DopeOnly, Dope Era, and a Brother Named Mistah FAB

Before anyone gets this thing misconstrued, let me first say: I love Mistah FAB. I think he's necessary. He and I have years in, and "gracious" best describes our relationship. It’s a joy to see him when I do, and I hope he feels the same. Judging by our conversations, I’d say he does.

You know what, though? The word “love,” abstract as it is, has been cheapened from overuse. So let me use a word that gives clarity as to how I feel about one Stanley “Mistah FAB” Cox: admiration. Indeed, I admire him. In fact, I think he’d make an interesting college case study if some young academic wanted to course his path. You’d see a lot—hustle being at the core for sure—but what truly makes Stanley who he is, is his ability, that’s right, ability, to stay relevant.

It don’t matter the season, the weather, COVID out, somebody, so-and-so, nem, or granny—it don’t matter. FAB gon’ find his way in and be accounted for.

"Yeah, I was there." "You see FAB? Front Row Fabby, what they call ’em." Yes, sir. Martin just looked into the camera. Apropos that he rocks with Short like that, as "Too" himself unknowingly penned Fabby’s unannounced and unintentional theme music: “Get In Where You Fit In.” Man, I just heard that bass line slide. Real nasty like "yooouuu should be gettin it, gettin while the gettin is good..." Word to Shorty B.

Think about it, though. You don’t really know FAB for one particular thing. He raps, sure, but you can literally find him doing anything. You really just know him as a cool-ass dude who rocks with you if you rock with him—period.

Raps? Meh. Mainly because he’s put himself inside a space that is truly hard to get out of. Surely, at this point, he’s made an impact on the community in such a way that his audience would allow him to grow up—I mean, finally, right?

I say that because I know about Son of a Pimp 1 and 2. Shit, he came by my house and played me Part 2 track for track, looked me square in my eyes, and asked how I felt about it, knowing damn well I was gon’ tell him the truth—and that I did. I told him then, and I say today: it’s better than the first. No debate. Also, the raps that he makes that I like, it's almost unrecognizable that it's him. Case in point:

DJ Toure knock: Fabby, tough rhymes, baby. First time I heard the record, I called Toure' and asked him who was the first verse. I couldn't even believe it, saying to myself look at what dude got laying dormant inside him.

See, you’re reading this now, but FAB and I speak hip-hop when we cross paths, and it’s an arena of truth. He says I think everything is wack. Not true. Let’s see, Adrian Marcel’s first two projects? Dope. Nette Brielle’s 580? Dope. Grand Nationxl Season 1 and Season 2? Dope. By the way, it's shameful that Kendrick gets to win off that name. Kev Choice’s verse on that Eastshore Highway project? Fire. Speaking of which, I actually told Kev Choice about FAB as a college case study in some conversation we were having. Ask him.

The point is, I’m only tough to impress if your shit ain’t fresh. You hear that rhyme? Ha! Who’s the decider, though? Man, the judge, jury, executioner, and whatever else resides wherever I’m at.

Dope: fresh, prestige. Only: final, uncompromising. That all.

Back to Fabby Davis Jr., though. Fam survived the hyphy movement. I could stop there, but it absolutely deserves more. Not only was he one of its main protagonists, but he slid through in a gotdamn Ghostbusters car—without the soundtrack of Bobby Brown—only to back that up riding in a full-on disabled wagon, AND FAM MADE IT THROUGH.

Man, salute that if you don’t salute nothing else this year.

He got a hit record—he do, no one can front on that—and when it comes on, it’s gon’ ride every time."I got the North, I got the East, I got the West with me, so I suggest..." But FAB ain’t got no records like that to be moving around like he do. That’s him, that’s ability, genius even. That’s more valuable than rap—it’s pure, unadulterated currency. Straight up. Actual Currency would say so, and Curren$y would say so. And currency gets you anywhere. Spitta, we need you at the Wall. Why not?

Sooo, when I tell my story about Dope Era and DopeOnly, when I say what I felt, for the first time really, just kick back and feel me. It’s coming from an emotional place, one I couldn’t begin to understand how to manage. The emotions were jumbled from the start—because as you can see, I rock with Fabby Davis...

Sista: So, what was first, Dope Era or DopeOnly?

Me: (looking to dodge the question for the umpteenth time) You know what, DopeOnly was, but I can’t say that without some level of context...

Sitting in my Chevy Tahoe, looking at Mistah FAB with the most perplexed look on my face ever. He’s making the case—or attempting to, I should say—that Rappin’ 4-Tay is a hip-hop legend.

“Ridiculous,” I say, totally uninterested in his argument.

In the end, I concede that he MAY be a San Francisco legend, surely to anyone from the SFC. This after FAB lowered his bar from hip-hop legend to Bay Area legend. I relented some because I didn’t want to be harsh to my brothers and sisters across the bridge. But the truth is, the only thing I ever liked from 4-Tay went: “I am the rapper that they call 4-Tay…” Classic verse. Legendary, even.

Listen, it’s no slight against 4-Tay—at least I hope not. We are simply talking art—his in particular—which is subject to critique as all art is. If you don’t want to be talked about—or even trashed by those with less couth than me—stay out of the arena. Create art for the consumption of one. Otherwise, art, at its core, is meant to engage in some way, so anyone who makes theirs available for public consumption and the public says anything at all, be grateful. You've moved the needle some.

