For our first music feature of the moment we look at Ifueko Alonge aka El Flaco. Not to sound bias or anything cuz he's not a stranger to the Fari boudoir fam but he is good! i started listening to him some 6years ago, at the time he was going by the name Phenom, affiliated with Beazy, Playback and the whole BeMe family. Even before that he was regular at freestyle battles at the then 11:45 club at awolowo road hosted by mode9 and Sasha; and also in Surulere amongst friends. There was even this hi5 group where contenders freestyle battled with each other and the rest of the members judged until the winner emerged. no jokes but he killed them all. So it was no surprise when ThisDay Live took an interest in him in an article tagged 'El Flaco taking Over Music World'. In the article by Olujimi Ojikutu, El Flaco talks about his influences and owes it to the mid to late 90's hip hop from New York and the East Coast in general.
"I'm more of a Biggie than a Pac fan, because I always judged a rapper by the way he rhymed, not what he said. Jay-Z, The Roc-A-Fella movement, in fact that whole era influenced me, Influences me even now."
Preferring rather to be judged by the quality of his music than his place of origin, El Flaco talks about the circumstances and emotions gone through irrespective of origin, evolvution and spread of hip hop, etc .His singles "Go flaco","Number 1 Stunna featuring Zee Zee" and feature in Taije's "I Still", got a lot a good reviews and made known the presence of El in the industry.
"... since I try as much as possible to channel that through my songs, the game has opened itself up to me and embraced me quicker than I expected. Music has no Language” (deep)
We had a chat with the upcoming rapper and he had this to say... :)
FB: what kind of setbacks have you experienced so far.
El Flaco: Loads of setbacks. Loads. Cant even begin to say how many there have been. From studio engineers mixing your songs horribly to so called A&R's feeding you true lies, the game is filled with setbacks and pretenders. But im happy im experiencing these. All the greats went through the same, and it just reinforces my belief that ive finally got my foot in the door....
FB:. What is by far your most memorable moment
El flaco: I have a couple...Performing "Rewind" (one of Beazy's first underground hits) in some random club in Luton with the BeMe crew. It was the first time i saw girls go crazy for a song that my dude, or anyone i knew, wrote. 'Twas a magical night that one....
2nd memorable experience was chilling with 2Face when he came up to London. He was in town shooting his "Excuse Me Sister" video. Zee (MirrorMan) & I were at the shoot, but i had to leave to check out the location for Tajie's "I Still" video (Ft. moi). We bumped into him at a mutual friend's place the next day. For someone who's achieved all he has in the game, his level of humility is crazy. Like dude saluted me without even knowing who i was... That was another mad night...we just chilled, drank, smoked,joked...he gave dudes advice on the game...that was cool...
There are loads of others...the reaction to "Go Flaco", shutting down the Hard Rock Cafe & Club Zanzibar...loads..
2nd memorable experience was chilling with 2Face when he came up to London. He was in town shooting his "Excuse Me Sister" video. Zee (MirrorMan) & I were at the shoot, but i had to leave to check out the location for Tajie's "I Still" video (Ft. moi). We bumped into him at a mutual friend's place the next day. For someone who's achieved all he has in the game, his level of humility is crazy. Like dude saluted me without even knowing who i was... That was another mad night...we just chilled, drank, smoked,joked...he gave dudes advice on the game...that was cool...
There are loads of others...the reaction to "Go Flaco", shutting down the Hard Rock Cafe & Club Zanzibar...loads..
FB: Nice! So who would you like to work with?
El Flaco: I'll just love to work with talent. It doesnt matter what genre of music they lay claim to. There's so much B.S. out there now, real musicians & lovers of the arts have to be heralded to the high heavens. Cos the sh*t out there stinks that high too....
FB:A very cliche question coming up next...where do you see yourself in 5 years?:
El Flaco: In 5 years i would hope to have a Grammy nomination under my belt. Really. Thats what im aiming at....to bring the Grammy back to Surulere. That would be too mad. If that doesnt work out, in 5 years time ill at least be a well respected film maker. Thats definitely gonna happen.
FB:any regrets so far?
El Flaco: Hov said "You've gotta learn to live with regrets". I say, forget about 'em. The time spent mulling over what should/could have been could be spent moving forward. Seems to work for me....
FB:Describe your fashion sense
El Flaco: i would say im slightly retro...some would call me futuristic, others would call me mad. My mirror could answer that question much better to be honest.....
FB: Who would play you in a movie?
El Flaco:Viggo Mortensen. He reminds me of me in a weird way....
FB: *pause*...but the dude is white tho?lol
El Flaco:lol...i cant think of any black actor who's on screen persona seems similar to mine to be honest....maybe Steve Urkle!!
FB: Much better! So tell us...how about the ladies?
El Flaco: The ladies?? No complaints from me. None at all....
FB: What could you absolutely not live without?
El Flaco: Chicken. Grilled chicken. Music too,lol
Follow El Flaco on Twitter- @afroflaco and on Facebook-Feko Flaco.
Thats all folks :)
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