South Florida loves Fat Joe; he seems to be here so often we can almost claim him as one of our own. So it was with some interest that I read this MTV News Mixtape Daily blog post on his latest album, Jealous Ones Still Envy 2 (J.O.S.E. 2). But it was this quote that stopped me, about the track "Put You in the Game":
"It's that real -- I try to get witty with the flow, the lyrics. It's produced by Schife out of Palm Beach -- incredible new producer out of Palm Beach," Joe explained. "T-Pain does what he does. Every woman wants to be put in the game. That's just a feel-good record. I'm talking about how I seen her standing on the sidelines. I want to put her in the game."
...Hip-hop? Palm Beach? So who is Schife? Turns out he's been written up a few times on PalmBeachUnderground.com, a fascinating site that traces PB County's street rap scene. (Yes, there is one!) Seems he is from West Palm, actually, his crew is called Karbeen Music, and he's already made tracks for the Triple Cs and Birdman, and Ace Hood, among the biggest names.
The most extensive interview to date with him is this video by Crownthesouth.com (in HD!), in which he summarizes his history in music so far. He tells Crownthesouth he started out with a group called Schife Cartel in 1998, but ended up doing between 2001 and 2004. When he got out, he kept making beats, eventually selling enough to quit his day job as a cook.
A common thread among his beats seems to be that almost trance-y synth sound so popular right now. Check out that Crownthesouth interview, and listen to the Fat Joe track above.
