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Purveyor of larger-than-life Hip-Hop

In the world of hip hop and beats, there is no greater hype man than Fatman Scoop. The larger-than-life figure is known for lending his booming vocals to countless chart toppers including Mariah Carey. Fresh from his performance at Cavalli Club, Read. caught up with the American star for a chat.

Born Isaac Freeman the third, the hip hop star and radio personality rose to fame in 2003 when his hit track, Be Faithful went to number one in the UK and Ireland and the top 5 in Australia.

"I knew at nine years old I was going to do what I'm doing. I didn't know that I was going to do it to this level but I knew that I was going to be in the music industry and that I would be this kind of person," says Scoop.

Growing up in New York when hip-hop was at its peak, Scoop says it was extremely difficult to break into the industry.

"When I was like ten or 11, it was the golden years of hip hop. You had Eric B and Rakim and Kool G Rap and all the different kinds of groups trying to conquest. Back then it was the great lyricists but now you don't even have to sing lyrics to be in hip hop. Back then you had to be really good to succeed and it was very hard to break into the industry. Now you don't have to be good you just have to have swag, you have to dress good and you have to be a good looking guy. When I was growing up you just had to have skills so not only was it hard to get on a record label but it was hard to do all of that because you had to be the best. You couldn't just upload your stuff to the internet, you had to go through channels to do it," explains Scoop.

Throughout the year's there has been much debate how the star received his famous nickname but he insists it came from family.

"My uncle Jack was the one that came up with the nickname, Fatman Scoop. As a child I used to eat a lot of ice-cream and he would just call me Scoop and that's how all that took place. My favourite ice-cream is chocolate and right now it’s M&M's, Snickers and German chocolate and peanut butter," says Scoop.

The star's distinctive rough, loud voice led him to work with some of the biggest names in the business.

"I've worked with so many great artists and I just think Mariah Carey is beautiful and I don't mean that in a physical way but she's a beautiful person inside. I've never seen anybody with so much talent when it comes to Timbaland and I've never seen anybody that can put a beat together the way he does. First he'll start by beat boxing and then he'll shift some pencils and make that the snare and he'll go get a baby. I've never seen anyone put a beat like that together and I was sitting there in amazement watching him," says Scoop.

The artist's track, Be Faithful no doubt put Scoop on the map but what many people won't know is that the talented star produced the song to send his brother to college.

"I think the track be faithful works because when you do things for good intentions they always win. I mean my brother has been out of college almost ten years now and I'm still working off the same record and that's the whole reason I did it to put him through college," explains Scoop.

The star won a Grammy award in 2006 for his collaboration with Missy Elliot and Ciara on the track Lose Control.

"Winning a Grammy and an MTV music award are the biggest kind of achievements in my career but who knows what's next. When I won the Grammy I was at home, I saw it on TV. I never even got an invitation to attend. Missy went up there to collect the award and I was like, 'OK'. I was just in my house watching TV," laughs Scoop.

The star hopes to secure another Grammy in the future and is currently working in the studio.

"The best advice I was ever given is to keep working. Never quit because usually when you quit you're almost at the promise land but you just give up. I'm working on two different DP's right now, one is an urban music DP with a producer that's very hot in New York called, Remo the Hit Maker, and then I'm doing a top 40 pop DP with a production crew called, The Other Guys. Every quarter I'm going to come out with two different ones so it's exciting," says Scoop.

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