Fat Tony: Tel-Wink Grill
Tel-Wink Grill: 4318 Telephone RdÂ
Rating: A+
Portions: Huge
Price: Two breakfast combos & two unlimited coffees = $14
Hours: 5:30am-3:30pm
After scooping up Fat Tony from his home in the Third Ward we arrive at Tel-Wink Grill and begin our breakfast by talking about Nelly and sports.Â
I don’t know shit about sports. I like basketball a little bit. I think basketball really excites me. Watching it but I don’t follow it. I was never into any sports, which is weird. Now that I’m older and I hang out with boys more than I used to I like turn on ESPN when my cousins and friends come over and shit. Jose doesn’t care about sports. Neither does Tom Cruz. Lots of music people I know don’t really care about sports.
Let’s talk about Jose, who is Jose?
Who is iLL FADED? He is a Venezulean half Latin half white American. His name is Jose Ignacio Gorbea, I like to call him Latin Fred Durst. I also call him Mr. Spring Break Forever. I like to call him the Black Vanilla Ice.
What’s his producer name?
iLL FADED, which I think is a corny name but I love him.
Yeah, what’s up with his name?
Alright so there is a big thing about him that back in our teenage years would have made us not be friends. I was into skateboarding. He was into rollerblading. Skaters hate rollerbladers. They call them derogatory terms like fruitbooters and all that shit. I had a homeboy who I used to skate with and his brother was a rollerblader and everytime he’d come to the skatepark he would get in fights, people would shit on him like it was bad. Anyway, Jose growing up was a serious rollerblader. That was his passion before music and he had some homies that were like professional rollerbladers. And they had a crew, like a skate team, called ill faded. And that later became a rap crew, which also became his production name. So it’s kinda like a childhood thing that him and a friend came up with. He’s a producer, a sound engineer, a song writer.
What has he produced of yours?
He produced this 7 inch I just put out on Volcom. He produced the A side which is called No More. It’s a cool song, we did a video about it.
Was it the video with the cat? That video was hilarious, especially the end.Â
It was like a freaky sex fetish, which is a lot of what you’ll find on Craigslist. Lots of freaky sex fetishes.
Even your Hood Party video that includes Google Hangout. It’s interesting how you are putting modern day technology references into your videos.
You have to, somebody has to do it. One of these days somebody may look back at these videos and think that they were great. We only made that video because we used Google Hangout extensively. Back in the day when Google Hangout was brand new, me and Tom Cruz used Google Hangout everyday.
So how do yall know each other?
So Tom Cruz was in a group called Supreeme that was signed to Warner Brothers. So Murs signed this group Supreeme. I was a huge Murs fan.
Yeah and you have songs with Murs, right?
He is in a few of my songs. Anyways, Murs signed these boys and they were from Atlanta. I was a big fan of them back in highschool they were straight up my favorite rap group. Maybe even would say they were my favorite music group at the time. Three guys: Tom Cruz, Blunt Fang, and this white rapper named Sam aka King Self. I was a huge fan of them, I would talk to them via Myspace. I would call them on the phone sometimes. I did shit like this with them. I interviewed them, I was just a huge fan of them. Tom Cruz came to Houston one day cause Mike Dean was supposed to mix the Supreeme major label album. Around the time that he came, maybe the day that he came, Pimp C died. And Pimp C was good friends with Mike Dean. So Mike Dean shut his studio down and wasn’t working with nobody. So Tom Cruz was here and he didn’t have nothing to do. He had a rental car and a credit card from the record label. So he was like "yo I’m in Houston, let’s hang out." And I’m like "yo, where are you?" He said "I’m here" and I was like "dude, you are like the next street over from my house right now." He was like walking distance from my house. Literally, like the next street over at his grandmother’s house. I said "my grandmother stays here, this is where I live." And my mom was taking me to the studio, it was my first session for my first record, The Love Life EP, back in ’07. Picked up Tom Cruz and we went to the studio.
How old were you at this time?
I was 18. She took us to the studio and he rapped on the second track of my EP called Stand High and we hung out like a week the whole time. And here’s a funny story I don’t even think he knows. So towards the end of his trip he wanted to make a ten song project for fun. The night that he came to bring me some beats was the night that my rap partner Smash Bro got back into town. He came back to Houston from college and was like "Yo Obi, I got this shit called acid, LSD, and I’ve been doing this shit but I wanna do it witchu" and I was like "I never done this shit before, I’m a little experimental. Let’s go to my homeboy’s house and take this acid." So me and Smash Bro went to my homeboy’s house and dropped some acid while my other friend was just chillin there smoking out with us. Like he didn’t know we were on acid, so we were on acid trippin. Wiggin out. Some people from my college came over and some drunk girl came over, I don’t even remember who.Â
What college did you go to again, St. Thomas?
