Odds are, if you did not already know who Fivio Foreign was a few months ago, Kanye West likely changed that in a hurry.
31-year-old Fivio Foreign is just over two months removed from his standout performance on Ye’s tenth studio album, Donda. For nearly two full minutes, Fivio rattles off his most lyrically and introspectively impressive verse to date, making “Off The Grid” one of Donda‘s best tracks.
Now, Fivio Foreign has shifted into album mode, which he revealed will be executively produced by his now close friend Ye. Fivio told OGM he feels that true rap stars have their blow-up before their debut album, and use their first official project to elevate even more, citing Drake and Nicki Minaj as examples.
The Bible is set to be the title of the album, as Fivio explained that he feels like when he came up in the Brooklyn drill scene with Pop Smoke and Lil Tjay, that he gave everyone a road map on how to create that type of sound. Just like the Christian Bible is a collection of connected stories, his album will replicate that as a blueprint to his life and New York as a whole.
🔰 𝗢𝗚𝗠 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 🔰@FivioForeign chopped it up with #OGM host @ayoohakeem to speak on “Not In The Mood,” #DONDA, Brooklyn drill, #KanyeWest, #Nas & more! ⬇️
— Our Generation Music (@OGMusicCo) November 9, 2021
READ + WATCH: https://t.co/3wFmkL3zki pic.twitter.com/o2RH4BXhOr
Coming into this project, hits like 2019’s “Big Drip” and his most recent October collaboration with Kay Flock and Lil Tjay “Not in the Mood,” which peaked at No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, have helped Fivio Foreign make a name for himself. Along with those tracks, his feature catalog is elite — assisting artists like Polo G, Drake and the late King Von.
I’m Droppin Friday 👿 pic.twitter.com/aRSXGTK5z8
— Fivio Foreign (@FivioForeign) November 9, 2021
As he prepares to roll out The Bible, Fivio met up with OGM host Hakeem Rowe in his hometown following Rolling Loud New York. The duo had a lengthy chat about bootleg designer fashion, his experience working with Ye, mental health, the popularity of drill music, his non-profit Foreignside Foundation and much more in this Our Generation Music exclusive interview.
Quotable Moments
Hakeem Rowe: Do you feel like the areas or places you go to affect the type of music you make?
Fivio Foreign: “My shit is special to me because, the way I make my music, I make my music based on everyday shit. So something might happen today, I might remember and go to the studio tonight and talk about it. That’s how shit my go, I’ll talk about it right then and there. If I’m in LA or Miami or some exotic shit, I might make somethin’ for the b*tches or somethin’, some good life shit.”
HR: What is your creative process like? Do you write or do you punch in? I feel like everybody punches in these days.
FF: “That’s what I do, I’ve been doing that for a while. I told you my shit is about what happened today and inspiration about what happened right now, so I feel like if I write, I might miss a moment. I write something that happened last week, that’s a last week song. I go to the studio, catch a vibe, drink and everybody’s turnt. I feel like I make better songs like that.”
HR: Talk to us about the process of making “Off The Grid.” Because you, Kanye and Carti together is crazy..
FF: “I never heard Carti’s verse until after. What Kanye did was, there was a lot of people who did a verse to “Off The Grid,” like a lot of people. I didn’t hear nobody else’s verse though. I just did my shit and he just told me keep going. He flew me out to Atlanta. You know he was in stadium. We were recording and he had rooms set up in the studios. I was out there recording in one of the rooms and he let me vibe and gave me my own area. He said, ‘Imma let you do your thing Imma be back.’ It was big, it was a good feeling. I didn’t hear Carti’s verse, and when I finished my verse, he had played it for me and put it together like that, and I just thought it sounded good together.”
Time Stamps
- 1:29 The location and setting plus daily events inspires the music Fivio records
- 2:21 The chaos & wildness native to Florida
- 3:20 Loving Reels on Tik Tok
- 4:37 Fivio favorite shows and movies
- 5:06 Squid Game
- 7:15 Fake Hennessy
- 9:00 Switching over to the tequila
- 11:00 The levels of Fake nowadays with luxury items
- 11:42 Wasn’t Buying the females anything in his youth
- 12:00 Perspective on wearing fake designer
- 12:56 Halloween and dressed as the Joker
- 13:16 Recording process and punching in As well as keeping his songs current on context
- 14:45 Fivio Foreign diversifying the genres he approaches
- 15:00 Having features locked in for artists across the globe
- 16:12 Working with Kanye and “Off the Grid”
- 19:08 Rolling Loud Ny
- 19:19 Kanye west working on Fivio Foreign’s next album
- 20:00 Kanye executive producing the album , The Bible
- 20:43 The reasoning behind his Album title – The Bible
- 22:30 Right after the song with Ye – getting asked for money
- 23:00 The forgotten truth about capturing photos and instagram
- 25:00 The mental weight and strain associated with successful careers in music
- 25:20 the uncertainties around genuine & authentic conversations
- 26:30 Starting a nonprofit organization and focusing on benefiting the youth
- 27:20 The Big Homie in the situation and putting himself in a position to get the youth right
- 28:36 “Not in the Mood” w/ Lil Tjay & Kay Flock
- 29:06 The state of NY’s music
- 29:57 listening to the radio , and spoiled to have his music constantly in rotation
- 30:20 the impact of the Drill sound native to NY & Brooklyn
- 30:53 Jamaican Drill w/ Popcaan
- 33:00 Nas and “Spicy” feature
- 35:44 Listening to R&B and listening to Vory
- 36:03 Fivio Foreign “debut album” and major household artists go big before their first album
- 38:00 Message for Our Generation
