Speaking to yourGigs from within the 2.4km-long Lincoln Tunnel in New York City, Fatman Scoop is clearly an animated character. Every word he utters is delivered with the kind of excitable tone that paints a picture of the hip-hop reveller slapping the steering wheel of his car, shifting eagerly forward in his seat and shouting hungrily at his windscreen, much to the amusement of onlookers also in the tunnel.
yourGigs (yG): What are you most looking forward to doing or seeing in Australia?
Fatman Scoop (FS): I am looking forward to seeing what Australia has to offer on the hip-hop and R'n'B side. As an American artist we don't get to hear what you guys do, so for the most part my eyes and my ears are gonna be really open to seeing who's hot. If the song is hot, I'm gettin' on it. Period.
yG: So you're gonna be on the lookout?
FS: Of course! I'm the first to tell everyone that I don't know it all and I haven't seen it all. I look for a good ol' fashioned education too. You're never too old to see nuthin' or learn nuthin' or experience nuthin'. If there's somethin' goin' on, I wanna know about it, and if there's a hot artist, I wanna be a part of it; I want in.
yG: Do you like to party or do you just like to lay down tracks for other people to party to?
FS: When I first got into the business of making party records, I was partying hard. But after you do that for about five or six years it starts to take a toll on you. I'm more about making sure that other people party hard. To be up there on stage for 45 minutes and be the way that I am and hustle like I do and then party till 5am then go to the next town, over 10 or 12 years: it just don't add up.
yG: So what can Australian audience expect from a Fatman Scoop concert?
FS: You better be ready to sweat, you better be ready to have a good time, you better be ready to party, you better be ready to get your hands up and you better be ready to scream. Be quiet for the day before and before you leave for the concert make a boiling hot cup of tea and have it ready for when you come back, 'cause you're gonna lose your voice, period!
yG: What is one of the more difficult questions someone has asked you during the course of your relationship advice program, Man and Wife?
FS: When you do a show like this you get to see just how many crazy people are out there. I dunno, stuff about enemas and people who wanna have sex with dogs. There are some nutso people out here. Some people have asked for me and my wife to come into their house and judge them and critique them while they have sex. They want to pay us! If you wanna spend 10 grand to let me watch you have sex, fine, I'll do it.
yG: Does the advice you give people come directly from your own relationship?
FS: I take this approach to everything: Just be honest and be real. If you're not in love with someone, don't play games, be real. Life is too short. I just do what I feel and I feel what I do, period.
yG: How did winning a Grammy change or affect your life?
FS: Didn't change it one bit, I don't even feel it. It's a paperweight on my table. It's a beautiful thing to have because not many people have it; you're in the company of a chosen few. But I don't let that define me. What means more to me is people coming to the Winter Jam and going berserk when my song comes on.
yG: Anything else you'd like to say to your Aussie fans?
FS: I just wanna say, "Look, I want you to come and have a good time. Fatman Scoop is the party king!" I am the king of party music, period. That's what I do; I love to make people dance. I know how Omarion gets down so you know this is gonna be hot, the energy's gonna be fun, we're gonna enjoy ourselves and we want everybody to come in peace, leave in peace, have a good time and enjoy yourself, period.
See the gig guide for details on Winter Jam.
Aimee-Lee Curran
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