New Jersey emcee Fatboi Sharif and New York producer released what will likely be one of my favourite albums of the year in Decay. In my recent review of the album, I called it “a dark, disorienting and unassuming album, that takes twists and turns, both instrumentally, and lyrically, as Sharif takes you into his fascinating dystopian world of decay”. Ive been fascinated by Sharif’s artistry since the release of his 2021 masterpiece with Roper Williams titled Gandhi Loves Children, so I’m grateful with any and every opportunity to talk to him about his art. As for Steel Tipped Dove, as one of the most talented producers making music today, and having slowly discovered through Backwoodz Studioz releases how good of a musician he is, getting a chance to interview him is such a pleasure as well.
(featured image above by George Douglas Peterson)
Martin Boev: Decay to me is the personification of dystopian surrealism. What were the initial ideas and inspirations behind the concept of the album?
Fatboi Sharif: The recording sessions for Decay started in 2020 when literally the world changed forever as we know it: paranoia, fear and just the idea of not knowing were running rapidly at an alarming rate, mental illness higher than it’s ever been, the financial crisis reaching new heights, and to me, our sense of security and everything we’ve been told our whole lives died suddenly and we had to rebuild from the ground up. That was the catalyst for the concept and title of Decay.
Boev: How did the collaboration with Steel Tipped Dove come about?
Sharif: Dove reached out to me when GLC dropped that weekend saying he thought it was dope and I was honored being a fan of his stuff for a while also so we got on the phone that following week and he told me to come thru his studio to hear some production and the rest was history, we hit it off immediately
Boev: I understand the beats weren’t made specifically for the album. Were they made for a project in mind or were they loose beats you made that you decided to share with Sharif?
Steel Tipped Dove: They were beats chosen in person by Sharif, he would come through the studio – I’d play a bunch of random beats, and he would choose which ones to take home and write to. After that, each next recording session – he would choose a few more beats – and the sonic universe just kind of naturally came about through that process.
“working with Sharif is different because he’s very open to making music that’s way out there in space”
MB: with this in mind, was there any difficulty sequencing the album, or was there clarity from the start as to where to place each track?
Sharif: Once we got everything recorded we were real tedious in that process for some months on getting the exact track list order in the perfect position to really bring the concept to life and bring it full circle.
Dove: Difficulty is not a word I would use, because it’s a fun process. Maybe it can be called a challenge, but once you have your obvious opening song or two, and then you kind of have a few that sound like closers…. filling in the rest is just a fun creative process. Also, pressing a lot of music on vinyl lately lets you get to play with another element, which is choosing 2 openers and closers, for side a and side b. and then balancing that with the digital release as well is a really cool creative exercise.
“I love Dove’s attention to detail and how far he’ll go sonically and to really bring a feeling and emotion home for the listener”
Boev: Dove, what was it like to work with Sharif and what makes him different than others you’ve made music with?
Dove: Sharif is deeply creative in that he is not concerned with any standard way of writing and performing music. It’s very unique to his love of genre-bending experimental music, rap or otherwise. I hear a lot of experimental music fall flat, in my opinion, because the creators aren’t obsessed with listening to tons and tons of music in every genre like Sharif and I are. And this isn’t necessarily a slight to other artists, I work with tons of rappers who simply don’t listen to tons of other genres or even other music obsessively, and they still make incredible music – it’s just a way to point out that working with Sharif is different because he’s very open to making music that’s way out there in space.
Boev: Sharif, what was it like to work with Dove and what makes him different than others you’ve made music with?
Sharif: I love Dove’s attention to detail and how far he’ll go sonically and to really bring a feeling and emotion home for the listener. I’m the exact same way in that regard, once the recording is all done there’s a whole other element in bringing the body of work to life and he understands that in high regard.
Boev: On “Scarhead”, one of the standouts in my opinion, you say “I can’t sleep at night, ghost figures they calling”. A lot of your lyrics have a hallucinatory feeling to them, both in terms of your animated delivery or the abstract darkness of your words and lyrics. First of all, are you sleeping well these days? And if not, I gather a lot of your creativity comes at night. Assuming this was the case, would you feel like a completely different artist if you wrote most of your creativity comes during the day?
Sharif: I’ve been sleeping ok these days, thanks for asking! The creativity for me, comes and goes in streams.
Boev: I heard you say that “Think Pieces” is your favorite track off the album, it’s phenomenal. Could you elaborate on the process behind that song?
Sharif: Yeah it’s such an amazing track and one that stuck with me from the first time I heard it. It was a track we did late in the process of the album as well, so I remember when I first heard the beat I said to Dove that this is gonna be a special one because we didn’t have that element to the album yet and it was one of those tracks that I loved so much I didn’t wanna stop writing to it. Lol. To this day it’s arguably the greatest thing I’ve ever written!
“I (Sharif) always tell people don’t ever call my shit horrorcore or whatever box you wanna put it in. This project Decay is truly a one of one and I refuse to let the ideas and thoughts we put in get broken down into one champer of understanding”
Boev: “Creative liability, deep as the definition of father in the family structure” is a line that struck me the most that track. Would you say that relationships you’ve had with your dad / other father figures have shaped the person and the artist you are today?
