HEADS KNOW TAPE 027: Fatboi Sharif
An interview and mix from New Jersey rapper Fatboi Sharif’s alter ego, DJ Porno Cyborg.
Photo: Courtesy of the artist
HEADS KNOW TAPES is the mix and interview series curated to introduce you to the most interesting innovators, selectors, and artists from New York City and beyond.
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There’s something about Fatboi Sharif. My first brush with the rapper was on a random Tuesday in April three years ago. He was performing in the mid-sized room of Elsewhere, a popular music venue in East Williamsburg, and the place I’d regularly bump into him for years to come.
The partition, called Zone One, was the meeting point for the Passion of the Weiss showcase. The blog-slash-record label was celebrating its most recent release and the crowd was plump with (male) rap journalists who’ve already known each other for years. I was just a few months into freelance culture writing at the time and, even though I was invited by Jeff Weiss himself, I still felt grossly out of place. The unusual dimness of the room, however, allowed me to blend into the bar, which was secluded a few feet from the main area. The audience was awkwardly spread out to make space for the bodacious presence who ditched his spot on the stage to instead command the center of the pit. The performance made it immediately clear that it wouldn’t have mattered if there were five or five hundred people in the room — Fatboi Sharif’s aplomb is unshakeable.
As much as Fatboi Sharif wanted you to know he was there, he also wanted you to know he saw you too. Amid reciting lyrics so ferociously his shirt came off, he was still aware of everything going on around him. “Everyone’s here,” he said, pausing in between songs to shmooze with the audience. “We even got the bad asians.”
The subtle acknowledgment shocked me out of my sunken disposition. I would come to find out, that’s par for the course for Fatboi Sharif. Three years later, my observations about the New Jersey rapper have shaped up to be unwavering truths: His charisma shifts can shift the atmosphere of a room, his welcoming warmth won’t leave anyone behind, and his confidence is so infectious that you leave every encounter feeling better than you came. Sharif’s nebulous music might not always reflect his incarnate delight, but his ineffable charm will absorb all those lucky enough to meet him face-to-face.
For the 27th HEADS KNOW TAPE, Fatboi Sharif steps into his DJ Porno Cyborg alias to synthesize an hour of spunky storytelling and talks Jersey Club, artistic integrity, and what it is about Shirley.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m honored you wanted to do a tape, but I’m also curious why.
I love what you’ve been doing with this and thought I could contribute something unique and worthy with this convo and DJ Porno Cyborg mix, lol. It's funny because I’m technically not known as a producer but I’ve always been hands-on with producers I work with on my albums since the beginning. In 2025, that will be spotlighted more.
I saw a tweet that said something along the lines of: “To be a great rapper, you have to make beats.” Do you think there’s truth to that?
I don’t agree with that at all, but I will say the emcee and the producer go hand-in-hand with understanding what’s needed. You gotta study sound and sequence in all its ways.
You’re one of the most likable people I’ve ever met in the rap scene, but you've built a tight-knit community when it comes to collaboration. Are there any must-have qualities people need to have to work with you?
Thanks so much. For me, it's always important that the integrity of the art is always the main purpose of creation. I love working with collaborators who always want to push the boundaries to the next level. Just when I think I’m finished with a project, I appreciate when a producer or another artist brings a whole other element that enhances it in ways we didn’t imagine. I always believe that's when you truly get timeless music.
Your art revolves a lot around experimentation. Do you think that artists need to know the history of their genre to innovate?
Absolutely. You gotta study music across the board, from every aspect of their genre, and beyond. There are so many different styles and types of songs that have been made that literally shifted history and changed the world. As far as the audio experience goes, if I’m not adding another chapter sonically and linguistically, I might as well not even do it. I'd feel like I'm cheating the audience.
“If I’m not adding another chapter sonically and linguistically, I might as well not even do it.”
How do you know when you’ve actually made something new?
You gotta sit with it and really digest it. Hear it back over and over. Study it from different perspectives of listening. Then, you'll really experience magic. When I’m done recording an album, I'll know after some listens what elements I’m excited about the most and begin to sit outside of the music. That's when I know it’s something special.