As for FAB and me disagreeing? No worries. It’s all love. We have hip-hop conversations all the time, and the only rule is that we both keep it one hunid. If you say it, it better be what you feel. The conversation turned to 4-Tay because we were talking about doing a tribute show, similar to VH1 Honors. The idea was to gather Bay Area hip hop legends and have artists that are fans of theirs, whose music meant so much to them, perform their favorite song by that legend. Too Short, Richie Rich, and E-40, the agreed upon inaugural honorees, Rappin 4-Tay a part of his second tier. Nah, B. We were to produce this after bringing Jadakiss to Oakland, which we did; Jada brought Styles P. The show was cool, the production was chaotic. In the end, the thing that stands out most to me is telling Styles about the time Big Stro rolled up to Twin’s vigil on 65th and East 14th, across the street from Kwik Ways in the Grand Wagoneer with the wood grain, slapping his classic “Good Times (I Get High).” I can still hear it: “I get high, high, high, high, highaaahhh…” Big Stro put that thang on repeat and we blew so many blunts for KP the blessing could be inhaled from 73rd. I’ll never forget that. When I recounted this to Styles P, he just hugged me. I love hip hop.

I’ve done business with FAB, lost money with FAB, and done business with him again. Why? Because he did so much for us in the beginning. He used to rock that OaklandUSA hoodie with consistency. I spoke on it in DO: The Diary of a Hustla. In fact, he’s the reason why we decided to print them all year long, saying to me once, “People gon’ still rock them in the summer, B, just at night.” Truth. We made the decision right then for all-year production.

Also, I’m a fan of his, not his songs, which he knows, but, again, his ability to keep himself relevant in an ever-changing hip hop climate. No need to speak about his songs, I’ve told him many times. He did have a project recently that slapped, and I told him I loved it. Only one hunid between us.

If I believe in something I put my money into it. Hence, it was me, his lone sponsor, for the show he did with Talib Kweli. It was me who talked the Monday Soul brothers, JE and DJ D-Sharp, into being a part of his B-Day week to bring Eric Berringer to Monday Soul. We lost money that night, all agreeing that we were too early on dude, Berringer, proof being that he’s been back to the Bay Area since then and had great turnouts. And it was me who got in bed with FAB to bring Jadakiss to Oakland, not our finest hour but a learning lesson for sure, so, in that regard, salute to the outcome.

No one knows any of this, all they know is there is a Dope Era and a DopeOnly and they wanna know what that’s all about. Who came first? Is he biting? Did you bite him? The questions, I’ve fielded them all with the greatest of deflection. I was always good at dodgeball. I’ve been asked countless times and I’m sure he has too, us being from and operating on the same soil and all. I’ve never answered, only to let the asker know FAB is my brother and I’m proud of him. Successful black business will always be something I champion. I don’t know if he’s ever spoke on it, but I haven’t heard him do so. I have heard him drop “DopeOnly” in plenty of freestyles he’s done. It’s truly received, homie, and I appreciate it fully.

The reality is we have been dealing with the elephant in the room from a distance, not truly knowing how the other person feels. The reason I’ve never answered the actual question is because people don’t listen to understand, they listen to respond, so anything I say they’ll have a feeling about, which could only be fragmented because before I can make the point, they have said something that changes the course of the conversation. At no point will they ever get the fullness of how I feel because they are inserting their own views on the subject and it has nothing to do with them. FAB and I have spoken a couple times, but never stripped down and raw, and it was with trepidation because neither of us knew what the other’s headspace was.

I like text, email, and/or messenger as a form of communication sometimes because there is no interruption, you get to say what you feel only, without any interference from anyone else’s thoughts. That also exists in this medium, writing, it’s me expressing and you listening. So, here goes…

Honestly, the first time I saw "Dope Era", it hurt my heart, Now, I can’t claim the word “dope". It’s not mine, and plenty have used it before me, and I’m sure plenty more will after me. Inspiration doesn’t belong to me either. But the brother who came up with Dope Era told me one night at The New Parish, during a DJ Quik and Scarface show, that his appreciation for what we were doing inspired him. "Dope" indeed. Inspiration, truly one of life's gifts, can and has moved industry, culture. Who am I to speak ill of its effects on others when I, myself, am always open to its unique powers? My only gripe is I didn't get to present "DopeOnly" like I truly wanted to. Folks will never see what was in my head. FAB beat me to it. Only blame, if there is any to give, would be towards the times we live in.

I like to take my time, build, suggest, intrigue, ultimately creating something that folk can love. That takes time, but it's time you don't have in the social media space. When you post something, people see it and what happens with that is who knows what, but what you can be sure of is you don't have time to build it and you can't control what becomes of it when someone sees it. As a creative, whose approach is measured, I don't like those odds, causing me to have to approach different when I, effectively, had to start over. What I came to realize is some people like their Polo logo big and some people like their Polo logo small. You'll get that later, but I digress.

FAB doesn’t owe me anything. Everything I did with him was my free will and completely due to something I wanted to be a part of at the time. My entire feeling about this situation is based on things I wouldn’t do—nothing more, nothing less.

I still pull for him and applaud his wins. There was no bigger cheerleader than me when he showed up on Drink Champs. Ask anyone I hit up to ask if they’d seen it. His freestyle was the freshest, and it’s really a shame his episode doesn’t have more views. I watch Drink Champs regularly, and his episode is easily one of the best to date. I said earlier that I think FAB is necessary, well, let me lament, he's "the Connect," a bridge between generations that you can call on to make a play go, and he's just looking for it to be good for all involved. Buy for a dollar, sell for two, and repeat.

But I still have the right to feel how I feel, right? Even if you don’t think so, I know FAB understands because, again, WE have always been one hunid. This is just further evidence.

I'm writing again, so this is just me stretching out a bit based on a question I was asked and have been asked regularly over the years. I know how it works: No One Cares. But I care, because it happened to me. Felt good to release it.

Last thought, I have no doubt Russell Simmons thought something when Erick Sermon introduced Def Squad. It’s only natural. It’s only human.

I hope this is understood.

One Love.

-Smirk

#oldheadenergy

Where's Smirkface?