Next up on Freestyle 101’s New Artist Month is Fresno, Calif.-native Fashawn. Brought to our attention by Fresno rap scene kingpin Planet Asia and manager Walt Liquor, 19-year-old Fashawn is a monster on the mic.
Citing Rakim, Nas, Snoop Dogg, 2Pac, and Hieroglyphics as influences, Fashawn blends a penchant for streetwise turf talk with a backpacker mentality and fuses it together with a feel for catchy hooks. This kid has it all: lyrics, style, attitude, charisma, cadence, and he can freestyle like a mofo. All of which is evident on his latest mixtapes, The Phenom 2 and One Shot One Kill, and during his Freestyle 101, shot at The Engine Room in Hollywood over a dope Messiaz beat. But all of this is merely a warm up for Fashawn’s upcoming debut album, Boy Meets World, which he is working on with Evidence of Dilated Peoples, Mick Boogie, Asia himself and others.