in the game who have been in awe and have had their breath taken away. Just the feeling in the room after the whole project is done is just "wow!" People can expect–the God Raekwon blessed me with a crazy verse and I’ve got a joint with Chuck Inglish on it that I produced. I always loved Chuck Inglish but I always thought his raps were ill. The way he raps it’s almost like it’s in code and Raekwon does the same thing. Raekwon would do NY slang to the point where you might not understand what he’s talking about so it all comes 360.

Pablo is just a whole next jump. It’s like an evolution of me and it’s relevant for what’s going on in hip-hop right now because I feel like a consciousness, not consciousness in a corny sense but the fact that consciousness means to be aware and they have a group of rappers they call “consciousness rappers” it’s almost a disrespect to hip-hop ‘cause it’s like who is everyone else? Everybody else is unconsciousness? I feel like people are wanting more and more substance. Everything is growing faster and Hip-Hop is going to accommodate that. People want some food for thought right now. I feel like there’s a little void and I feel like this tape is perfect for what is going on right now in my generation. I feel like my tape is perfect for that because it’s addressing all these things.

My project’s going to be a real staple point for this day and time. You know how Illmatic captured that NY feel? I feel like my project is going to capture that feel of what’s going on right now as far as where the youth is at and where we need to go. I remember when I played it for Buckshot and it was just crazy. He was like, “Wow.” It kind of makes me mad talking about it ‘cause I wanna just release it and affect the people because I already know how it’s going to affect the people as far as seeing people’s reactions.

Any particular release time for putting it out?
Within the next few weeks I’ll drop The Screwface Tape. I already have a video for it shot and I have two videos shot off of Pablo Frescobar shot already so basically the way it’s going to work is after I drop The Screwface Tape, I’m going to give it a week or so, let it marinate and let it sit with people and then after that I’ve got the first single off of Pablo Frescobar already ready with the video, “Up North” and that’s going to be a huge single and I’m going to follow that up with the tape.

You mention Buckshot, you recently signed with Duckdown Records for distribution, which seems fitting due to the type of music you make. Tell me about that decision?
Really, one thing that was on our minds moving forward was that when we released it, we wanted to have a strong U.S. partner because we really wanted to capitalize on those markets. We feel like with CakeyPocket$, we took whatever fan base I had as far as the U.S. and really made it known in the cities. That year I did so many shows in the cities that everyone knew now. Now, we feel like we’ve solidified a base over here at home and now it’s time to come back to the states 10 times harder. We’re trying to get that done. I took trips to New York and met with a lot of people and try to build relationships. What’s funny is the Duckdown office is in the same building as Cornerstone and Fader and all that and all these trips I’m talking about as far as trying to build connections, I would be meeting with people from 1200 Squad and all those different people in the same building but as I made more trips to do more and more networking, we went higher and higher up in the building and it was like finally through some of my production Dru Ha hit me up personally and was interested in some beats and I was like, “OK,” but I let him know about my music and from there it just kicked off like that because he was feeling it.

How big has Buckshot been as both an inspiration previously and now kind of your mentor as head of Duckdown?
I have respect for all the OGs in hip-hop and I understand very consciously everything that they did is helping me do what I do now. I understand the circle. Just for him being who he is I show him the utmost respect so being around him, I just soak up what he’s going to say. He gave me a dope book while we was over there last time and he’s definitely into the knowledge as well so we was just building about life. We shot a video too and were just building on the set. Yeah man, much respect to him ‘cause it’s like just the shit that they’ve been involved in. For a long time I’ve been playing Dah Shinin’ and just things that are associated with that whole camp. They’re so rooted in hip-hop. “Bucktown” is one of those hip-hop classics like “T.R.O.Y.” So just being around that is crazy so when I’m around cats like that I’m just humble and I recognize that it’s a blessing to be respected by people who have done such great things for hip-hop.

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