Audacy: Fatman Scoop talks hip-hop's heartbeat while Alicia Keys dishes on her biggest misconception

It’s no secret - Audacy comes through with solid content on a regular basis. Thought-provoking. Intriguing. Must-hear. You bet. The East Coast legend Fatman Scoop chops it up with Audacy’s Hip-Hop Made and Audacy’s 96.3 The Lou delivers with the iconic Alicia Keys talking about her contributions to the culture.

From talking about the rap game’s current status to being hit with one-hit wonder tags, Scoop doesn’t hold back talking to Audacy’s Hip-Hop Made.

[01:05] – Being well known in Harlem, his connections to Teddy Riley, Rob Base, and Markell Riley, he was supposed to release a project under Teddy but it got dropped when Teddy and Gene Griffin broke up

[02:55] – Why he didn’t end up working with Puff Daddy, who wanted him to be like Biggie: “Something in my heart and soul made me understand even though I was rapping hard, I was dancing and performing like Doug E. Fresh. I wasn’t that guy. And something at the last minute told me not to do it.”

[03:50] – After working with Teddy Riley, got a regular job at a hospital where he kept getting written up, went to intern for Diamond D before working for Tommy Boy

[05:30] – Started doing crowd participation DJing to make money for his brother to go to Hampton University

[07:30]– Had no plan b if hip-hop didn’t work out for him: “If you’re gonna do something, do it all the way…. You’ve got to do this like nothing else is gonna work. There’s no way that you can become successful at anything unless you put your heart, your soul, your time, and your dedication in…. I didn’t even get into women until I was 19, 20 years old, because my whole focus was (hip-hop)...”

[09:55] – People telling him on social media that he’s a one-hit wonder: “Well, I’m a one-hit wonder that wakes up in Osaka, Japan, and go to sleep in Montana. I’m a one-hit wonder that wakes up in New York and goes to sleep in the south of France…I’ve been blessed to do this…and hip-hop has brought me there.”

[10:25] – How people said MC Hammer was selling out when he did the deal with Pepsi, how hip-hop needs to make better records: “The fact that we have not had a #1 song this year is indicative of (how) the marketplace feels about the quality of the music. You can call it hate, you can call it whatever, but the numbers and the facts are never gonna tell a lie.”

Need more priceless talk? Alicia Keys digs deep in her conversation with Audacy’s 96.3 The Lou.

[01:50] – Her early career in the 90s to 2001: “I started everything when I was about 14, so a lot of people, they always think that I’m much older than I am because I’ve been around a minute… It was just me finding my way and trying to figure how to write these songs, and put my energy into those things that you were hearing.”

[03:00] – Creating the experience for her live shows and tours: “I’ve never been able to touch people like I can touch them on this tour. The way that you visually get to experience this show is just crazier than anything I’ve ever done.”

[04:05] – 50th anniversary of hip-hop: 1st song that made her fall in love with hip-hop (“I’m a big, big Wu-Tang fanatic – around there is the song that really made me fall in love, love, love…”), 1st rhyme she memorized (“Push It!” by Salt-N-Pepa)

[05:40] – Biggest misconception people have about her: “I feel like people really get me, to be honest. I feel like I’ve been able to really show the person that I am and the vibe that I am for a minute, so people understand, I think, my vibe and my energy and how genuine I am as a person. I think people really get it that, if you meet me in the street, if you see me on the stage, if you hear me on the phone, you’re meeting the same person… Maybe one of the misconceptions is that I’m kind of serious – I’m definitely kind of crazy and silly, and I definitely will make you laugh.”

[06:55] – Loves when her sons want to be on-stage and express themselves, Egypt playing the piano

[07:15] – Potentially working with new artists in the future