Fuggin Doe is an artist from Southside Richmond, VA. His music focuses on uplifting good vibes and partying when living in the moment. Pre-pandemic, Doe has performed at various venues like The Camel and Club Infuzions that was open until 2018. As one of the members of the Hitzville collective featuring five other artists, he is on a trip to California at the time of this interview putting in work I had the time to talk to him during his vacation about his latest project Ratchet AF, past experiences, and thoughts on the Richmond music scene.
Jay: How’s California treating you so far?
Doe: California has been wonderful. There is an abundance of beauty there whether it’s the scenery, the weed, The women. Allat!! It was love man can’t even lie!
Jay: What are some similarities that you see with the West Coast and East Coast music scene?
Doe: The Biggest similarity to me is simply good music. This music industry can be very watered down at times but no matter which coast you’re on the Good Music will always bleed through that water.
Jay: Tell the reader more about the Hitzville collective. Who are the other artists and how did the group come about?
Doe: Hitzville is a Collective of recording artists, engineers, writers, and music producers, all with the same goal, no matter the scenario. We all strive to make good creative music. That treads the line of past present and future music that we all have grown to like. Skit Fury & Deuceizwild, Just Tripp & Johnie Ray, Superdope Chris Haskins, and I are what you’d consider the base of operations. We lead the way with a host of others in the collective that we work with that helps forward progress.
We all used to record at Skits Studio for solo projects, Skit linked up with Deuce and they created the production tandem “The Wavz”. Me, Chris, and Skit Decided to create a project called “Blvck Dynomite” which Skit & Deuce produced, and at the same time Tripp & Johnie Ray were recording “APT 405” and we realized afterward that the ball had to keep rolling… so I guess we just sat down, smoked, and communicated our goals to each other and how we can all help each other! The story continues I guess.
Jay: Let’s talk about Ratchet AF. The opening track Thank You, reveals the theme of the project Ratchet AF is based on the 420 FM Radio Show Hitzville as a reference to the collective you’re a part of. Once the radio show interlude ends, it transitions into RNS (Rich [redacted] Shit) which is a great song to officially bring in the project being Ratchet AF.
Then as I was listening to the album on Spotify, I overheard some grub hub commercial thinking it was an advertisement [I don’t have Spotify premium by the way] and then when I heard “Lil Tay Tay still chewing on them forks?”, I was like “Wait, what?” and started laughing at the interlude Rent M Spoons where you can rent utensils and it mentioned bonus giveaways. It was so smooth, and it could honestly be a radio commercial heard on GTA V. How did the radio show theme become the thing for Ratchet AF? What were some influences on the album?
Doe: RAF was simply an idea I’m itself. I know I don’t look and sound like what people typically look for in a rapper. So I wanted to give them a proper introduction to myself and my surroundings. Just needed it to musically fit the picture I wanted to paint. Rent M Spoons & Purple Stallion were done by SuperDope Chris Haskins & Noah Page on the spot at one of the final RAF Sessions. They both delivered way more than what I could’ve expected. And I sincerely thank them both. Those are two of the funniest people I know personally. The biggest influence on the project was Grand Theft Auto. I loved the radio stations on the game and how much they fit the city the game took place in. My lifelong friend Torren helped me out tremendously being the ratchet Radio host and I couldn’t thank her enough! The energy she brings relaxes you out to listen to more!
I wanted to give you a side of Hitzville and a side of Richmond Virginia and blend it together to sound like something you’d wanna listen to while riding around on GTA. I also wanted to further explore the story I told on my last project The Alaskan ThunderFuck Experience An I think it blended well. There are a few Easter eggs in the project you’d enjoy if you’ve heard it. If you’re a casual listener you understand how it sounds but the people who listen to my music understand the bigger story being told.
Jay: Who produced the project? Was it executively produced, or did you have a variety of producers work on it with you?
Doe: The Wavz pulled the Majority of the beats together for me. Most sessions we’re simple and filled with great laughter and weed smoke. So that turned out to be why the music sound spacey, still serious but overall fun. There may be some footage somewhere of creating the You're Welcome beat in like 5 minutes. I couldn’t even finish rolling up those guys are so good. I always get one from Rep! He did the best for RAF. We have a certain chemistry. I also got the beat for RNS from Dope Boi productions. He’s actually signed to Metro Boomin now but the beat was three years old when I originally purchased it. He told me the beat was old enough to keep. He heard the song and emailed me back everything he liked about it. Overall I just wanted to make sure it had an authentic Richmond sound. I think I succeeded in that with this album!
Jay: How did you approach this project differently from your other works?
Doe: The approach of this project was simple, find myself inside the music. I will say my approach on this one compared to my last project was vastly different. I wanted more so to be heard on prior projects so I always overextended myself on the songs. In this project, I wanted to be felt so I took my time to create a sound on each song that I didn’t think words would register with everybody. In the last project I released, I just wanted to rap well while being really high. Perfect example, You can see the growth within both versions of $paceShips in $outhSide from two solo projects. One sounds like I’m heavily sedated. The newest version just sounds heavily sedated on its own before you even hear my words you feel the vibe.
Jay: Although restrictions are LIGHT, we are still in the COVID pandemic. With shows going on now, do you see anything different from pre-COVID shows to shows going on today? If or when the pandemic ends in 2022, what are some pandemic trends you feel will still stay relevant in the hip-hop culture?
Doe: More streamed shows. People are accustom to being home now. Live shows will all be streamed now regardless. You’re gonna see a lot more energy because all the artists have been bottled up waiting for some chance to rock out, you know. I’m happy to say I’m one of them.
Jay: Who are some indie artists that you would like to shout out?
Doe: I first wanna give a shoutout to you my man for giving me some time to chop it up with you. You wear a couple of different hats in the city so and I think what you’re doing here is great!!! I definitely want to shout out my team Hitzville. We just dropped a single Xclusive So be on the lookout for everything else we have coming because Tripp Skit and Superdope have all dropped projects this year already. 420 Everyday Parts 1 & 2 is out now on all streaming platforms! I won’t shout out anyone else but I’ll give a list of people I’d love to work with. Melodic, Sip Marcel, Nyne Con, Troy, Luh Kiddo, and definitely Micheal Millions. All different vibes in the city. I’d love to tap in with each one!
You can follow Doe on Instagram and Twitter @fuggindoe.
Written by: Jay Guevara. @justinhisprime on all social media.
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