Most men in their twenties are on the college or university grind with stress and student debt through the roof. But some dudes would rather roll the dice, follow their passion and dive headfirst into the rap game. That’s where Raz Fresco comes into play.
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Rasquiz Johnson, a 20-year-old rapper and producer from Toronto, is quickly making a name for himself not only in Canada, but internationally, too—he performed on the east coast leg of Joey Bada$$’ B4.DA.$$ tour, as well as at New York City’s CMJ Music Marathon and Atlanta’s A3C Festival.
Back in 2009, Fresco co-founded the Bakers Club collective with Brandon Chey. The crew began to come together after the release of Fresco’s debut mixtape, Welcome To The Bakers Club. They’ve been buzzing ever since. Currently the group, which has a similar dynamic to Joey Bada$$’ Pro Era crew, includes Raz Fresco, BriskInTheHouse, Lo Thraxx, 6th Letter and ChillxWill.
Fresco has produced for several big name acts, including Tyga, Mac Miller, French Montana and DJ Holiday. Last year, a major opportunity presented itself after producing a track for Bishop Nehru. “I think through production with Bishop Nehru on one of his tapes, Dru-Ha from Duck Down got wind of my music and reached out,” says Fresco. “And then I sent him some of the new stuff I was working on, and from there we started building a relationship.” Eventually this led to a distribution deal with New York City-based record label Duck Down Music Inc.
Fresco also ventured into the realm of video games, with songs featured on the soundtracks of NBA Live ’14 and ’15—“Mobb Dizzle”, which he produced for Bishop Nehru, and “Freshest Ever”, featuring fellow Bakers Club member ChillxWill.
This summer, Fresco is ready to leave a lasting imprint on the hip-hop industry with his new album, Pablo Frescobar. The release will feature some popular artists, including Raekwon, Bishop Nehru and Joey Bada$$. “It’s definitely a compilation of my best work to date,” says Fresco. “I feel like in all directions I’ve just progressed as an artist, as far as on the production side, definitely lyrically, and as far as introducing a lot of new topics and concepts.”
Photo courtesy of Raz Fresco
Noisey: Could you tell me a bit about the new album, Pablo Frescobar?
Raz Fresco: Got some dope features on there. I got a joint with Raekwon, I got a joint with Bishop Nehru, Joey Bada$$, Tre Mission. I got Chuck Inglish on there. And I did all the production, except for the intro. It’s like two joints in one. My homie from Harlem, Randy—he goes by Drago—he did the first half. We collaborated on that beat. Aside from that, I handled all the production.
How did those NBA Live placements come about?
One of the things that me and Soze, my management, really wanted to do was make sure this next release had a strong U.S. partner, as far as marketing and handling all the necessary things, and broadening the visibility in the U.S. market. So through me going on different trips to New York, and different collaborations and stuff—I think through production with Bishop Nehru on one of his tapes—Dru-Ha from Duck Down got wind of my music and he reached out. Around March-April of last year we got a nice relationship going on paper, as far as [Duck Down] being added to my management team. And then me and my manager started an independent label, Black Light. We made Duck Down distributors. Pablo Frescobar is the first project that’s gonna be released.
There is a misconception floating around the internet that your relationship with Duck Down Music is a standard record deal. Could you clarify that?
At the end of the day, just being attached to them and repping the whole movement, you might construe it that way. But like I said, Duck Down is part of my management team, and then I have an independent label that I started with my manager, and then you have distribution with Duck Down. The first project we’re gonna do is Pablo Frescobar. As far as the construed notions of the relationship between me and Duck Down, just from the general perspective, the average listener, they don’t really take into account all the schematics of everything in the background that goes on, as far as an artist and the business relationship between labels and all that. A lot of deals are misconstrued. I guess I’m just another victim of that. People don’t understand how stuff breaks down on paper, unless they’re part of it.
How did the Bakers Club collective first begin?
Around 2009, I made my first mixtape Welcome To The Bakers Club. The name of that mixtape came into play before Bakers Club was really a collective, in a sense. I had this line from some earlier track that I recorded, that didn’t even make that mixtape. I think it went like, “I’m all about the dough / Welcome to the Bakers Club.” Or some shit like that. I used it as a title for the mixtape, and then from there I was like, ‘Yo, I gotta connect with different dope artists and all that.’ I got my video “Layin Low” on World Star, and then from there people would reach out to me. Some of those people were the first members of the Bakers Club, like Lo Thraxx, he hit me up for production. I was like, ‘Yo, you’re dope.’ And he’s from Little Rock, Arkansas. I was like, ‘Yo, who are you building with right now?’ And he’s like, ‘Nobody.’ He joined, same thing with ChillxWill, he reached out with some production. And then same thing with 6th Letter, that’s how he joined. And then my homie BriskInTheHouse joined as well. All these things happened around that time.
I was born in Toronto, and then I moved to Mississauga. When I moved to Brampton, one of my homies in the sixth grade, he was friends with this guy Brandon Chey. My friend introduced me to Chey. Chey and I were the first two members of the Bakers Club. Around that same time I started putting my music out, and I had this idea for the collective. I started reaching out to these different artists. Same thing with P. Blackk from Ohio. It just grew as a collective into what it is now. Now it’s just me, BriskInTheHouse, Lo Thraxx, 6th Letter, ChillxWill.
What are your thoughts on Toronto’s music culture?
Obviously Toronto’s where it’s at right now, because of the biggest artist in the game: Drake. Toronto’s got the spotlight in Canada. It’s a bubbling pot of a whole bunch of artists that are ready to be heard and taken in by hip-hop culture. It’s like the breakthrough period right now. We’re getting this type of life that the city hasn’t really seen before, in our history. It’s dope to see the energy in the city grow. Cause Toronto had that screwface capital reputation. I made The Screwface Tape for a reason. It’s that type of mentality, attitude, whatever you wanna call it. It’s dope to kinda see that evolution, as doper things start to happen in the music scene.
You toured with Joey Bada$$. What was that experience like?
That was ill. Definitely mad props to him for giving me that opportunity to go and rock with him on his B4.DA.$$ tour, for his debut album. When he was coming up, that was a dope artist I messed with. He already knew about my music before he even started to buzz. There was a “Who Is Joey Bada$$?” Complex article, when he first started to get his buzz. In the article they asked him about upcoming collaborations and he said he had things in the works with Raz Fresco, and some other artists. There was already kinda like a mutual respect, too, because when I first got introduced to his music, obviously, me being who I am, and the type of music I mess with, I was like, ‘Yo, this is dope!’ So from there I just kept sending him stuff, trying to maintain the relationship. When it came time to do the tour, I reached out, and it all went through.
What are your views on the Five-Percent Nation, and how does that impact your music?
Growing up I was always inquisitive. One of the main things, even from very young, I always heard in my household from my father was ‘know yourself’. That’s something that just stuck with me. Know who you are. Sitting down and having conversations with him put my mind in that type of frame, just being inquisitive as far as the nature of how things work in the world, and myself. And part of that journey, just through the hip-hop scene in the city, was I got introduced to Born King—I think through my homie 6th Letter. Around last year or so, I started actually getting into my lessons. Again, part of my music is a reflection of who I am as a person, and I’m seeking answers to general questions that everybody has about life. What is the nature of many things, like spirituality, history and all these types of things? That definitely is gonna be reflected in my music, cause that’s a part of me and who I am, as far as going through life. And that’s a big part of that because it’s a system of understanding, going through that process…becoming aware of something, and dealing with it a certain way.
Ian McBride is a writer living in Toronto – @E_Double36