Yeah the University of St. Thomas in Montrose. Some drunk girl came over like people kept coming over hanging out with us when we were on acid, no one knows. And we weren’t on the kind of acid that makes you see crazy shit. We were just on acid that made you feel like really loopy and like fly. I felt crazily confident.
~~~Fat Tony asks waitress for some Louisiana hot sauce~~~
“I felt crazy confident, it was one of the most swagged up feelings I had ever had at that point of my life. Anyway, to make a long story long. Tom Cruz comes in and brings me a beat CD. He just bought a new leather jacket and was asking me if I liked it, we told him it was cool. And then he played me some beats and some of those beats later became songs on my first album RABDARGAB. And that’s the story of how I met Tom Cruz.
~~~food intermission~~~
Fat Tony ordered one pancake, scrambled eggs, and hashbrowns.
How do you know Bun B and all of them? I know Bun B knows everyone but..
The first time I did an interview ever, ever, was on Matt Sonzala's radio program. On KPFT on Wednesdays called Damage Control. I was a fan of Matt Sonzala’s radio station and his blog, I used to go to his shows. And I wrote him an email once being like "I really admire you, when I grow up I hope to do the things you do like in the music business, I make music too, check it out." He was like "yo come up here for an interview." And I went up there and when I came up there for the interview Bun B was there. Then I saw Bun B when I won my first Houston Press Music Award, I was sitting next to him and his wife. And then I would go to any Bun B anything, any show or any meet and greet he had. I’m a huge, you know, UGK fan. And then there was this one day in 2010 on Halloween Wiz Khalifa played the House of Blues. It was the height of his career. Chris Brown was there like hella famous people were there it was crazy. It was a huge show. I was on probation at the time but I was like it’s Halloween, it’s a Wiz Khalifa show, I’m gonna for sure smoke some weed tonight. I was with my homegirl Alex and my homeboy Jeremiah and we’re in the back and like I’m in the back hamming it up. And then I see Bun B and he’s like "oh yo, whatup Tony. Tony, what’s yer twitter?" And I told him my twitter and then he made this tweet about me saying that I’m like the best undiscovered talent in Houston. And then that tweet got hella retweeted, lots of attention, I got hella followers from that tweet. After that, I would just chill with Bun. I’d go to clubs with him sometimes. Sometimes Bun will call me and talk to me about his life or I’ll call him and talk to him about mine. You know I think that Bun is a great person. Bun came to my birthday party once. He told me all these crazy stories about his wife. I love Bun B.
So you’re working at a record store right now, do a lot of people recognize you?
Yeah it’s my first time having a job in like three years. Sometimes its cool when people recognize me. I sign shit, I talk to kids all day long. As much as I love music I have never worked in a record store ever until now.
Do you like it?
It’s pretty chill. I mean I don’t really like having a job.
Do you drink the beer there?
Absolutely. I don’t really drink it while I’m working but I have before. But I’m not really tryna wild out there. But there has been a time where I did. But the whole staff did too so it was pretty chill. Everyone working there is pretty much in a band.
So you’re touring Canada?
Yeah, I’m on tour in September and October. I love playing Canada but this time I’m playing a part of Canada I never been to, Vancouver.
 I heard it’s beautiful, I’d like to go there.
 Weed. All I know about Vancouver is they got weed, it’s where Nardwuar is from, it’s where Ron Reyes the second singer of Black Flag lives, and they had a famous skate competition there back in the day I’m not sure if they still have it.
And aren’t you touring around Texas?
Yeah all the Texas shows are with Prodigy from Mobb Deep. We’re playing San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin.
No Houston?
No Houston show yet. It’s hard to play here. I get less money here sometimes. The only time I really get paid here good is when an outside force pays for the show. Like last time I feel like I did a real good Houston show was I played this Noisey sponsored show with me, Riff Raff, and Bun B. A lot of people here, I guess since they’ve known me for such a long time, would rather talk to me than my booking agent. I had a guy offer me a hundred dollars to play this show. I’m not gonna play that little in my hometown when I can go to Austin and get racks. As far as Texas goes, I have my best shows in Austin. The clubs treat me nicer, they pay me more, and the shows are often sold out when I’m the headliner. It’s just more fun. Houston is kind of whack sometimes, I hate to say it because I love being here and I’m on a mission that Houston is turnt up and it’s reaching its fullest potential but its difficult when a lot of the key players here aren’t working with me. Not to be negative, I’m just saying.
It’s easier to represent Houston outside of Houston?
