Whats going on man introduce yourself
What’s up everyone, my name is Femi Adigun, but I go by the name Femdot, I’m a rapper. I was born in Evanston, but I spent most of my time on the North and Southside of the city and the South suburbs.
Explain the meaning behind the name Femdot
The name Femdot actually was given to me by my brothers and sisters. Each sibling can explain the meaning behind the name differently. There are bunch of stories behind it. At this time Jay-Z had been calling himself S.Dot Carter, so that was an influence as well. One day growing up one of my best friends came over and heard my sibling calling me Femdot & then he started calling me that, which then the name traveled through school and it just stuck.
You currently attend Depaul, What are you studying? How is the experience at Depaul?
I study as a Health Science major, but my focus is on Biological sciences. Its fun, but it is very time consuming. Since I was younger I had always wanted to be a scientist. I don’t sleep at all due to balancing rap and school. Before Depaul, I had attended Penn St. While being at Penn state for a short period of time, I was able to meet some people I know I’ll be friends with forever. I truly found myself here at Penn, but I know I needed to come back home to take advantage of the connections I had made throughout the years. Being hundreds of miles away from home and seeing some of my peers really start to set their career off, made me think, I could be doing the exact same. Looking back on it, being a student at Penn St truly made me make the music I’m doing now, it helped begin the growth of my artistic career. It forced me to level up. I’m forever grateful I attended Penn St, even if it was just for a short period of time.
Lets take it back to the beginning; your older brother introduced you to music/rap at six. Do you think if it wasn’t your brother you would’ve got involved with music?
Definitely not, I probably wouldn’t be rapping if it wasn’t for him, I just would be a fan. At 6 I wrote my first song called “what you want to be when you grow up” for a community center. If my brother didn’t give me that spark at such a young age, it may have came too late, or never at all. I wouldn’t be who I was if he didn’t introduce me to music at such a young age. He showed me and taught me what it takes to be a lyricist. Still to this day, my brother is one of my biggest inspirations.
What was your life like growing up?
It was super cool. My siblings and I are super close. I’m so grateful for my family dynamic, I don’t understand sibling rivalry. I have 2 brothers and 1 sister, with me being the youngest. Even thought I was the youngest, my siblings always made sure to involve me with activities that they would get into, they would never push me away. I am very thankful for that. My brothers and sister were like parents to me due to the age gap between us. They were able to teach me a lot of knowledge at such a young age. Growing up I played basketball, football, and ran track. For track I ran the 110 Hurdles, 400, 300 hurdles. My sister, who got me into track, had competed in the 2012 Olympics, shouts out to her.
You’re a young guy; you have a 1990’s NY hip-hop sound, who were some of your early influences?
-Was that sound something you had always looked to make?
For the younger kids who maybe aren’t as familiar with the golden era of hip-hop, what are five classic albums you think they should go back and listen to?
My early influences trace back to Jay Z’s Reasonable Doubt, Little Brother, and Illmatic by Nas. I was also a big fan of A Tribe Called Quest. My brother was into more of the hardcore rap, he had introduced me to DMX, The Lox, and Mobb Deep. My sister then introduced me to R&B. I was really influenced by Jodeci. I still consider R&B my favorite genre of music. My sound was more of a reflection. It was the only sound I had listened to growing up, besides Chicago artists like crucial conflict and Twista. I didn’t listen to the radio until around 16, before that it was only old-school hip-hop. The five albums will always fluctuate, but right now off the top of my head, there are the five that everyone should go back and listen to, Illmatic, Reasonable Doubt, Flesh Of My Flesh Blood Of My Blood, Midnight marauders, and Aquemini.
Where do you get your production from?
I tend to get my production from my team, Charles Lauste. I’ve been with him for years. D Phelps and Mike Wavvs are two others that always help with production. Mostly my production is all In house because I develop a real connection with the producers.
Lets discuss your writing process. What do you write about, when do you write, how do you pick titles of songs, albums,
I tend to write about stories I’ve been through, or stories people have told me. Sometimes I also think of crazy concepts to help me push my writing talent to the next level. Sometimes I write songs just to prove I can rap. Most of my younger days I used to freestyle, as I got older I got obsessed with writing. I tend to write on paper and my phone. More of my personal songs get written on paper, unless a concept just comes to me during the day, then I’ll write it in my notes on my phone. I don’t really sleep much; so late at night is usually when I tend to write more. The names of the songs usually come after the song is written or recorded. For projects, I come up with a concept first, from the concept; the title of the project comes next. Once I develop the concept and title, the names of the songs come easier because I know what it is I have to write about.
A few years back you dropped a series of songs over J Dilla Instrumentals. What was it about J Dilla’s sound/craft that made you want to drop music over?
J dilla is a legend. His ear for samples is beautiful. What he was able to do with tribe and slum village was amazing. Growing up, I had always wanted to rap over those beats; the fact that there were beats by Dilla for me to rap on was beautiful. FemdillaSundays also helped me grow as an artist. With the name J dilla in a project I had to come correct. I couldn’t put out anything whack with the name J.Dilla in the title. I got a great response from the people with that project. Drill was popping off at the time, so it was cool to see that people found my music entertaining, while a whole new sub-genre of music was being created.
Last year we saw you battle rapping. Can we expect any more of that? onetime thing?
Haha, that was just for fun. I wrote some stuff but I ended up forgetting it all. I used to battle rap when I was younger. Maybe one or two more times you may see me battle, but that’s it.
You just dropped a project called fo(u)r. Explain the meaning behind the project. What did you differently on this project?
-Was this a little warm up for your full length Delacreme II?
–Could we be expecting that this summer?
I dropped FOUR to explain the gaps between my first official project and what’s to follow up next. With this project I constructed the whole concept by myself. Before, I would ask my peers, “how does this sound”, but not this time. I wanted to push it and market it differently as well. I was lucky enough to have Pigeons & Planes debut the project for me. This is definitely an introduction of what’s to come. I do not have a specific date that’s set in stone for when i’m going to drop Delacreme. Just know that it’s on the way. If I do end up pushing Delacreme back, i’ll drop something for the fans. This is definitely an introduction of what’s to come.
Andrew Barber (FakeShoreDrive) just said you’re a contender for one of the most gifted lyricists in the city. How is that feeling?
Since I was 15, I had been trying to get on FSD, 15 years old me was so excited when I had saw that. Eyes are on me now, so its time to level up. It’s time to continue to show the world what I’m capable of.
Do you feel like you’re overlooked in Chicago?
I personally think I need to just do a better job of executing more. If I’m overlooked, I have nobody but to blame but myself.
Whats been the biggest thing you’ve learned from making music throughout the years?
Throughout the years I’ve learned to not force the sound, let it come natural. Also, another big thing, don’t put yourself in a box, keep creating different sounds.
What are your goals for 2016?
To end 2016, I’m looking to see my progression. I want my next project to be better than fo(u)r. I’m also looking to perform better, I want all of my shows to be better than the last ones. Live performances are very important, I look to fill my shows with lots of energy, and to develop that personal connection between my music, the fans, and me.
Chicago Creatives 