I listed Something About Shirley in my top EPs of 2024, and it came out around this time last year. When I looked back at the press release, Jeff mentioned that you were adamant about it being billed as an album. In your perspective: What’s the significance of an album and why was it important that this 10-minute project was considered one?
Me and Roper [Williams] crafted a body of work that's truly special with different emotions, arcs, and unexpected turns along the way, and that’s what an album does. That’s honestly why we only made it ten minutes and made it one track. It's about changing what we've been told to think an album is.
You told Passion of the Weiss that Shirley was a character you came up with. Is she the protagonist of this album?
We met her in LA. She was having lots of ups and downs with extreme turmoil that kept her prisoner of herself for some time but now she's in a much better place.
When it comes to horror tropes, specifically in the case of Final Girls, we root for them because they’re morally pure, brave, and most of the time, just lucky. But you’re not a writer who adheres to stereotypes, so what is it about Shirley?
It’s a secret 😈
There’s a fine line between violence and romance. Scream and Misery are perfect examples, to me, when it comes to horror films. Once, I was clowned on for saying lyrics in woods’ “red dust” came off as horny (“I want us to be alone in your home/I wanna suck the marrow out ya bones/I wanna show you what I learned from the worst people I ever known”). Is there any validity in those two emotions maybe tapping into the same part of your brain?
Sayings like “I love you to death” and “I'll kill for you” have been around forever but have lots of meaning. The line between pleasure and pain is thin in terms of how certain people respond to their feelings, depending on the situation and environment. You can love something or someone so much that you literally can go crazy and that's a wild feeling to deal with within yourself.
On the topic of horny music, I’d also love to take some time to talk to you about arguably the sexiest genre ever, which I know you’re no stranger to. Tell me about your relationship with Jersey Club.
Club music has been big for me for over 10 years and counting, When I was in college in 2010-2014, many nights were spent out at dance clubs through Essex County that specialized in club music. The feeling in those places was electric. It was truly a time and experience that if you wasn't there, you missed something historic. Since then, the music has only gotten bigger. It’s one of the lead sounds in all music right now and that’s not stopping no time soon. MUCH LOVE, JERSEY.
If you could put your fans onto any Jersey Club acts, who would they be?
I come from the Terrace Ballroom and Robert Treat Hotel era of Jersey Club, so a lot of that music still gets spun today on my radio show Strangers Live like DJ Joker from ToonSquad Ent., DJ Jayhood, and obviously Sliink. There are some new acts that my DJ, Boogaveli, puts me on to that are fire. Shout out to Ayoo Lyve from Rahway, YOUNGSIMT2R, JIDDY, the Project X producers (MCVertt, rrodney, kaoticcc_), and SJAYY. Jersey is always going crazy with club and taking it worldwide.
Which rappers, artists, DJs, producers, labels, or collectives should heads know?
There’s an amazing amount of talent out here now. ‘89 the Brainchild, whole TASE GRIP, DRIVEBY, Roper Williams, the whole LIKE THAT fam, Fused Arrow Records, and many more.
What can we expect from this mix?
A blender of different soundscapes that will turn your heads but keep you intrigued. It’s a mixture of some of my favorites of the past few years and some forever classics that will always be special in my heart.
Is there anything I haven't asked you that you want to talk about?
Thank you so much for having me. This was amazing. Just wanna say thanks to everybody who's been showing love and supporting the work. Stay tuned for lots of new music and all types of surprises.
Support Fatboi Sharif on Bandcamp, Spotify, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
TRACKLIST
Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
Flying Lotus - Jurassic NotionM Theory
th1rt3en - Palindrome
Gonjasufi - Maniac Depressant
Dj Muggs - Dead Flowers
Saul Williams - DNA
ScHoolboy Q - Pop (feat. Rico Nasty)
Zach Hill - Jackers
Danny Brown - Dark Sword Angel
Wu-Tang Clan - Bells of War
DJ Shadow - Napalm Brain-Scatter Brain
Zeroh - Barkpench
E L U C I D - THE WORLD IS DOG
Earl Sweatshirt - Off Top
Injury Reserve - Knees
Macy Gray - Sex-o-matic Venus Freak
Pink Siifu & Turich Benjy - RIP Brittany Murphy..’!!
Ohbliv - Vivid Divination
Roper Williams - Outside Events