Sharif: Yeah absolutely coming up me and my father wasn’t the most close but our relationship got stronger thru the years for sure, I learned things from him I use all the time, even just his influence on me musically from artists he put me onto as a kid that still stick with me to this day and also my uncle Tim was a tremendous influence on me growing up.
Boev: Dove, do you have a favorite track off the album, and why?
Dove: It changes a lot, today I will say “The Christening”. It’s just so heavy and full of movement.
What kind of soundscapes and other works of art in any form inspire the sounds of the beats on the album?
Dove: Everything really. I can’t make any new beats without first listening to a bunch of new music. Like stuff I haven’t heard before. And then I’m also listening to other music I’m making with friends and other artists, unreleased stuff. That’s always inspiring to listen to. I also listen to funny podcasts when making beats. Often, I’ll get obsessed with one or two new songs, play them a hundred times, try to copy them… and what I come up with never sounds anything remotely close to what I was listening to, and then those are my beats.
Boev: Was “(Interlude)” part of the original beats you gave Sharif to work with, or was it something you specifically made for the album? The reason I’m asking is that it’s perfectly placed in the middle of the album and flows effortlessly from the last track into the next one. Just wanted to shout you out on that because the beat was beautiful.
Dove: Thanks so much. I think it was submitted, and Sharif may have taken it home (he can correct me if I’m wrong) but I also know he proposed the idea first, to have an interlude, and this particular beat would fit well, and I couldn’t have agreed more. So no, it wasn’t specifically made to be an interlude, but then in the post-production process, that’s where I can get it to flow from the track before and after it well which is fun. I’d also like to point out my very high-level song titling skills for this track. Sharif suggested we give it an interesting name, but I had the PERFECT name lined up already.
“On my end (Sharif), I would say boogie monster took the longest just from the aspect of getting to the final conclusion of the song”
Did both of you you have any disagreements on beats that perhaps you thought should have been on the album but ended up not being included? Or was it more just you being happy with Sharif taking the leadership of sequencing it and seeing his vision from start to finish?
Sharif: The whole process to me was quite easy on that end, I had certain elements I wanted to add and built with Dove on that end and let him do his thing. Certain songs that didn’t make the final cut that we both agreed on. The joints were strong but just didn’t fit into the concept we wanted for the project perfectly.
Dove: Nah, I don’t remember any disagreements that lasted more than 30 seconds maybe.
Boev: What was the most difficult song to make and why?
Sharif: On my end, I would say boogie monster took the longest just from the aspect of getting to the final conclusion of the song because I wanted a vocalist on it at first and then changed my mind on that, also it was discussed for some live instrumentation on it and that idea was scratched also.
Boev: I assume you were behind the movie snippets. Where do you find them? You’ve gotta introduce me to what you’ve been watching! Haha
Sharif: 🤫🤫 Can’t give away the sources, lol. Nowadays I’ve been watching a lot of older films that have always had an effect on me like Pi, Fargo, Haxan and others. Most of the new stuff I’ve watched didn’t really stick with me that much at all honestly.
“To this day it’s (“Think Pieces”) arguably the greatest thing I’ve ever written!”
Have you both considered making horror film soundtracks? Not to define your music in the horrorcore subgenre, but I’ve heard that being thrown around on social media. I don’t know if I would call it that, but wondering what you think of it as well.
Sharif: I always tell people don’t ever call my shit horrorcore or whatever box you wanna put it in. This project Decay is truly a one of one and I refuse to let the ideas and thoughts we put in get broken down into one champer of understanding. It’s like that with all the music I release. I certainly would score a horror film or make music for one for sure tho.
Dove: I would love to. I would crush it in that space, so if anyone is reading and wants to cut us the check – we’d come through with incredible stuff!
“I’ll get obsessed with one or two new songs, play them a hundred times, try to copy them… and what I come up with never sounds anything remotely close to what I was listening to, and then those are my beats”
On that topic, what projects do you both have coming after this, separately included? Anything to look out for?
Sharif: On my end lots of surprises to be on the lookout for, don’t wanna name anything yet just keep y’all eyes open.
Dove: I have a lot of stuff in the works, but the only thing that has a pretty definite release date is an album I made with AJ Suede. I did all the beats, he did all the raps with a few features, and Sharif is one.
Also, it would be interesting to see how many people from London and the UK know you. Maybe we should ask, would be cool to have you both come here!
Sharif: Yeah would be amazing, much love to the UK for always showing us love and supporting everything we do!
A final thank you to both of you for creating a masterpiece, and among my favorites of the year!
Sharif: Appreciate you so much fam. You always supported and understood the vision from the gate, I love everything you got going in with In Search Of Media also. Keep killing it, I’m always looking forward to it!
Listen to Decay by the indescribable Fatboi Sharif and the eclectic Steel Tipped Dove. Released via Backwoodz Studioz.
In Search Of Media 