Totally. Shit if I was a promoter here I could put on a crazy show here. I would have the stupidest shows ever. I had a kid come up to me at a B L A C K I E show and he was like "man I hate that you left Houston cause shit got whack, like the shows got boring and I haven’t really been going out much since you haven’t been putting on events." It inspired me to put on a show. And I tried to put on a show but so much shit was blocking me and I couldn’t of even put on the show if I wanted to.
You DJ around town sometimes, right?
Love to DJ. I wish I started to DJ when I was a kid. After this I’m going home to DJ and practice.
Just like anywhere else, you have to create your own fun. Like the last fun show I went to, it wasn’t even that fun because it was outside, was Free Press Summer Fest- the Welcome to Houston show with all the Houston rappers. But it’s hard to organize that many people on one stage because of money, egos, and all that.Â
What if I put on a show Fat Tony, Rai P, Maxo Kream, and B L A C K I E. Stupid show. With Mr. Rogers spinning. And make it free. Or even a cheap ticket. That’d be insane, right? No one would ever think to do that, sucks.
You just got to find a group of people that will support your events. But yeah Houston is boring right now. Like San Antonio boring.
Damn. That’s sad. And Houston is the coolest city in Texas.
Let’s talk about June James.
So June James, Smash Bro, my nigga, he went to Lamar High School and he was a year younger than me. So when it was my senior year I had less classes and I was just free to roam so I would go to his school and hang out
Where did you go to school?
I went to Carnegie Vanguard High School, very prestigious public school for the gifted and talented. So I fucking went to Lamar to meet up with Smash Bro and he was like "yo it’s my homeboy June." First of all, I loved that his name was June.
Is that his real name?
Yeah. I loved that. And then he was like "yo I make beats and use Fruity Loops." Tom Cruz was using Fruity Loops too. I probably met June a couple of months before I met Tom Cruz. Anyway, June would come to my house and play me these beats and he’d be like "yeah I have a partner I been making beats with but I don’t like working with him because he just takes a nap the whole time I make the beat but he said that we both produced it cause I don’t have the software, I got the demo version of Fruity Loops." So I was like nigga fuck that, I’m gonna give you a cracked version where you can have the whole program and make the beats by yourself. I gave him the program, we made a bunch of songs, a bunch of songs, me him and Smash Bro. Me and Smash Bro even bought beats from him sometimes.
How much were they going for back then?
Maybe 50 or 80 dollars. And then he went to TSU and he stayed at these apartments right across from Frenchys. All of his roommates from Dallas went away for winter break and me and Smash Bro moved in. I remember one night I stayed over there and I was really turnt up and then I came home to my mom’s house and started packing up shit to move in with June. My mom was like "what the fuck? Hell no." Peace, I went to June’s house. So the whole winter break me, June, and Smash Bro lived together and all we did was eat Frenchy’s and Timmy Chan’s and smoked reggie weed and made music. That’s all we did, every fucking day that’s all we did bro. And the roommates came back and then we left. We’ve been friends with June ever since. I need to get June on this project that I made. I made a song with him and Rai P but I don’t know if I’m gonna use it or not. I need to get with June and make some crazy shit because June is one of the greatest producers I have ever met. I love him. I love his music to the core.
I agree, he’s awesome. So you have been in the studio with Beanz N Kornbread? June James and Beanz N Kornbread are my favorite Houston producers.Â
Really? They’re totally different. As for Beanz N Kornbread, I don’t know them that well. All I know is that my mom loves that Z-Ro track they made called These Days. It’s one of my favorites.
They made one of my favorite Z-Ro songs too, Doing Just Fine. You heard that one?
I love Z-Ro. But yeah Beanz N Kornbread used to work out of the same studio building that iLL FADED did and that’s where I first met em. Now they’re working out of a studio iLL FADED uses now and then. They’ve sent me a bunch of their beats too that I haven’t used yet.
Who are some other good Houston producers?Â
June James, iLL FADED, Beanz N Kornbread, Mr. Lee, Beat King
What’s the title of the EP you’re working on?
It’s called No Big Deal
When is that expected to come out?
No idea haha. Just wait on it, like Migos said. I don’t know I need to finish recording.
What Houston rappers would you like to work with?
I would want Bun again, I loved the first time I did a song with him. That was a dream come true. Scarface. Z-Ro would be amazing. I've already made a damn near album with Rai P. Willie D would be awesome.
I love Willie D. I love his advice column.
I do too. Wow. Who else? Slim Thug kinda cause I like his voice. That's about it.Â
What about Devin the Dude?
Devin the Dude! Yes. Devin the Dude was the first famous rapper to ever embrace me. First famous rapper I opened up for, chilled with, interviewed. Devin the Dude is awesome, I love Devin the Dude.Â
After we finished breakfast, we split the bill and then headed to the post office to deliver some of Fat Tony's music.